Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

A fantastic, relatively obscure Rossini. Invigorating enough on stage but mostly delectable as a listening piece. Armida is the only female role, and a fiendish coloratura one at that, but leaving much of the heavy lifting to the men, including the seven(!) tenor roles. The tenor trio(!!) in the final act is smashing, as is the ballet music. It's the high male voice writing that really gets me.

If you're one of those people who doesn't enjoy reading musical notes on a page, I'd recommend show more checking out the Renee Fleming/Gregory Kunde recording from the early 1990s. Early in Fleming's career, this is a live recording, but captures the musical sublimity of this piece well.

Merged review:

A fantastic, relatively obscure Rossini. Invigorating enough on stage but mostly delectable as a listening piece. Armida is the only female role, and a fiendish coloratura one at that, but leaving much of the heavy lifting to the men, including the seven(!) tenor roles. The tenor trio(!!) in the final act is smashing, as is the ballet music. It's the high male voice writing that really gets me.

If you're one of those people who doesn't enjoy reading musical notes on a page, I'd recommend checking out the Renee Fleming/Gregory Kunde recording from the early 1990s. Early in Fleming's career, this is a live recording, but captures the musical sublimity of this piece well. show less

The Libretto – 4 stars
The Translation – 3 stars

Reading the accompanying libretto after watching an opera is an excellent method to ascertain the details that are commonly missing from the translated text at the opera house. In Rossini/Ferretti’s version of Cinderella (La Cenerentola), a stepfather, not stepmother, and his two daughters tormented Cinderella. The stepfather also wasted Cinderella’s inheritance on his own family and stole her title for his daughters instead. The fairy show more godmother is replaced by the prince’s tutor/advisor, who guided the prince to Cinderella’s home. The prince and his footman switched roles giving the prince a chance to see everyone in their true colors. Upon the unveiling, the prince and the footman humorously mocked the stepfather and the stepsisters for all their pompousness. Lastly, the glass slippers were replaced by a pair of matching bracelets. These changes make the staging of this opera more manageable and the story more believable, having removed some of the magical elements. Overall, I liked this approach.

My dislikes:
- As unbelievable as it may seem, this Cinderella is even more helpless than the Disney version. As least Disney’s Cinderella was busy making her own dress (the pink one). This Cinderella was an endless woe-is-me (well, and kind-hearted too).
- The translators took it upon themselves to change the pair of bracelets (which were what I saw on stage) to glass slippers, which they believed to be better simply because it is more widely known. I thought it was completely irresponsible and arrogant of them to make such a significant change from the original. Who do they expect the reader of a libretto to be? It certainly would not be children. Adults want authenticity! show less

Long before the craze for 'period instruments' and 'authentic performance', this recording proved that a joyous, fleet, lissome and wholly idiomatic spirit could prevail even while utilizing modern instruments, large-scale voices and a resonant recording venue. Varviso deserves central credit, because it is around his sharp rhythms and pinpoint articulation that the singers and chorus are able to build their characterizations with point, charm and great good humor. It took me a listening or show more two to begin to appreciate Ugo Benelli's very light tenor, but now his trenchant Almaviva is the standard by which I judge all rivals. Corena and Ghiaurov are strangely complementary as Bartolo and Basilio; Corena is a little ragged vocally (but only compared with his more youthful self), but his embodiment of pompousness and self-satisfaction is so delightful as to silence any caviling, while Ghiaurov is at his absolute prime sonically, sepulchral and pristine, but might lack the least little grain of impishness that is a part of Basilio's personality. Berganza takes command of every scene in which she appears and never lets the listener down in any way. Ausensi took a drubbing by the critics when the recording appeared and, as far as I know, didn't make many more high-profile operatic records. His voice is very presentable, robust and tonally secure, even though he brings no subtlety to the role of Figaro. The duet 'Dunque Io Son' with Berganza exposes his bluffness painfully in contrast with her exquisite nuance. On the other hand, isn't that the point; doesn't Rosina run rings around all the men in this tale, no matter how cunning they all think they are? show less

My head must have been up my bottom when I started listening to this - which was in the car. I could have sworn it was sung by no one I knew. Typing in the cast just now gave me a shock. Not know Samuel Ramey or Kathleen Battle?! At the top of the list?! I must be losing my mind!
Anyway, I kept looking at the cast list again and again as I listened ... in the car where my attention was continually diverted. And I was saying to myself, "This mezzo sounds like Marilyn Horne! Amazing!" I looked show more again. The more I listened, the more amazed I was. I was anxious to listen to "La Cenerentola" to see if any mezzos or contraltos had distinctive voices. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, I looked at the box again. Ah. It is Marilyn Horne. That explains everything.
The story, certainly not PC, is just silliness. The Bey of Algiers is tired of his wife and wants Isabella, the titular Italian to replace her. Isabella and her two compatriots (both captives and suitors, but one her own true love) convince the Bey that in order to win her love, he has to join a select group called the "pappatazzi" - the doofuses. He has to eat and drink and ignore everything else going on around him. The Bey throws himself heartily into the role and everyone runs away. Haha, silly Bey. Plotwise, I like "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" better. The Pasha in that is treated somewhat more sympathetically. And, besides, that's Mozart. show less