Sydney, Sydney Opera House, CINDERELLA - Jules Massenet, IOCO

9 January 2025 – Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House – Evan Rogister – Jules Massenet: Cinderella – Libretto Henri Cain, English translation Kelley Rourke

By Janet Banks

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE – Sydney: CINDERELLA. IOCO correspondent Janet Banks visited Sydney Opera House, which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, for a sparkling production of Jules Massenet’s Cinderella (in German: Aschenputtel) in the Joan Sutherland Theatre. The sail-shaped opera building has become symbolic of Sydney and Australia. Conceived by Danish architect Jorn Utzon after he won a competition for its design, it took 14 years to build.

This was the first time in its history that Sydney Opera House had seen a production of Massenet’s Cinderella. Director Laurent Pelly’s sparkling show used an abridged English-language 90-minute version, in English – as family-friendly as an opera can be. Even if they had come expecting a pantomime, I think children wouldn’t have been disappointed in this joyous production– though a little one in our row was asleep by the interval!

Barbara de Limberg’s set was charming, literally a storybook world, with the backdrop a much-enlarged French edition of Perrault’s fairy tale. Kelley Rourke’s English translation, first used at the Metropolitan Opera in 2021, was approachable and kept a flavour of the original by including the odd French words such as Hélas.

Conductor Evan Rogister prompted enthusiastic applause even before the orchestra had played a note, which proved well deserved – under his direction there was not a note out of place in Massenet’s lush score, and some notably magical orchestral moments in which he drew the most gentle and enchanting sound from the orchestra, particularly flutes and strings.

There was much comedy in the production, right from the lively opening scene which saw the excellent Opera Australia chorus as servants running away from ‘Madame’, Cinderella’s stepmother Madame de la Haltière. Angela Hogan’s forthright and characterful contralto was perfect for the role and she ended her first aria with a splendidly stern deep note. The fact that she reappeared resplendent in bright red velvet for the ball after only about 30 seconds off stage seemed in keeping with her determination and impatience to get her two daughters on the marriage market. Her comic acting skills were shown off particularly in Act 3 as she and her daughters Noémie (Jennifer Black) and Dorothée (Ashlyn Tymms) recounted the events of the ball. The two sisters, not the ‘ugly sisters’ of pantomime here, and more stupid than mean, act and sing as one, and first appeared dressed in matching bulbous, Teletubby like dresses.

Cinderella herself, sung by rising start Emily Edmonds, does not appear until Scene 2 and then at first tentatively, opening one of the flaps at the side of the stage and peering through. In this production she is not so much a victim as an earnest and resourceful girl. Her character really comes into its own at the start of Act 3, when she recounts the perils of her journey on foot back from the ball. The transformation from fairytale princess to passionate young woman is complete when she punches the air and urges herself to take courage. Edmonds sung the role with a powerful mezzo-soprano voice with full high notes and excellent diction. A tender scene with her ineffective father Pandolfe (Richard Anderson) followed, his lyrical baritone comforting her as he dreams of an escape from the tyranny of his wife.

Delicate string playing at the start of Act II heralded the first appearance of Prince Charming, wallowing in depression. Margaret Plummer convinces in this trouser role, singing in duet with the solo cello of her plight – ‘No one to love’ - and her voice beautifully controlled in the aria ‘You are the girl of my dreams’ as she drops to her knees before Cinderella.

One of the most amusing and visually engaging scenes was what in the original production was called ‘the Parade of the Daughters of the Aristocracy’. Choreographer Laura Scozzi has the prospective brides, in a whole range of bizarre red dresses designed by director Laurent Pelly - surely a poke at the fashion industry - walk up the catwalk one by one towards the Prince, who has his back to the audience. There follows a dysfunctional circle dance with the cast joining hands and moving with jerky, unnatural movements. The men’s costumes for the ball seemed to gather together all the silliest fashions of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, mixing wigs, beards, ruffs and doublets.

Soprano Emma Matthews as La Fée/Fairy Godmother was in glittering voice, all illusion and enchantment, her high arpeggiated figures reminiscent of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute. After her Act I appearance, when she conjures up a fairytale carriage and four very charmingly dressed white horses to pull it, we do not see her again until the last act, when she closes the opera resplendent on a huge pile of books, conducting the orchestra with her wand.

The Sydney Opera audience gave the CINDERELLA production a deservedly euphoric reception.

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE - all performances, dates - link HERE