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La Cenerentola
Riccardo Chailly, Conductor
Ann Murray, Francisco Araiza, Gino Quilico, Walter Berry, Wolfgang Schöne, Angela Denning, Daphne Evangelistos
Composer: Gioacchino Rossini
Librettist: Jacopo Ferretti
I just finished watching this and I absolutely HAVE to review it now while it's still fresh in my mind. It's a really fantastic video - I was enthralled for the whole time. This opera is a great one and it's hard to believe it was written in a month, Rossini's borrowing from his other works notwithstanding.
This video gave me a new appreciation of Ann Murray, who I had previously only seen as Donna Elvira in the Muti video of Don Giovanni, where her performance is good but has some flaws. Her Angelina (or Cenerentola) is fantastic - sweet, innocent, and naive, but never quite slipping into the realm of too-good-to-be-true (which could be a danger with this character).
Francisco Araiza as always delivers an impassioned and touching performance in the role of Don Ramiro. His Prince has an air of gentle nobility, and he does a great job flying into a righteous fury when he witnesses Angelina's mistreatment. (I LOVE how he sneaks up behind Don Magnifico and whacks him on the head without anyone else noticing. And Walter Berry reacts perfectly!)
Speaking of Walter Berry, I think he was born to play Don Magnifico. Not only does he have the voice to handle the part (he's almost as good as Ruggero Raimondi in that respect), the man is FUNNY. I was practically rolling on the floor a few times. I kept starting to like him until his next outburst at Angelina. Whenever he's onstage he pretty much steals the show.
Gino Quilico's Dandini was a good foil to Araiza's Ramiro. He has a great voice and a good sense for Rossini's music. He acted the part with a really beautiful balance between seriousness and comedy, so that he was really funny without ever going over the top. And he looked at home in the clothes of both the Prince and the servant.
The role of Alidoro (the closest thing this version comes to a fairy godparent) is performed beautifully by Wolfgang Schöne, who would make an excellent Sarastro, because that's more or less how he played Alidoro - a wise, benevolent father figure. The aria in which he reveals his true identity to Angelina was really gorgeous.
The two sisters, played by Angela Denning and Daphne Evangelistos, are everything you'd expect. They never stole the show, but then they were practically always onstage with Walter Berry, so that was hardly possible! :) Seriously though, both have nice voices and did a great job of being spiteful and vain without overdoing it.
The staging was excellent with a real fairy-tale feel to it, elaborate without being clunky. The carriage ride during the Storm scene was really cool - the staging of that got its own round of applause! :)
Chailly conducts Rossini beautifully. All the dramatic moments were nicely supported and the tempi propelled the plot perfectly. I can tell I'm going to have this music stuck in my head for a week.
You absolutely must see this video. As an added bonus, this one might appeal to members of your family who aren't necessarily opera singers. It was just pure FUN to watch, the whole time. I even went online and bought it immediately. (Deep Discount DVD has a great price & free shipping. And unfortunately I'm not even being paid to say that.)
| Originally Reviewed: | 13-Aug-03 |
