Arts & Events

On hearing Mozart’s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, Emperor Joseph of Austria memorably told Mozart, “Too many notes.” Well, someone who heard Gioachino Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola/Cinderella might well have said to Rossini, “Too many crescendos.” The crescendo, let it be said, is Rossini’s favorite trick. And he does it well. Rossini begins a theme softly and slowly, then gradually builds up the volume and rhythm to the point where all the singers plus the full orchestra are at full speed and maximum sound to close in a rousing climax. The problem is, however, that in Cenerentola nearly every musical number is given the crescendo treatment. Thus, every musical number begins to sound like every other musical number. Enough already. Too much of a good thing gets awfully tedious. 

In this San Francisco Opera production of Rossini’s Cenerentola there are quite a few good things and a fair amount of tedium. In the title role, French mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes, making her debut here, is good but not exceptional. Her lower register does not project well, though her top notes have plenty of power. On the whole, however, Deshayes gave a creditable performance at the opening matinee of Cenerentola on Sunday, November 9. As Cinderella’s step-sisters, soprano Maria Valdes as Clorinda and Zanda Švěde as Tisbe camped up their roles outrageously, much to the delight of the audience, and they sang capably, though their singing often got lost in the camping and vamping.  

Generally, the male singers in this production outshone the females. Tenor René Barbera was a convincing Don Remiro, the prince who falls for Cinderella almost at first sight when, in disguise, he visits the home of Don Magnifico and his daughters. René Barbera’s head tones produced somewhat sharp-edged high notes, but in general he was a sympathetic and vocally secure Don Remiro. Spanish bass-baritone Carlos Chausson ably sang the role of Don Magnifico, who combines in his character pomposity, buffoonery, and, in his treatment of his daughter, Cinderella, outright wickedness. Mexican-American baritone Efraín Solis was excellent as Dandini, the prince’s valet who swaps roles with his master and enjoys all the perks he gets in the process. Outshining all the other singers was Christian Van Horn as Alidoro, the prince’s mentor, who, in this production, is a kind of eminence grise who from the shadows makes everything happen. Van Horn’s powerful lower register was most impressive.  

This production followed the original design of the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, who introduced this staging back in 1969 when San Francisco Opera belatedly offered its first-ever performance of Rossini’s Cenerentola. Gregory Fortner stepped in as director of this 2014 restaging of Cenerentola and was responsible for the exaggerated camping and vamping. Veteran Spanish conductor Jesús Lopez-Cobos led the orchestra with quick tempos throughout and a rousing interpretation of this opera’s wonderful overture.  

Among the vocal highlights of this Cenerentola was the duet “Un soave non so che” between the disguised prince and Cinderella, when they both feel the first pangs of love for one another. René Barbera and Karine Deshayes sang this lilting duet with great sweetness. Two other highlights were Dandini’s amused detach-ment in the aria “Come un’ape ne’ giorni d’aprile,” where he relishes the perks that come with his royal disguise, sung engagingly by Efraín Solis, and Dandini’s coy prolongation of the suspense in his buffo duet with an all too eager Don Magnifico in Act II, “Un segreto d’importanza.” Finally, Karine Deshayes made her finest im-pression in Cinderella’s closing aria, “Nacqui all’affanno,” where the lowly step-sister now become princess of the realm forgives her father and sisters for their ill treat-ment of her. Thus we have a fairy-tale ending, penned by librettist Jacopo Ferrari and set to music by Gioachino Rossini, to one of the world’s great fairy-tales. If this opera’s a bit too fluffy, campy and schmaltzy, well, what do you expect from a fairy tale?