Rossini: La Cenerentola [DVD]

... is that, though the Bel Canto of Ann Murray is plenty Bello, this 1988 Cenerentola DVD from the Salzburg Festival is nowhere near as satisfactory as the DVD of the 1981 production at La Scala with Frederica von Stade in the title role. The two productions had a lot in common. Both were "traditional" stagings, well costumed, no heavy-thumbed directorial modernizations. Murray and von Stade were both at the peak of their vocal careers, while the role of Don Ramiro was sung magnificently on both stages by Francisco Araiza. Otherwise, the La Scala DVD is superior across the board, from conducting to camerawork. Remember that this IS a DVD, though filmed at a live performance! Sound recording quality is paramount; the singers and orchestra on the La Scala DVD are well balanced and integrated, but the sound on this Salzburg DVD is uneven, fading in and out, and of very low fidelity. The TV video is hardly up to the standards of our HDTV era. That isn't a failing which ruins the viewing experience, but the thin acoustic is a bummer.Riccardo Chailly's conducting of the Vienna Philharmonic at Salzburg is cautious to the point of coyness. The overture sounds strangely subdued and the flow from recitativo to aria is tentative throughout. At La Scala, Claudio Abbado gave his audience what Rossini-lovers want: headlong exuberance and lyrical sprightliness.It's hard to compare the vocal artistry of the singers in secondary roles from these two DVDs, given how different the sound-recording quality is. Their acting is a different matter. Gino Quilico sings Dandini quite handsomely, but in fact he's too handsome for the role, which is intended to be comic. Other reviewers have suggested that the haughty stepsisters Tisbe and Clorinda are not supposed to be comic caricatures. Hmmm. I can't imagine why not. This staging, to my mind, is rather glum and moralistic at times. The rapid-patter ensembles don't have the verve Rossini demands, and some of them are raggedy in relation to the orchestra.Sets? Jean-Pierre Ponnelle is often "over the top" for me, but his sets for the La Scala filming, based on sets he'd designed a decade earlier, are excellent both visually and as context for the acting. The sets for the Salzburg production are stiff, too symmetrical, hard to move through, boring. Likewise the stage movement tends to be blocky.Had I attended this Cenerentola in the Kleines Festspielhaus at the Salzburg Festival, I'm sure I'd have been wildly enthusiastic. La Cenerentola, like most of Rossini's operas, is well worth hearing and seeing live as often as possible. But let me say it again: This is a DVD! I can't imagine why anyone would play it more than once when the more satisfying Abbado/von Stade filming is available.

This Cenerentola is very real. The tale is of a woman scorned by the Don and his two miserable daughters. This interpretation is beautifully acted by Ann Murray who reaches the depths of her soul to forgive those who mistreated her with sometimes harsh scorn and always as a non-entity. Angelina(Cinderella) plays the scorned maid with great apathy and as Cinderella is elegant and just.She sings beautifully. The Prince (Francisco Araiza, at first portrays the valet, acts superbly and sings with his tuneful Rossinian tempos; very enjoyable. Dandini,played by Gino Quilico, the Prince's valet, though initially enters as the prince on his galloping horse, has the flair and comic sense as he plays the foil to the Don's daughters. Then there is Don Magnifico, portrayed by Walter Berry; he plays the foppish, superficial household figure, hoping to procure a "standing" with the Prince so the Prince may marry one of his two daughters, Clorinda and Tisbe. When confronting Cinderella, he is outwardly cruel and has a scary edginess......verbal cruelty. Alidoro, Wolfgang Schone, plays the beggar aided by Cinderella; the mentor to the Prince; the wise sage who gives hope to Cinderella. Riccardo Chailly masterfully conducts the Vienna forces and keeps the opera moving. The singing is what you will remember. The ensemble will not be forgotten. Recommended.

I did not know, that this dvd was for region 1. I can't play this one.

Very much impressed with Alma and cast!

Beautiful production, wonderful singing from marvellous singers. But it was certainly some 20 years ago when staged.

Chailly conducts Salzberg Festival Vienna St Op Or & Vienna Phil.The reviews here are for every production of this Rossini Opera so quite unreliable.This is truly Buffa, an operetta, light and frothy like Gilbert & Sullivan. But his dreary production is icy in the best drab uninteresting style of one color wash Neil Gaimon. The palette du couleurs = paynes grey, hard white, umber/cream. There is frigid kind of burnt umber for the browns. The hardness and icy wash of cold gray covers everything. It dampens the set. The staging is quite rigid. To some degree the sisters are in best voice for this live performance.Set is constrained with only one level.The supernatural lighning storm, an integral part of this story, lights a mechanical horse carriage(blk mais non). The other effect is another frozen horse (white) statue arriving with the prince.The operetta features multiple rounds & then increased speed with repetition, usually utilized to comic effect. Here it fall completely flat. The thrust is really to be had from the pit,but here Chailly also must have received some bad news that day because the orchestra just doesn't deliver. Whatever this operetta may lack in great musical score it still exudes an effervescent (music of the people) sparkle,however this performance's musicality is practically nonexistent.The primaries all give very lackluster performance and are not up to the kind of bouncing from note to note & trills expected. The lack of body language is also apparent and makes for ultra lifeless dull performance. Perhaps they all overate beforehand or had to stand around too lang all day for camera work, in any case it fizzled. This particular performance was a poor choice to immortalize for posterity. It is a good example of what looks & sounds like a 'very bad night' in theater talk. The sort when you and the audience know it is a no go.This Rossini classic is on other DVD's. Some are very good in one aspect or another. None are as dreary as this one. For sheer humor and buoyancy it is hard to beat the Bartoli. The extreme lightness of the music suggests Angeline could be a Jeanette MacDonald or Lily Pons, not a mezz at all.

Salzburg 1988. Im Saal glitzern Juwelen,leuchtet das weisse Diner-Jacket.Man hat viel für die Karten bezahlt und will geniessen. Da ist den Cenerentola sehr geeignet.Belcanto pur.Die Inscenierung von Michael Hampe ist konventionell.Aber schadet es ? Nein. Diese Oper ist ein Fest der Sänger. Die Handlung ist schiere Nebensache. Eine konventionelle Inscenierung vermindert also nicht den Eindruck dieses Werks.Und die Sänger ?Schwieriger, ja schwierigster Koloraturgesang, teuflisch komplizierte Ensemble-Scenen. Natürlich singen in Salzburg zumeist erste Fach-Kräfte.Ann Murray bewältigt ihre Rolle gut, obwohl sie ein wenig den Eindruck macht, es sei schwer ( das ist es, aber es wäre natürlich optimal, man könnte das weder sehen noch hören).Araiza war ein erfahrener Rossini-Tenor . Er sang allerdings diese Partie in der Produktion von Abbado sechs Jahre zuvor noch leichter.Walter Berry,damals 59, war ein wunderbarer Schauspieler. Daran hat man viel Freude.An seinem Gesang weniger. Berry war ein Welt-Star, aber die Rolle des Don Magnifico ist nicht zu unterschätzen. Zwischen einen Enzo Dara und einem Walter Berry gibt es dann noch Unterschiede.Der Beifall entspricht dem Umstand, dass die Erwartungen erfüllt wurden.Ich würde nach wie vor lieber die Inscenierung von Ponelle unter dem Dirigat von Abbado sehen.

... nur noch schöner! Die Musik von "La Cenerentola" (Aschenputtel) ist einfach traumhaft schön. Noch dazu die tollen Sänger! Das kleine Festspielhaus Salzburg hat diese Oper wunderschon inszeniert. Die Bühnenbauten sind perfekt und sehr kompliziert gemacht! Alles ist so gemacht, wie man es sich vorstellen würde. Ann Murray zarte Stimme ist wie geschaffen für die Partie des Aschenputtels und auch Angela Denning und Daphne Evangelatos sind als böse Stiefschwestern unübertrefflich! Francisco Araiza ist als Prinz Don Ramiro so überzeugend, das er jedes Frauenherz erobern könnte, wenn er wollte. Dank dieser DVD kann man anhand durch deutsche Untertitel die heitere Geschichte schnell begreifen. Die Bild und Tonqualität könnte nicht besser sein! Immerhin ist die Aufnahme aus den 80er Jahren !!!