La Cenerentola - Rossini - Met Opera, New York City – Monday 21st April.
Angelina - Joyce DiDonato
Don Ramiro - Javier Camarena
Dandini - Pietro Spagnoli
Don Magnifico - Alessandro Corbelli
Alidoro - Luca Pisaroni
Clorinda –
Rachelle Durkin
Tisbe –
Patricia Risley
c. Fabio Luisi
Production: Cesare Lievi (1997)
Set & Costume Designer:
Maurizio Balò
Twice in the last month I have had the privilege of hearing Mr Javier
Camarena at the Metropolitan Opera House.
First as Elvino in La Sonnambula then as Prince Ramino in the Cinderella
opening. Neither is a top-of-the-pops
role for tenor, yet this man shone at every vocal opportunity in each
opera.
Even with an ‘ordinary’ tenor this would have been a commendable
opening night. Joyce DiDonato is
probably America’s
most sought after mezzo-soprano currently and she gave a magnificent
performance indeed. From her entry as
the humble but sweet servant girl to the dignified and yet compassionate
princess bride in the finale we heard her phenomenal dramatic and vocal
talents. Her colleagues were all
excellent including the debut of Mr Pietro Spagnoli as the valet and Mr
Corbelli in the buffo role. Even the
ugly sisters excelled, although their antics were almost over-the-top. Capable Australian soprano Rachelle Durkin is
in her tenth role at the Met.
Mr Javier Camarena stood out as a tenor with some very special
attributes. Even those unaware must have
noted the rapturous reception given to the tenor by the Met audience both
during and after the performance. I have
not heard such screams, applause, ‘encores’, bravo and the like since Pavarotti retired. The conductor, orchestra and other singers
also joined in applauding the tenor’s curtain call.
Mr Camarena has a velvet tenor timbre, as comfortable in Rossini’s rarefied complex tessitura as with simply
filling the house with full bodied spinto ‘nailed’ endings. He
was even able to smile in the middle of singing a long high C. His smooth, effortless legato line and great
breath control allows great expressive singing, soft and loud. While ‘superstardom’ may be premature, this man is already a member of
High C royalty as in this occasion he was replacing an indisposed Juan Diego
Florez (intriguingly, with some three weeks notice). The many ticket holders who were initially
disappointed at the replacement were indeed rewarded as events unfolded on this
auspicious night at the theater.
This 1997 production, mounted for Cecelia Bartoli, is a fantasy in blue
stripes. The faded tattiness of
Magnifico’s
mansion emphasises his urgent need for dowry funds. It has never been cheap to maintain a
palazzo. Magnifico’s only real asset is his female offspring … and everybody knows the rest of the
story. The Prince’s palace by contrast was perfect in the same
parallel blue stripes - and with cupboards full of giant clocks, all showing
midnight. The program warns patrons
about “fire effects”: the
storm scene sees rain coming through the derelict palazzo roof. Cinderella perfunctorily places buckets at
strategic points then passes an umbrella to the Baron who is then struck by
lightning –
sparks, smoke, singed hair, skeletal ribbed remnant umbrella frame and
all! Hilarious!
The production also dwelt upon food and drink to the extent that one
clever New York critic did an entire review in the form of a food review. The prince and Cinderella met in Act I over a
broken coffee cup. The ‘beggar’ in act one
is given hot chocolate and fruit.
Magnifico is made Ramiro’s cellarmaster. And the first act
ends with an formal pasta dinner on stage with one place setting too few,
causing an ‘excuse-me’ parade akin to musical chairs. The last scene is in, on and beside an
enormous triple deck wedding cake (in blue and pastel, of course!) and there is
champagne all round.
Camarena’s
colossal performance deserved all the cheers it received. I was told that his Act II cabaletta was
given an encore on the following performance.
This would only be the second time in 50 years that the Met has allowed
such a thing (I heard Florez do one in Fille du Regiment). It was a wonder with all the cheering to an
empty stage the Mr Camarena did not come out and taken a special bow – Florez once came out of character and did so
in Don Pasquale I recall.
I found the balance between orchestra and singers to be perfect ... also
noting a few minor timing mishaps as others have pointed out – a greater risk on opening nights. The ever elegant Maestro Luisi took the
evening at a measured pace and the Met chorus was impeccable. So much of Rossini’s humour comes straight out of the orchestra
pit, starting with the most brilliant overture where the woodwind become like
the Marx Brothers at the opera. The
Rolled ‘R’ Rondo “Questo è un nodo avviluppatto” was superlatively done as a
literal ‘tangle’. Such was Mr Camarena’s
success that I wondered if he might be asked to do the HD video slated for 10th
of May. We shall see.
Almost uniquely but most appropriately, there was a review of this
performance on the New York Times web site before lunch the following day, and
mostly in praise of the show. As with Ms
Opelais singing Mimi and Butterfly back-to-back recently (also due to illness),
the Met must love getting into the front section of the newspaper rather than
just the arts pages. With lots of empty
seats most nights these days it certainly could use the added publicity
(although one hopes that is not the main driver of Met casting decisions).
The excitement of this Met opening will remain in my memory as one of
those rare events. I was there at
Carnegie Hall for Carlo Bergonzi’s big come-back as Otello (the less said the
better) and for Sutherland’s last night as an opera heroine in Sydney. This opening of Cinderella was the
confirmation to me and 4000 others that a new special tenor had ‘arrived’, singing his third role at the Met. I was delighted to note that long-serving
Australian opera chorus member Robert Mitchell was also in the audience, as was
my nephew Hal Cullity, my partner Allan Gill along with opera fan and good
friend Ms Terry Kobel.
Vivian Liff, respected English opera writer, has said that following the
three great tenors of the last era we have heard numerous ‘great white hopes’ … but only a few have been able to keep up the standard for long. Messrs Florez, Kauffman and Calleja can fill
opera houses both vocally and box office-wise.
Jose Cura has done some amazing performances, mostly in a different fach. Salvatore Licitra died tragically while
Rolando Villazon has dropped from view of late.
Of course there are many other fine tenors aspiring to greatness.
One can only hope that Mr Camarena is able to keep things together and
maintain his current professional momentum in New York and elsewhere. He has few competitors in quite the same
class – I believe he is more than
a ‘tenore di grazia’.
Camarena’s
contributions to YouTube are worth watching, especially ‘Ah mes amis’ from Daughter of the Regiment in Mexico City
despite the sub-optimal quality.
This week I read that Canadian tenor Ben Heppner announced his
retirement after many years at the highest level. The king is gone: long live king
Camarena!
Written by Andrew Byrne ..
