La Cenerentola is one of Rossini's best operas, it's charming and funny with some of Rossini's most effortlessly beautiful music. For me, the Ponnelle film is the best production of La Cenerentola, but this Met production is a more than worthy one. The settings are not as beautiful as those as Ponnelle's, being darker in their colour schemes, but have a certain elegance to it. The staging is charming and funny, the idea to have Angelina and Ramiro on top of the wedding cake was a lovely image to me, much more so than the more recent Met production. The orchestral playing is full of beauty of tone and style, and James Levine's reading brings out the colour and humour of the score wonderfully. Cecilia Bartoli is splendid in the title role, her stage presence is full of charm and wit and she as ever sings with her usual smoky tone and agility. Ramon Vargas also makes a positive impression as Ramiro, his singing has great purity and his breath control continues to amaze, I've not always been totally enamoured by his acting but he is very appealing here I have to admit. Michele Pertusi sings his florid passages with ease and a fine deal of resonance, and cuts a sympathetic and noble presence as the "fairy godfather" Alidoro. Simone Alaimo is wickedly funny as Magnifico, and sings with such character. The stepsisters are hilarious. But I have to give the top honours to Alessandro Corbelli's brilliant Dandini, beautiful singing and enormous fun to watch. Overall, this was a magical if not definitive production, one does wish that someone would release it on DVD in the future. 9/10 Bethany Cox
2 Reviews
Truly amazing La Cenerentola
AngelofMusic199812 November 2023
La Cenerentola(Cinderella) is one of the sweetest opera I know .This 1997 Met production is my favorite Cinderella. Sets and costumes look very beautiful here. Cecilia Bartolli sings and looks very beautiful here. Fun fact is that she is a coloratura mezzo soprano,a very rare voice type ,so she sang soprano and mezzo roles too .Ramon Vargas looks and sings very good as Ramiro,the prince. Younger Alessandro Corbelli is pretty good as Dandini. Everyone looks like they are having fun. I absolutely adore the dynamics and how everyone is enjoying. Out of the 3 Met production of Cinderella I have seen (1997,2009 and 2014),this one is my favorite.9/10.
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