Elgin Town Hall, 12 April 2008

Caryl Hughes as Angelina in Scottish Opera's Cinderella (photo - Mark Hamilton).

IN HIS DAY, Gioacchino Rossini was a prolific composer – he had turned out 25 operas before he was thirty, and wrote his last, William Tell, at 37, when he still had nearly 40 years to live. Perhaps his problem was that, in general, they were nearly all too long, and after a brilliant overture the musical dialogue tended to the florid which contained little to remember.

The exceptions were of course, The Barber of Seville which has retained its place in the repertoire, and his other opera buffa which traditionally enjoys an occasional airing, La Cenerentola, Rossini’s take on the Cinderella fairy tale.

Its airings are occasional as Rossini scored the title role for that rara avis of the opera world, the coloratura contralto. When a good one comes along, such as Caryl Hughes, producers flock like twitchers and the opera loving public reap the rewards.

Scottish Opera may not be the only company which has staged it recently, but the others will have to go a long way to match the production which reached Elgin and Tain as part of a tour of Scotland’s public halls. There was not seat to be had as Moray turned out in force to welcome one of Scotland’s national treasures to their home.

We all think we know the story of Cinderella from the ubiquitous pantomime, but so rushed were Rossini and his librettist Jacopo Ferretti that they plagiarised much of the libretto by Charles-Guillaume Etienne of a French version of the opera by the Maltese composer Nicolo Isouard.

There are some similarities to the classic panto, but the opera is very much a social satire, rather than an all-out, happy-ever-after romp. There is plenty of humour, not least in this translation by Arthur Jacobs, but there is a darkness hovering over the whole affair as Rossini ridicules the antics of the aristocracy.

Tom Rogers’ set is a clever design that transports us easily from the faded baronial pile, home to the dysfunctional family of Baron Magnifico, to the splendid palace of Prince Ramiro and ends up in a rustic scene inspired by the allegorical paintings of Titian. And his costumes conjure up memories of Pride and Prejudice, even to the extent of Nicholas Ransley as Ramiro resembling Colin Firth, or maybe Rory Bremner!

Following last autumn’s tour when the music was provided by the hyper-energetic piano of Ian Ryan, for this outing the singers enjoyed the company of The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, albeit in reduced format, under the baton of Oliver Rundell. Last year, Cinderella was an intimate soirée in the village hall, the perfect introduction to opera. This time the orchestra turned it into an event, taking the whole character of the evening up a gear.

In a medium sized venue such as Elgin Town Hall, there are obviously physical constraints to the size of an orchestra (and there may be financial ones as well), which resulted in an unfortunate balance, leaving the sound dominated by the wind. Perhaps for future tours space could be found for another couple of violins, effectively doubling their contribution.

Two of the three ladies hailed from the Land of Song – fellow Celts cutting their Welsh teeth with Scottish Opera. Of the two sisters, both sopranos, Katherine Allen toured last year with Essential Scottish Opera and since then has been studying at the National Opera Studio in London. The value of this course was exemplified by the improvement in her stagecraft and her delivery, although her role of Tisbe should have invited the audience to dislike her, and in this she did not succeed.

Her stage sister, Clorinda, was sung by the Australian Amanda Forbes, a recent member of Welsh National Opera, also seen on the recent Essential Scottish Opera tour and also the beneficiary of training at the National Opera Studio. She was more convincing as a materialistic husband-hunting air-head, with a fine voice.

The title role went to the newcomer to the world of opera, Caryl Hughes, who abandoned a potential career in the law after winning a scholarship at the National Eisteddfod. Her beautiful warm rich contralto voice immediately appealed to the audience and her natural manner effectively conveyed the character of the downtrodden Cinderella with the hidden steely will.

The four male characters also demonstrated the internationality of the opera world, a Frenchman, two Englishmen and another Australian. It says much for Scottish Opera that they can attract the cream of young singers to perform in a short touring production, even if it is an unfortunate irony that of the seven singers only the Frenchman has benefited from the excellent training at RSAMD in Glasgow, just across the road from Scottish Opera’s home at the Theatre Royal.

As the Prince, Nicholas Ransley displays an excellent arrogant vanity so reminiscent of a Jane Austen hero. His entourage in the form of Marc Labonnette as the tutor Alidoro and Julian Hubbard as the valet Dandini have more chance to present colourful characters and although subservient to the Prince, they thrive in the opportunities he allows.

Dean Robinson as Baron Magnifico was the nearest the opera has to a scheming baddie who evinces little sympathy from the audience. Having frittered away his step-daughter’s dowry on the aspirations of his natural daughters, he tries to plot his way to wealth to keep them in a manner to which he has allowed them to become accustomed.

Director Harry Fehr has come up with a little gem with this production of Cinderella. It is a ridiculous story at the best of times, even if truth is stranger than fiction, but he has thought it out thoroughly, incorporated a wealth of neat details and delivered an evening awash with pleasure.

Do they all live happily ever after? Well, obviously Cinderella calls the shots in her romance, but if she tires of life in the palace and the posturing of her Mr D’Arcy, she can always make a career as an opera singer.

© James Munro, 2008

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