Review: La Cenerentola"Rossini Offers Joyous Fun"The Courier Post (Robert Baxter) Opera New Jersey is serving up a bubbling Rossini comedy after opening with Verdian melodrama. "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella") delivers an evening of joyous fun in Berlind Theatre. The fun begins as soon as conductor Robert Wood and the orchestra dig into Rossini's overture. Then when the lights go up, stage director Michael Scarola fills the stage with comedic action. Rossini and his librettist, Jacopo Ferretti, humanize the fairy tale. They replace the fairy godmother and her magic wand with the prince's tutor. The opera culminates in a touching scene of reconciliation as Cinderella forgives her stepfather and sisters. Scarola catches the tender pathos as well as the comic fun in Rossini's buoyant score. He choreographs the movement of the cast and chorus in time with the music. His staging blossoms seamlessly in the big ensembles. The only visual let down are Tony Fanning's cartoon-like sets, borrowed from the Virginia Opera. The designer creates a fanciful series of settings that sometimes look a bit garish and contrived. Wood leads a winning musical performance. His baton deftly underpins the big arias and adds sparkle to Rossini's bubbling ensembles. There are no virtuoso singers in the cast. But the solo voices have personality and blend well in the concerted numbers. To the title role, Leah Wool brings a soft-grained mezzo-soprano and dark-haired physical charm. An affecting Cinderella, Wool convinces as both the scorned stepdaughter and the radiant woman who wins the prince's heart. She sings the joyous final rondo fluently if without the coruscating brilliance the music ideally demands. Javier Abreu makes a handsome Ramiro, but his lightweight tenor loses its quality when he forces the tone on top. Eric T. Dubin capers through the role of Dandini, the valet who masquerades as the prince. Scott Conner lends dignity to the prince's tutor. Adding uproarious comedy to the performance are Matthew Lau (Magnifico), Rebecca Kier (Clorinda) and Alissa Anderson (Tisbe). Lau may lack the fat tone and girth associated with the role of Cinderella's bumbling stepfather, but he savors the fun and sings with aplomb. Kier and Anderson almost steal the show with their outrageous mugging and endless primping. They exploit Patricia A. Hibbert's outlandish costumes as they battle Cinderella for the prince. |
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