Review: Rossini's Cinderella at Houston Grand Opera

In the world of opera (as in any art), each composer has a distinctive style. Teutonic titan Richard Wagner has power; Italian master Giuseppe Verdi has grand passion; sublime Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has wit; Bavarian prodigy Richard Strauss has chromatic lushness; bon vivant Giacomo Puccini has endless, ravishing melodies; and bel canto genius Gioachino Rossini has charm. He has enough charm for all of the above.

Houston Grand Opera’s revival of its 2007 production of Rossini’s Cinderella (La Cenerentola, 1817), from director Joan Font’s Barcelona-based Comediants, has a patent on charm. From its crayola-colored costumes (fuchsia, pink, magenta) to its Mondrian-inspired sets (all from ace designer Joan Guillén), from its exquisite singing to its overall playful operatic fantasy, this opera buffa is a singular sensation. All its elements work together, unlike some other HGO Comediants’ productions which clubbed you over the head with incessant inventiveness.

Here, though, there’s cohesiveness and a welcoming peace to its mayhem, a unifying wholeness that satisfies. Little ones, first-timers, and veteran opera goers will be enthralled. If nothing else, there are six adorable, scratching, whisker-twitching, gymnastic mice who will thoroughly entertain you throughout. Like a nudge to the Disney animation classic, they embody Cinderella’s psyche, becoming her faithful companions, watching, commenting, sympathizing, and even moving the scenery when appropriate. When they’re off stage, even the mighty comic Rossini feels sadder. At the curtain call, other than superstar mezzo Isabel Leonard as Cinderella, who deserves all the accolades possible, the rodents received the biggest applause. They are scene stealers deluxe.

Truth be told, no one steals scenes from Leonard, certifiably one of current opera’s reigning mezzos. She is a delight as Cinderella (named Angelica in the opera). But really, is there anything she can’t sing? If you saw her recently at HGO as a most buoyant Maria in The Sound of Music or as the tormented lover in Massenet’s Werther, you know how incredibly versatile she is. Even surrounded by those scampering mice, you can’t take your eyes off her. She sails through Rossini’s treacherous filigree as if in one breath, a major class in flawless coloratura technique. A handsome presence on stage, she’s a joy to watch as well as hear. When she lovingly pets her mice while singing her plaintive lullaby at the fireplace, she has us in the palm of her hand. Even the mice are mesmerized.

Rossini wrote for the best singers of his generation. 25 years old and famous for Tancredi, The Italian Girl in Algiers, Otello and The Barber of Seville, he could pick his cast. He didn’t stint on making it easy. This was the bel canto era, when audiences expected florid and showstopping numbers whatever the dramatic situation. A composer had to compete with patrons wandering about the auditorium, gossiping, flirting, eating their chicken dinner. Rossini didn’t disappoint. He stopped them mid-bite.

HGO supplies a cast who stops time.

As Prince Don Ramiro, young tenor Jack Swanson, soon to debut at America’s reigning opera house, NYC’s Metropolitan Opera, astounds with effortless high Cs and pitch-perfect diction through the most difficult vocal calisthenics, every note clear and precise. He’s a lively match to Leonard’s spirited Cinderella. In one of the funniest physical bits from director Font, the Prince, pretending he’s the valet, tries to help Cinderella clean up a broken cup. He doesn’t know the broom from the dust pan.

Especially effective is baritone Iurii Samoilov, as the Prince’s valet Dandini, who masquerades as the prince to spy on Cinderella’s household to make sure the daughters are worthy of being prospective brides. Samoilov has an effortless, star-turning way on stage, maneuvering through Rossini’s treacherous style with room to spare. Everything he sings sounds easy. And he sings magnificently.

Soprano Alissa Goretsky and mezzo Emily Treigle, as stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe, in their comically inflated panniers and cotton-candy wigs, add flair, vaudeville shtick, and sumptuous voices to the cartoon adventures, while baritone Alessandro Corbelli, as grasping stepfather Don Magnifico, and bass-baritone Cory McGee, as pseudo-fairy godmother Alidoro, add their impressive tonal depth to the proceedings. When all seven voices join forces in one of Rossini’s many tongue-twisting patter numbers, one marvels at their laser-like proficiency. (Was W.S. Gilbert – of Gilbert & Sullivan fame – inspired by Rossini’s quick-silver tempi and the fleet-footed lyrics by librettist Jacapo Ferretti?)

Under HGO maestro Lorenzo Passerini (and chorus master Richard Bado), Rossini’s Cinderella is a musical macaron. There is sweetness of voice and a chewy visual delight. HGO has taken this antique opera style and made it fresh as an internet influencer. See it and blog. Don’t forget to mention the rats.

Cinderella continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 1; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, November 7; Family Day, 2 p.m. Saturday, November 9; and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 9 at the Wortham Center, 501 Texas. Sung in Italian with English surtitles. For more information, call 713-228-6737 or visit houstongrandopera.org. $25-$280.