La Cenerentola

 

 

La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini is the non-magical operatic version of the popular rags to riches story of Cinderella. Cenerentola (literally translated as girl of the cinders) is actually named Angelina, the terribly treated step-daughter of Baron Don Magnifico who has used the inheritance after the death of her birth mother. Don Magnifico and his two spoiled daughters, in hopes of replenishing their monetary funds, plan on wooing the local prince who, as chance may have it, must immediately marry or lose his title.

  After the runaway success of The Barber of Seville the previous year, the 25 year old Rossini struck gold again with La Cenerentola first performed in January of 1817. The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola are quite similar in nature. Although the latter is referred to as a drama giocoso, both are Opera Buffo stories that revolve around a young girl metaphorically in shackles looking to change her life for the better. The main difference between the characters of Rosina and Cenerentola’s Angelina, created by mezzo-soprano Geltrude Righetti, seems to be their demeanor. Rosina is more proactive in freeing herself from the walls of Bartolo’s will in pursuit of her unknown suitor, while Cenerentola daydreams of a better life only to unwittingly procure her wants as the result of a stranger’s generous disposition.

In my reviews I normally begin with the singers in attempt to emphasize the point the opera’s first priority is singing, but this time I would like to start with the orchestra; more specifically the conductor of the production, Sir Andrew Davis. In the past I have expressed my opinion that the orchestra of the Lyric Opera is world class and consistently in top form. With the 2015-16 season already nearing its third production, I cannot reiterate that claim due to the lackadaisical attention of the conductors, Sir Andrew Davis the most guilty. I have commented in past reviews at an opera house the seats over 3,500 conductors need to be hypersensitive to the dynamics of the orchestra and cheat towards a softer volume so as not to drown out the singers, with Sir Andrew Davis being the main culprit of criticism. He did nothing, but strengthen my opinion with this most recent performance. In an opera like La Cenerentola, the singers often have fast moving melodic lines that cross and intertwine with other singers, a staple of Bel Canto opera that Rossini was known for. There are also many sections of rhythmic based singing known as “Patter” which involves a lot of words and articulation of consonants. It is difficult for a singer to generate a great deal of volume in these types of fast moving songs and an orchestra, if not reined in by the conductor, can drown out the vocal lines quite easily. This is exactly what happened in the performance of La Cenerentola, along with a lack of coordination between the orchestra and singers. This responsibility lies at the feet of the conductor. Sir Andrew Davis appeared to be marking time and rarely looking up at the singers, an integral part of the conducting responsibilities for an opera production. At one point a set of mirrored doors were on stage allowing the audience to glimpse the conductor head on. Rarely if ever did Sir Andrew Davis appear to look up. As a consequence the singers were routinely covered by the orchestra. I, for one, am tired of this and think it may be time, as it is the case with James Levine at the Met, for Sir Andrew Davis to step aside and allow a younger generation of conductor to helm the principal conducting duties of the Lyric Opera.

Singing the title role of Cenerentola (Angelina) was American mezzo-soprano, Isabel Leonard. Ms. Leonard made her Lyric Opera debut in one of the roles that she has become known for, that of Rosina in The Barber of Seville. I quite enjoyed her in that role as she was one of the highlights of that performance. Ms. Leonard has an innately beautiful round tone that has depth and projection. Unfortunately in this performance those attributes didn’t seem to help her much. Ms. Leonard’s singing and stage presence lacked energy and urgency. While her colleagues sang with intensity and focus, Ms. Leonard’s coloratura was at times foggy and in need of articulation. The top of her voice, when supported and energized, had bloom and color, which was not consistent. Her commitment to the character looked a bit listless in line with her overall singing. She didn’t inhabit the character of a young woman seeking to right the injustices of her step-family. Ms. Leonard’s Cenerentola seemed to accept her lot in life rather than fight her way out of the cinders.

  Juxtaposed to Ms. Leonard’s unfocused performance was the crisp and clear Don Ramiro of American tenor, Lawrence Brownlee’s. Mr. Brownlee, in his Lyric Opera debut, sang with purpose, energy, and intensity evident not only in the balance of the sound, but the ease and agility with which it was produced. To me his voice is the epitome of a Rossini tenor. Its silvery color has a rapid vibrato which creates a sense of fluidity as it dances around Rossini’s fioritura. Mr. Brownlee, though not an incredible actor, was comfortable on the stage and performed the choreographed moments in a concise manner much like his singing. My only complaint was the recurring nasality in his tone on sustained notes or passages that sat in the break between the middle register and upper register (F-G in a Tenor’s voice).

  Another member of last season’s Barber of Seville performance was legendary Italian baritone and Bel Canto specialist, Alessandro Corbelli. Similar in nature to the character of Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Mr. Corbelli sang the comic role of Cenerentola’s uncaring fast talking step-father, Don Magnifico. As he did in the Barber performance, Mr. Corbelli brought life to the character of the brusk and self-serving Magnifico with precise comic timing and understated nuance. His voice, though at times rough, easily projected in to the hall and was balanced from top to bottom. He has made an art of Rossini’s consonant riddled ensembles and could perform these roles in his sleep. He very well could be the Lawrence Olivier of operatic acting method.

 Making his Lyric Opera debut in the role of Dandini, Don Ramiro’s servant was Italian baritone Vito Priante. Mr. Priante’s virile baritone was clear and agile and could easily be heard over the orchestra. Like Mr. Brownlee, he has a faster sounding vibrato that helped create line in his voice. He had a tendency to push a bit near the top of his range which stuck out with respect to volume. Like Mr. Corbelli, Mr. Priante committed to the characterization and appeared to enjoy hamming it up for the audience.

Perhaps my favorite singing moment of the night belonged to American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn in the role of the philosopher, Alidoro. Mr. Van Horn has a dark rich voice that was well connected and had depth throughout his entire range that was shown off in the first act aria, Là del ciel nell'arcano profondo. He had no problem being heard over the orchestra, with the exception of when he was required to sing piano in ensembles and the orchestra (as mentioned earlier) drown out most of the singers. The stoic role of Alidoro didn’t require much acting from Mr. Van Horn and his voice was all the presence he really needed.

The roles of the demanding step-sisters were sung by first year members of the Ryan Opera Center, soprano Diana Newman and mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen whose voices and movements blended nicely together. They added the right amount of comic flair to opera without having to go overboard. Once again, they were unfortunately drowned out in large numbers like act one’s wonderful ensemble, O figlie amabili due to the overpowering dynamics of the orchestra.

The sets and design by Joan Guillen were bright not only in color, but lighting as the floor of Don Ramiro’s palace was comparable to the dance floor in the movie, Saturday Night Fever. The costumes were exaggerated late 18^th century, early 19^th century styles with oversized hoop dresses and jackets with an apparent nod to Alice in Wonderland meets comedia dell’arte. This extravagance did not seem out of place compared to the excess of The Marriage of Figaro which detracted from the action. The grid-like chess board look of La Cenerentola fit nicely with the giocoso part of the drama.

 

 I wished that Barbara Gaines, the director of Lyric’s Marriage of Figaro, would have seen this production to see how operatic slapstick comedy worked. Director Joan Font did a wonderful job of allowing the comic roles enough freedom to be funny without cheap jokes to the audience. The icing on the opera buffo cake was the stylized choreography in ensemble numbers that Rossini’s music begged for. There were a few moments where some Mel Brooks moments were missed.

“Walk this way…”

The men’s chorus sounded nice and balanced and they were a character onto themselves, executing the numerous choreographed scenes with ease. The orchestra itself sounded good, but nut its normal top notch self. Again I contribute that what I envision to be a lack of musical vision. I found myself smiling during most of the musical numbers and was delighted by the overall production which has been a rarity the past few seasons. Rossini has an uncanny ability to make one smile and tap their toes at the most unexpected times.

The Barber of Seville

 

 

 

 

    As is the case with so many dramas, the histrionic storyline on stage can sometimes be overshadowed by the melodramatic happenings outside. So is was with Rossini's, "The Barber of Seville". As noted in the Lyric Opera program notes, Rossini faced an angry set of sycophants at the premiere. The Italian claque were in attendance to not only show their unpleasant reaction to Rossini's opera, but to voice their support for the composer, Giovanni Paisiello who had originally set Beaumarchais' story to music. The first "Barber of Seville" had its premier in 1782 and was considered a mainstay on the operatic stage up to that time. After the disastrous 1816 premiere, like most comic operas, Rossini won out in the end and his version of "The Barber of Seville" is the true main stay nearly 200 years later. This opera holds special memories for me, most of all being that this was the first production that I heard at the Lyric Opera of Chicago back in 1994, with Rockwell Blake as Count Almaviva.

 

  The title may be The Barber of Seville, but judging by the individual performances of this production, I would have to change that to "Rosina's Revenge". American Mezzo-Soprano, Isabel Leonard made her Lyric Opera debut with a vocal splash as the servile, yet spirited Rosina. Her dark round tone was sung in a beautifully connected line that bloomed, like her characterization, as her voice eased through every part of its range. Ms. Leonard used her impeccable technique to bring out the subtle nuances of Rosina's personality in the aria, "Una voce poca fa", which conveys the true character beneath her outward obedience and charm. Ms. Leonard's voice has a dark polish in the lower range which is a wonderful contrast to the light airy colors that she can employ throughout the middle and upper parts of her voice with ease in Rossini's florid sections. That is not to say that those areas of her voice are light or small. Ms. Leonard had no problem being heard, as evident in the Act II finale when Ms. Leonard is one of two female singers onstage next to 5 male soloists and all male chorus. Both female parts had no trouble carrying past the overwhelming sound of orchestra and men. In addition to the beautiful singing and interpretation, Ms. Leonard's acting was one of the few highlights in an otherwise frenetic staging. The only flaw was near the end of the opera when her vibrato sounded a bit wide, which was understandable given how much singing is required for the role of Rosina.

 

  The part of Count Almaviva was sung by the young American Tenor, Alek Shrader, who was prominently featured in the operatic documentary, The Audition. Mr. Shrader has quickly made a name for himself as a Rossini/Mozart specialist on the international circuit. He has a sweet and agile voice that has little to no problem executing the long passages of fioritura in every area of his vocal range. That's not to say that his singing was perfect with regard to stylistic choices. Mr. Shrader crooned throughout his first aria, "Ecco ridente..." and employed straight tone, especially when moving in to his higher register. This stripped some of the color from the voice and broke up the Bel Canto line, but because of the innate beauty in his tone, most audiences will accept this method without question. Another bit of collateral damage was Mr. Shrader's projection. His voice was difficult to hear at times even when the orchestral dynamics were piano. Mr. Shrader's singing, however naturally beautiful, was inconsistent and veering dangerously close to a pop-like sound. When Mr. Shrader sang with support and core, his voice projected more easily and suddenly had more depth. With regard to his stage presence, he was quite confident in the characterization of Almaviva, but moved too much around the stage. Even when he just stood and sang, there were too many hand gestures and I'm quite sure that he did an Elvis pose at one point.  

 

  Figaro himself was sung by well known American Baritone, Nathan Gunn who is experienced not only in opera, but classic American Musical theater as well. Mr. Gunn has a warm and well rounded tone that is hard not to like, which is basically what I was thinking whenever he sang.

"I want to like him."

It was apparent from his opening cavatina, the ever popular "Largo al Factotum", that the role of Figaro was not necessarily going to be a walk in the park for him. Although Mr. Gunn's voice was a bit bigger than Mr. Shrader's, he had difficulty maintaining his quality of tone throughout the high tessitura of Figaro's opening aria. Mr. Gunn's vibrato was consistently wobbly and uneven throughout the entire opera. It was difficult to pick out his voice in larger ensemble numbers, especially against an orchestral forte. Despite his round and velvety tone, I wonder if Mr. Gunn hasn't inadvertently neglected his operatic technique in pursuit of theatrical interpretations.

 

  In our new title, "Rosina's Revenge", the later would be in reference to the "other" star of this production, word renowned Italian Baritone, Alessandro Corbelli who sang the part of the scheming Dr. Bartolo. I would say that he was the only one of the men to consistently sing with a line. He didn't bark his way through the role, as we have come to expect with it being a slapstick comedy part. I also have to say that it was such a breath of fresh air to hear Signor Corbelli use glottal fry to in order to keep his voice grounded through the fast moving parts that sat in a higher place of his range. This is fast becoming a dying art, which from a technical perspective is a necessity for one who wishes to have a long lasting career in opera. Just ask Mr. Corbelli, who has been singing since the early 70's. In addition to his fine singing, Mr. Corbelli nailed the uptight, highly strung, and effusive nature that is Bartolo.

 

  American Bass-Baritone, Kyle Ketelsen sang the role of Don Basilio. Without any intention of disparaging Mr. Ketelsen's performance, I felt that he was totally miscast in this role. He has a rich dark tone that carried throughout the hall, but it is not the color that is needed for the role. His timbre was far too similar to that of Mr. Corbelli rather than that of a true bass which brings out the texture that Rossini's score calls for. There were times that I felt that Mr. Ketelsen was trying to artificially darken his voice during Basilio's grand aria, "La Calumnia". The casting of a Bass-baritone rather than a Bass was not to my liking which is once again, nothing to do with Mr. Ketelsen.

 

The comprimario roles were filled out with three singers from the Lyric's Ryan Center young artist program. American Baritone, Will Liverman sang the beginning role of Fiorello, which he sang with rich tone and a connected line. Baritone, John Irvin sang well as the Sergeant, but the surprising stand out of the three, in my opinion, was Soprano, Tracy Cantin in the role of Berta. She has a big bright sound that easily carried along side Ms. Leonard in the male heavy Act II finale. The only criticism I had of Ms. Cantin's singing was that during her aria, it sounded as if she was trying to brighten the tone which took away some of the beautiful depth of sound that he voice is capable of.

 

  Leading the orchestra was Italian conductor, Michele Mariotti, making his Lyric Opera debut. Maestro Mariotti did a wonderful job of adhering to the range of dynamics of the score, although I felt that he took many of the tempi too fast, especially those of the consonant heavy "patter" numbers. There were a few moments that I thought Mr. Corbelli was going to pass out due to lack of oxygen. If the tempi had been a tad slower, the singers would not only have a chance for a full breath, but we could hear the pitches more clearly rather than escaping air of endless consonants.

 

  Making his Lyric Opera directorial debut is Rob Ashford, who recently directed "The Sound of Music" which appeared live on TV. Ashford's stage directions seemed overdone with bits of minutia that either missed or caused distraction both visually and aurally. At the start of the opera, the village orchestra players shuffle around the stage which took away from the music. Ashford had Count Almaviva moving around in apparent romantic sturm und drang as he sang his opening aria, at some points with his back to the audience and downstage, which made it challenging for the audience to hear the music clearly. As I stated before, Alek Shrader who sang the role of Almaviva was in constant motion even when standing still. I think this emphasis on the visual in an aural medium is no aberration, but a disconcerting philosophy that stage directors are allowed to pursue with little restraint or balance. I felt that the overall stage direction was a distraction from what I came to hear.

 

 

Both the orchestra and chorus (overwhelmingly male) sounded wonderful with a special nod to the string players who executed the tempi and ever changing dynamic levels with precision.  

 

 

  The set design was by Scott Pask, also making his Lyric Opera debut. I thought it was beautifully elegant, employing a clean looking 18th century Spanish style hacienda villa decorated with a real fountain in the midst of an open courtyard. My only criticsm was the abnormally long amount of time the set change took in between the first 2 scenes, although it was executed in an artistic manner.