Rossini, La Cenerentola: Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York/Maurizio Benini. Live HD simulcast from the Met, Cinema One, Barbican Centre, London, 9.5.2009 (CC) 

Cast
Elina Garanča - Angelina
Rachelle Durkin - Clorinda
Patricia Risley - Tisbe
Lawrence Brownlee - Don Ramiro
Simone Alberghini - Dandini
Alessandro Corbelli - Don Magnifico
John Reylea - Alidoro

Rightly, given that she plays the titular heroine, Latvian mezzo Elina Garanča was far and away the shining star of this Cenerentola. This was not Garanča’s first Met appearance - she had sung in the previous season’s Barber of Seville - and I doubt it will be her last. For the present role of Angelina, she looks the part – fresh and innocent – and, musically, delivers the goods in fine style. There is much coloratura in the role, which Garanča seems to feed on, but there is much lyrical music, too, and her control of her voice, of the line and her super-smooth legato were similarly impressive. 

Rossini’s sparkling comedy is a magnificently constructed affair. The Met being the Met, the production (Cesare Lievi) was generally traditional. In fact, Lievi created this production twelve years ago for Cecilia Bartoli. There are some surreal effects, though – a wardrobe descends on a huge hook, containing Cinderella’s dress, for example. The house in which this is all set verges on the dilapidated, with peeling wall paper and a sofa that unseats all who try to use it.

The Rossinian take on Cinderella pares down the fairytale, dispensing with the slipper, for example. Yet the bare bones, and the lesson, are the same. The Prince is Prince Ramiro (Brownlee), who disguises himself as a servant in the house of Don Magnifico - the ever-delightful and expert Alessandro Corbelli. The ugly sisters, caricatures of vanity, vie comedically for the Prince’s affections, but it is the pure heart of Angelina (“Cinderella”, Garanča) that wins out. 

The ugly sisters were massively entertaining. Was it deliberate that Rachelle Durkin (Clorinda) was made up to bear more than a passing resemblance to Hugh Laurie in Blackadder, I wonder? Right from the beginning their antics created the proper atmosphere of comedy; both Durkin and Patricia Risley sang excellently, too.

The show belonged to Garanča. Her final “Non più mesta” was a tour-de-force, prepared for by the rather more reflective preceding “Nacqui all’affanno”. Throughout she was always supremely present in the moment, her acting as fine as her vocal delivery, her reactions to events around her always believable. It was just this fine acting ability that led to her plea for clemency towards the opera’s close emerging as the height of eloquence.

John Brownlee is a fine tenor who went from strength to strength during the course of the evening. His clarion top register was most impressive and it is probably the highest compliment that he was not at least totally eclipsed by his Angelina. His work in collaboration with Simone Alberghini - as Dandini, who has the task of pretending to be the Prince while the real Prince pretends to be a servant - was sterling, the two believably in cahoots. 

Alessandro Corbelli is no stranger to the Met. His Sulpice (Fille du régiment, relayed in April 2008) was the “other” memorable thing about that production; Dessay, of course, being the other. Here, again, he left an indelible mark as Don Magnifico, his experience speaking volumes, his timing perfect, his voice a pleasure to listen to. John Reylea, as Alidoro, is a newcomer to the big-time opera stage. He recently won the Beverley Sills Award. His focused voice impressed. 

The experienced Maurizio Benini conducted with a sure sense of style, controlling the famous Rossini crescendos of the overture with panache and ensuring unanimity in the delightful ensembles and choruses. He also managed to see the dramatic curve of each of the acts, so that musically as well as dramatically each was driven inevitably to its conclusion. I welcomed his DVD of Tosca back in October 2004, and the strengths of that are reflected here. 

The sound of the relay was generally well judged. Perhaps there was some harshness in the upper registers - especially from the strings - but this relay still managed to provide huge amounts of joy.

Colin Clarke

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