There was quite a lot of laughter in the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège with Rossini's cheerful opera – if you can call it an opera – La Cenerentola or Cinderella. The libretto is not entirely faithful to the well-known story, but it all comes down to the same thing with the same result.
To experience the Christmas and New Year days with a cheerful note, this opera by Rossini is ideal. The story as told in the libretto by Jacopo Ferretti and set to music by Gioachino Rossini, is less dramatically charged than the story we all know from our childhood. The ending is similar, as is the common thread throughout the story: the wicked stepfather, the hateful jealous stepsisters, the virtuous mistreated and humiliated daughter who has been degraded to a housemaid. Thanks to the necessary magic, she can still attend the ball of the prince who is looking for a wife. She loses an attribute (in the story her slipper, here a bracelet) when leaving the party, the prince finds her and the matter is sealed: they marry. The jealous stepfamily can shake with rage, although in this libretto the new princess makes everything right.
In this opera full of pranks it is the prince who asks his servant to impersonate him, and the prince takes on the role of servant. This way the numerous candidate princesses can be tested and it is easier for the prince from a neutral angle to find the true one. The stepfather of La Cenerentola is an impoverished baron and already sees himself bathing in wealth once one of his daughters can live as the wife of the prince.
Inventive decor and everything that goes with it
Cécile Roussat and Julien Lubek were able to express themselves in staging this opera. They were also responsible for the sets, costumes, lighting and choreography. They opted for a rotating set that was turned by disguised extras with each scene change. Then you were inside the baron's dilapidated palace, then at the front of his residence, then again in the prince's palace, then again in the courtyard where festivities were held and so on. Once again, with limited means, maximum use was made of the very small opera stage in the Liège opera house. Funny situations with appropriate costumes and limited, fitting choreographies complete the whole, where laughter is appropriate.
Well, it is not an opera you should compare with Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, but it is a pleasant affair that you may want to have experienced. For the director of the Walloon opera Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera this is right up his alley. Conductor Speranza Scapucci had the good fortune to work with an ideal group of singers, an excellent choir and a well-functioning orchestra. Mind you, this seemingly light-footed opera demands maximum effort and more from all protagonists. The music is extremely difficult for every instrumentalist, choir member and soloist alike. One virtuosic vocalize follows another, there is scarcely a note lasting longer than half a measure to sing. As far as I'm concerned, too much of a good thing, far too much even, and so you must know how to gather the best singers.
More than one star on stage
Karine Deshayes, whom we recently had the opportunity to interview in the context of this opera, is the perfect Cinderella 'La Cenerentola'. What a smooth full mezzo that conquers the entire tessitura as if nothing, strings the vocalises together like pearls and immerses herself in the role as a shy 18-year-old girl who doesn't know the world but would so like to make it her own. The same can be said of the other singers. The prince, South African tenor Levy Sekgapane (also making his Liège debut like Deshayes), is phenomenal in his performance. His role is perhaps the most difficult. You have to be a heldentenor, light and at the same time carrying very far. Few are given this and he achieves it easily. Furthermore, every role requires a substantial portion of acting talent. Something that everyone, thanks to the strong director's hand, the pleasure in the story and the strong cohesion in the group on and off stage, brings completely to the fore.
Take the servant Dandini sung by Enrico Marabelli… You laugh yourself silly with his antics, but try singing it yourself… And then that unpleasant baron, Don Magnifico, who is portrayed convincingly by Bruno De Simone. The fairy here is a sorcerer who was skillfully presented by Laurent Kubla. The two jealous sisters, moreover also ugly girls (what you can do with wigs and makeup, turn a beautiful woman into an ugly, dare I say repulsive, creature) are sopranos Sarah Defrise and Angélique Noldus.
For those who want to have a good laugh during a quality opera which is rather a light operetta before its time, but musically extremely demanding, then La Cenerentola as presented at the Opéra de Wallonie-Liège is the best choice.
- WHAT: La Cenerentola, opera by Rossini
- WHO: Conductor Speranza Scapucci, direction, costumes, sets, choreography, lighting: Cécile Roussat & Julien Lubek, choir direction: Pierre Iodice, singers: Karine Deshayes, Levy Sekgapane, Enrico Marabelli, Bruno di Simone, Laurent Kubla, Sarah Defrise, Angélique Noldus
- WHERE & WHEN: premiere, December 18, 2020, Opéra de Wallonie in Liège
- PHOTOS: © Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège
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