Get lost, Disney; you are no match for the genius of Gioachino Rossini.
This was the final broadcast of the regular season for the Met; Rossini's La Cenerentola. This is another version of the centuries-old Cinderella story*. The version most Westerners are familiar with is the French version by Charles Perrault, in which the heroine has a fairy godmother, a pumpkin that turns into a carriage, mice that turn into horses, and loses her shoe as she leaves the ball as the clock strikes midnight. This version is somewhat different. Instead, the prince's tutor comes to give the heroine the ride to the ball, and she gives the prince her bracelet saying that she will have the matching one.
This was mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's last time singing the title role of Angelina. She has sung this role many times in the past, and decided that it was time to bid farewell to this particular opera. Joining her is fellow bel canto superstar, Juan Diego Florez.
Act 1 shows Don Magnifico's daughters Clorinda and Tisbe talking about an upcoming ball and arguing. Their stepsister Angelina, called Cenerentola, works as the family maid and is treated harshly. The prince, Don Ramiro, comes disguised as his own valet and he and Angelina fall in love at first sight. The fake prince arrives and Clorinda and Tisbe are smitten at once. They are invited to the ball. Angelina asks to come as well, but Don Magnifico beats her with his cane. But after everyone else leaves, the prince's tutor comes to give Angelina the ride to the ball. She arrives masked and captivates the entire court.
In Act 2, Don Magnifico worries that arrival of the mysterious woman will ruin his daughters' chances of marrying the prince. Angelina decides it's time for her to leave, and gives the prince her bracelet. The prince swears that he will find her again. Angelina has returned home long before her step-family, and they are freaking out as they come in. Some time later, during a storm, the prince's carriage breaks down so they have to take shelter in Don Magnifico's castle. This time the prince is in full regalia, much to the astonishment of Angelina and her step-family. The prince threatens to punish Don Magnifico and his daughters for the way they treated Angelina, but she pleads with him, asking him to forgive them. They are her only family after all. At the wedding, Don Magnifico tries to curry favor with the new princess, but all she asks of him is to finally treat as his own daughter. She forgives her step-family for their cruelty and declares that her days of mourning by the fire are over.
This production set the stage in a surreal 1918-ish setting, with props blown completely out of proportion, and the all-male chorus in tuxedos and bowler hats. Gags range from a sofa missing one leg that keeps tipping over whenever someone sits down to lightning destroying an umbrella in the second act. The wedding scene had the prince and Angelina standing atop a giant wedding cake, and Angelina gives her step-family each a piece of cake when she forgives them. Everyone but the Prince and Angelina had their faces painted white with clownish cheeks and ridiculous eyebrows.
Two thing stood out. Let's get the obvious one out of the way first. Juan Diego Florez has never been any hotter. There's nothing I can say about his performance that would do it justice.
The second one was the behavior of the stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe. While they portrayed in most media as being cruel to Cinderella for the sheer heck of it, in this production at least, they are are not so much overtly wicked as they are ditzy airheads. Their cruelty stems from being careless material girls (Don Magnifico is the more outright cruel one). Just like the last time I saw this one, the stepsisters stole the show with their hilarious antics, including accidentally kissing each other as they both try to kiss the "prince", pulling the chairs out from under each other during the Act 1 finale, and fighting over the bouquet Angelina has just tossed.
If the Met does this again, I'll be there.
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*The Cinderella story goes all the way back to Ancient Egypt with the tale of Rhodopis and her Golden Sandles.
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