Stream: Cendrillon
Cinderella is a staple of the opera house, but not the Massenet version, ‘Cendrillon’ (which is available from Covent Garden for two weeks) but the Rossini version, ‘La Cenerentola’ which is frequently performed. Indeed, this filmed version of ‘Cendrillon’ was recorded in 2011 and was the first time ever it was produced at Covent Garden. After seeing it at the time we all wondered why it had taken so long. It got very good reviews and certainly was much superior to another tired rerun of Boheme or Traviata. Watching the film of it recently (aided by my smart TV with the sound boosted through B&O 9000), reminded me how good it was and why you should try to catch it before it ends at the end of June. It’s free, but there is an opportunity to donate to Covent Garden. There is a real threat to the continuation of opera in Britain, and indeed round the world, because of the crisis. Opera is an expensive art form and can only operate if opera houses operate near capacity as Covent Garden does. You can't socially distance opera houses and make them work!
One reason why Cendrillon hasn't been as popular as Rossini's Cinderella is of course that it is written in French, not Italian, and does not have some of the big arias that the Rossini version does. Yet it is full of beautiful music and that is brought out very well by Bertrand de Billy, the fine French conductor, and Covent Garden's excellent orchestra. It also has a very stylish French production by Laurent Pelly, and fine humorous choreography by Laura Scozzi. This production is shared by several other opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and indeed their production is also available online, but you will need a subscription to the Met to see it. They also share the two principal roles sung by Joyce di Donato as Cinders and Alice Coote as Prince Charming and they are the outstanding singers of these roles in the world at present. There are other cast differences between the Covent Garden and the Met productions and indeed the Met’s wicked stepmother, played by Stephanie Blyth, and Cinder's father, played by Laurent Naouri, are rather better. There is also a lot more ballet in the Met production and all French operas have a lot of ballet!
However, ‘Cendrillon’ requires two good performers and this Covent Garden production has the two best in the world. Joyce di Donato was in her prime as a singer and as an actress in 2011, and here she is convincing in her arias and her acting as the poor daughter left behind whilst everyone else goes to the ball. Alice Coote the excellent mezzo soprano playing Prince Charming has become adept at playing ‘pants’ parts, i.e. women singing male roles, and here she does it very convincingly - except that she is a little shorter than Joyce di Donato! Ewa Podles is competent as the wicked stepmother but not as frightening as Stephanie Blyth in the Met production. The fairy godmother is sung by Cuban American singer Eglise Gutierrez who has a good voice but is maybe not as convincing as the Met's Kathleen Kim.
There is a lot of opera available online during the lockdown, and although not as good as the real thing, it does while away the boring hours of lockdown and often the close-up direction enhances your understanding of the acting as well as the singing. I have gained new insights into operas I have seen many times on stage because of the close-ups and having good sound also helps. However, it does not beat the real thing, so let us hope the lockdown ends soon. In the meantime, let us know your experience of opera online. Send it to us at edinburghmusicreview.com.
Streaming for free until the 4th of June on YouTube.
