May 2, 2009 - Gioachino Rossini's romantic fairy tale comedy "La Cenerentola" (Cinderella, 1817), which did not reach the Metropolitan Opera stage until 1997 and is performed in Alberto Zedda's edition, returning to Rossini's original and removing later 'traditional' changes that corrupted it, was revived on May Day in a winning rendition featuring some newcomers and some recreating their roles. Elīna Garanča and Lawrence Brownlee were the striking new principals.
Garanča, as the downtrodden Angelina, called Cenerentola and treated like a maid by her crass stepfamily, disclosed a distinctive, tangy mezzo-soprano in "Una volta c'era un re," her sad song, mirroring her own circumstances, of a king who chooses the humblest beauty for his bride. Tenor Brownlee, as Don Ramiro, Prince of Salerno-in disguise as his own valet, so that he can observe the eligible ladies of the realm, in the dark about his rank, as they really are-immediately reconfirmed, in his bright and fluid entrance recitative, "Tutto è deserto," the fine impression he made at his debut, in Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," two seasons ago. The Latvian mezzo and American tenor were soon, in their duet, "Un soave non so che," trading lustrous phrases and fluent florid musical figures.
As the Prince tests potential mates by seeing how they react to him when they think he's no more than a servant-a test Cenerentola's stepfamily fails miserably-the heroine balances the scales by posing her own challenge when she enchants him anew, still thinking he's the valet, not the master, at the ball. As she leaves, she gives him a bracelet and says he must search for her. He will know her by the matching bracelet she'll be wearing with her rags and, if he still wants her, she will be his. Both singers' show-stopping arias followed.
In his "Sì, ritrovarla io giuro" sequence of cabaletta, cavatina, and second cabaletta, Brownlee, with flair, displayed ringing high notes, smooth legato, and pyrotechnical proficiency. In her bravura final rondo, "Nacqui all'affanno," and inventive "Non più mesta" variations, Garanča dazzled with glistening cascades of coloratura. For the final tableau, the pair appeared as bride and groom atop an oversized wedding cake.
Though not one of the top-billed singers, bass-baritone John Relyea, returning to his Met debut role of Alidoro, the prince's tutor and Cenerentola's angelic guardian, shed a beggar's disguise to reveal a white suit and, as the character's name indicates, golden wings, and, in the course of his own marvelous coloratura aria, "Là del ciel nell'arcano profondo," magically produced a cabinet containing a glittering gown for Cenerentola and whisked her off to the ball.
Revisiting the opera of his Met debut, as Dandini, but making his Met role debut as Don Magnifico, Baron of Monte Fiascone (literally Mount Great Disaster), Cenerentola's odious stepfather, buffo baritone Alessandro Corbelli pattered and prattled his way through three arias. In the first, the walls of his shabby mansion split open to show the winged donkey of the dream he described, sailing over a tower. In the second, he reveled in his appointment as wine steward and, with gusto, sampled the contents of the Prince's wine cellar and grandly issued orders. The last reflected his continued hope of placing one of his daughters at Court, even as the family's fortunes waned.
Corbelli and Simone Alberghini, a weighty bass-baritone rather than a light lyric baritone, resuming the role of Dandini and dapper if over the top as the valet deputizing for the Prince, pattered merrily through the revelation duet, "Un segreto d'importanza," and avoided making something homophobic of the exchange in the preceding recitative, Dandini: "Voi sentirete un caso assai bizzarro" (You will hear about a very bizarre situation); Magnifico: "Che volesse maritarsi con me?" (Surely he doesn't want to marry me!) Rachelle Durkin and Patricia Risley completed the cast as the boorish Clorinda and Tisbe, Cenerentola's stepsisters, who strutted their stuff in most ridiculous finery.
The ensemble highlight of the evening, among many sparkling selections, was the comic sextet in the penultimate scene, "Questo è un nodo avviluppato," rich in extravagantly rolled r's, as the Prince wove and tightened a silvery ribbon web around Cenerentola, her stepfamily, and Dandini, most visibly stunned at the turn of the tale's events.
The orchestra, under Maurizio Benini's baton, particularly shone in the overture and the second act storm, during which Don Magnifico's umbrella burst into flames, as if struck by lightning. The men's chorus, dressed in dark suits and sporting bowler hats, did yeoman duty. The production, by Cesare Lievi, with sets and costumes by Maurizio Balò, lighting by Gigi Saccomandi, and choreography by Daniela Schiavone, is staged, this season, by Sharon Thomas.
Two performances remain, on May 6 at 8 p.m. and 9 at 12:30 p.m., with the latter transmitted live to cinemas, other theaters and school in High Definition. For tickets, from $15 to 375, visit www.metopera.org, call 212/362-6000, or go to the Met box office at Lincoln Center. On weekdays, look for $20 rush tickets at the box office, sold on the day of the performance. There is also a $25 Weekend Tickets program.
