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PERFORMANCE: CENDRILLON (ROYAL OPERA HOUSE)
Royal Opera House, London, England
Composed by Massenet
Conducted by Bertrand de Billy
Directed by Laurent Pelly
Choreographed by Laura Scozzi
Starring Joyce DiDonato, Eglise Gutiérrez & Alice Coote
Sung in French with English subtitles

For the first time ever, The Royal Opera presents the story of Cinderella as told in Massenet’s opera Cendrillon.

The production, new to the Royal Opera House, is by Laurent Pelly, whose previous work here has included the spectacularly successful La Fille du régiment, a heart-warming L’elisir d’amore and last Season’s stylish new Manon. Pelly brings his characteristic lightness of touch, wit and elegance to Massenet’s delightfully tuneful score against sets and costumes of fairytale charm. Joyce DiDonato takes the title role, with Alice Coote – just like the Principal Boy familiar from British pantomime – as her Prince Charming.

And there has of course to be a fairy godmother, played by Eglise Guttiérez, in this version of a tale that gained particular popularity from the published fairytales of Frenchman Charles Perrault. Musical highlights include the fairy godmother’s airy coloratura, the orchestral dances of the ball, the March of the Princesses, and of course rapturous duets between the Prince and Cendrillon. French music specialist Bertrand de Billy is the conductor for an opera of radiance and charm.

“[Joyce DiDonato is] a mezzo cast in milk chocolate, so smooth and agile that it can reach up to a diamond-bright soprano as well as sink to a rich, chesty alto. And then there is the instinctive charisma: she is always engaging … and always intelligently shaping the verse and text.”
– The Times

“[Eglise Gutiérrez is] a full-bodied dramatic coloratura, with an exotic presence and vocal panache.”
– Stephen J. Mudge, Opera News

“Alice Coote charges music with an edge, fire and intensity that no other British singer can currently rival: everything this remarkable mezzo-soprano performs is charged with a commitment and sincerity than can seem almost painfully raw and exposing – one feels that any moment she might burst into tears or rush off the stage to kill herself.”
– Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph