I've never been a great admirer of Rossini - but then, I've never seen any of his operas staged. This one might very well have converted me - the ON production is a superb evening's entertainment, a complete success from every point of view - what has always struck me as Musically thin from recordings and broadcasts is happily fizzing around in my memory.
The cast is possibly the finest singing ensemble I've ever heard from the company - not a single unpleasant-sounding singer involved. They may not be the "greatest" singers around - others might find Sunnyboy Dladia's Prince Ramiro rather a "thin" sound, with none of the roof rafter rattling timbre of the most famous names; but he sang impeccably in pitch, his voice could be heard clearly over the orchestra (even from the cheap seats at the very top of the Grand Theatre) and he held his concluding top notes seemingly forever without the slightest deviation from the pitch. And (as with all the cast) his acting was a joy to watch. Wallis Giunta as Angelina/Cinderella was good from the start and got better as the evening progressed - her final solo was astonishing! Terrific actress, too - no "standing at the audience belting out the notes"; a genuine acting singer.
Quirjin de Lang's Dandini was vocally a little under par, but the production played to his weaknesses as much as to his strengths - the contrast between the sonority of his voice and the richer tones of John Savournin's Alidoro making clear the difference between the two characters. I was a little concerned by the singing of the two sisters (Sky Ingram and Amy J Payne) at the very start, but the comic business of the two throughout matched the way they sang. Their father was magnificently sung and acted by Henry Waddington - pomposity, toadying, buffoonery (and not a little nastiness) all "just right". The whole cast - and the superb men's chorus (wow!) - gave their utmost to the production, an utterly sparkling evening.
The production was superb, too - meticulous attention to stage detail (director Aletta Collins), wonderful set design (Giles Cadle) and construction (Scott Flearly Productions), magical use of video effects (Andrzej Goulding), perfectly judged choreography (Aletta Collins again - and I think that the attention paid to individual movement and impeccable comic timing from everybody concerned was in no small part due to the fact that the director is also an experienced choreographer; used to getting a mass of people to move "Musically"). Just one point I thought didn't work - when, in the penultimate scene, Clorinde spits in the face of her sister - an unprecedented moment of "violence" out of keeping with the rest of the production. (The "forgiveness" ending is a bit much for me, anyway - but there's not a lot anyone can do about that once they've chosen to do the opera!)
The outstanding quality of the orchestral playing was up to this company's usual stratospheric standards - I practically almost took it so much for granted that I nearly forgot to mention it! - and conductor Wyn Davies really brought out the sparkle, lyricism and excitement from the pages of the score. I shall give Rossini far greater respect and attention in future.
A glorious evening - surprisingly so for me; I really didn't think I was going to enjoy myself nearly so much. Highly recommended.
The cast is possibly the finest singing ensemble I've ever heard from the company - not a single unpleasant-sounding singer involved. They may not be the "greatest" singers around - others might find Sunnyboy Dladia's Prince Ramiro rather a "thin" sound, with none of the roof rafter rattling timbre of the most famous names; but he sang impeccably in pitch, his voice could be heard clearly over the orchestra (even from the cheap seats at the very top of the Grand Theatre) and he held his concluding top notes seemingly forever without the slightest deviation from the pitch. And (as with all the cast) his acting was a joy to watch. Wallis Giunta as Angelina/Cinderella was good from the start and got better as the evening progressed - her final solo was astonishing! Terrific actress, too - no "standing at the audience belting out the notes"; a genuine acting singer.
Quirjin de Lang's Dandini was vocally a little under par, but the production played to his weaknesses as much as to his strengths - the contrast between the sonority of his voice and the richer tones of John Savournin's Alidoro making clear the difference between the two characters. I was a little concerned by the singing of the two sisters (Sky Ingram and Amy J Payne) at the very start, but the comic business of the two throughout matched the way they sang. Their father was magnificently sung and acted by Henry Waddington - pomposity, toadying, buffoonery (and not a little nastiness) all "just right". The whole cast - and the superb men's chorus (wow!) - gave their utmost to the production, an utterly sparkling evening.
The production was superb, too - meticulous attention to stage detail (director Aletta Collins), wonderful set design (Giles Cadle) and construction (Scott Flearly Productions), magical use of video effects (Andrzej Goulding), perfectly judged choreography (Aletta Collins again - and I think that the attention paid to individual movement and impeccable comic timing from everybody concerned was in no small part due to the fact that the director is also an experienced choreographer; used to getting a mass of people to move "Musically"). Just one point I thought didn't work - when, in the penultimate scene, Clorinde spits in the face of her sister - an unprecedented moment of "violence" out of keeping with the rest of the production. (The "forgiveness" ending is a bit much for me, anyway - but there's not a lot anyone can do about that once they've chosen to do the opera!)
The outstanding quality of the orchestral playing was up to this company's usual stratospheric standards - I practically almost took it so much for granted that I nearly forgot to mention it! - and conductor Wyn Davies really brought out the sparkle, lyricism and excitement from the pages of the score. I shall give Rossini far greater respect and attention in future.
A glorious evening - surprisingly so for me; I really didn't think I was going to enjoy myself nearly so much. Highly recommended.
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