Gioachino Rossini's second-most popular opera
Calling things classic has become as commonplace as standing ovations, but in this instance, both are well-earned. Okay, the "standing O" may have really been more for opening-night encouragement, but Ponnelle caught just the right blend of opera buffa and fable all those years ago, in his charming storybook sets and marvelously detailed direction, to make the latest incarnation prove, after a worryingly slow start, the enduring freshness of his work.
Karine Deshayes (Angelina) and the San Francisco Opera Chorus in San Francisco Opera's La Cenerentola. Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera.
Spanish conductor Jesus Lopez-Cobos returned to the SFO after an absence of 40 years to get things moving sluggishly back to life with a mushy rendition of the Overture that understood a Rossini crescendo is about volume rather than speed, but lacked detail and sparkle. The curtain rose, revealing the wonderful gray-tone pen-and-ink setting of the kitchen in Don Magnifico's manor house (the evil stepmother is a foul stepfather in this re-telling), and the opening matinee audience squealed with delight.
The tone was brought back down again with the opening numbers: underpowered, tentative and dull. Angelina (Cenerentola) and her original mean-girls stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe looked right and sounded okay, but they weren't fully engaged. It didn't bode well for the energy level of the performance, but it probably had more to do with first-performance jitters than anything else. For once the cantankerous Don was awakened and he recounted the weird dream he didn't want interrupted, the temperature rose and the blood started pumping. Old pro Spanish bass-baritone Carlos Chausson, making his SFO debut in a part he has sung many times before, got things most assuredly back on track, and the rest of the show steamed happily full-throttle ahead.
Efrain Solis (Dandini) and Rene Barbera (Don Ramiro) in San Francisco Opera's La Cenerentola. Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
Ponnelle's production really is a bang-up show, elegantly incorporating many tried-and-true theatrical devices. From the silly physical comedy of Noises Off! to the liveried footman of Mame, his Cenerentola is a merry succession of big Gilbert & Sullivan patter songs (for ensemble, yet) and eye-popping production numbers.
The cast keeps pace (thank you, Senor Chausson, for the booster shot) with all of the witty ideas re-created faithfully by Gregory Fortner and Chorus Director Ian Robertson. If Chausson steals the show, the men of the SFO Chorus share pride of place with a collective appearance that is amazingly well-drilled and often downright hilarious. They sound great and look impressive in Ponnelle's brilliant costumes.
The stepsisters are also wonderfully amusing and believable as portrayed by American soprano Maria Valdes as Clorinda (first-year SFO Adler Fellow) and Latvian mezzo-soprano Zande Svede as Tisbe (also a first-year SFO Adler Fellow). It is fun to savor the very different but equally vainglorious personalities in their well-sung performances.
The sort-of fairy godfather replacement for the more traditional godmother (not much magic in Rossini's retelling) is the philosopher Alidoro, sung here by the impressive American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn. His tall and imposing presence (not to mention commanding voice) gives a logical depth to Cenerentola's ultimate reward for good behavior.
A character invented by librettist Jacopo Ferretti is Dandini, the prince's servant who stands in for him in order to get the lay of the land lady-wise, so to speak. You have to be there to get it, and Mexican-American baritone Efrain Solis (another first-year SFO Adler Fellow) helps with a standout performance that is endearingly over-the-top. Solis sounds just right as he carries on with his pompous and heartfelt portrayal.
At the top of the line, of course, stand Cinderella and her prince, but Rossini's girl among the ashes is kind of a stick in the mud compared to her livelier stepsisters; a saint among sinners who is worthy of recognition, but a little too good to be true. Mezzo-soprano Karen Deshayes makes her SFO debut in the role she has sung to applause in her native France. Her appearance grows (thankfully, with a few glints of peevish irritation at her tormentors) from a soft and innocent girl to a regal heroine, and she sings with a pure and fluid tone throughout.
As her Don Ramiro, Texan tenor Rene Barbera also makes his SFO debut. He is kind of a pint-sized, just-this-side-of-pudgy prince, but Barbera possesses a bright and shiny voice that makes him appear much more a physical prize, and the libretto makes him a genuine nice guy as well. Score, Cenerentola!
The production plays through Thanksgiving Eve, and I can't imagine a better way to get in the mood for the holidays.