Cecilia Bartoli – Suddenly the Queen of State Opera

In the end, for once, the flowers do not fly to the title heroine, but from her in the direction of the audience: Cinderella, known as La Cenerentola on the opera stage, married her fairy-tale prince and at the end of her swift life the socialite threw a wedding bouquet into the hall – a final phrase after three Active hours, followed by warm applause for this extraordinary, but also in some way eccentric evening.

Wonderful, because Cecilia Bartoli – director of the Salzburg Whitson Festival, appointed director of the Monte Carlo Opera and above all composed by international stars between New York, London and Paris – sang on the State Opera stage for the first time this Tuesday. Why did Bartoli’s career three decades pass before this debut? remains a mystery. In any case, its vocal strength cannot be considered reason enough: a slender, dark miso prevailed in the breadth of the opera on Tuesday, despite doubts about the opposite – although it suits him that the Musiciens du Prince-Monaco operates in a ditch with a not-so-great crew Very and captain Gianluca Capuano limits the development of scale to a certain extent.

This team from Monaco, including dancers and soloists, will be at work at the State Opera until July 8th and are organizing something that was unknown here in previous years: a guest performance. It is gratifying that Monaco rely not only on Bartoli, the driving force, but also on a clear concept, reminiscent of the legendary guest performance in Vienna. In 1822, exactly 200 years ago, a visit by a composer from Italy caused an outbreak of “Rossini fever”: the number of catchy performances of a sound culinary expert rose to unexpected heights.

Full stage joke

The current guest performance begins with a pleasant surprise: the semi-staging performance, according to the evening’s bill, sounds more merry than many evenings of repertoire in previous years. What happens here on the front stage in front of a few armchairs and a small table is a dynamic musical theater wired without any compromise – apart from the fact that choirs spend most of their three hours of opera in the background. Equipped with a hat and a rock face, they also have a certain comedic effect as stoic observers.

The most powerful diaphragm effect stems from Dandini, a servant who is allowed to play the prince one evening and thus deceives Cinderella’s sisters. How Nicola Alaimo plays the clumsy gallant with his baritone and bear looks like the best of slapstick. As funny as the wired Pietro Spagnoli (though petty insecurities) flaps in fantasies of the ultimate power of sleazy Don Magnifico; On the other hand, his two sly daughters (Rebecca Olivera and Rosa Pugh) don’t make a glaring effect only when they flirt with their brightly colored robes. Accompanied by his resonant mentor (José Coca Loza), Edgardo Rocha proves perfect for the role of a prince: a knight with a noble voice, but also a mouthpiece for the stormy feelings of youth. Cecilia Bartoli in her featured role as Cenerentola? Impressed not only by the resilience of her colorful vocals, but also again by the influence of the stage, she knows how to give to these shimmering crowds of musical notes when she was a little girl in love. In short: the beginning of this guest’s dream that continues on July 3 with “Il Turco in Italia” and ends on July 8 with Rossini’s concert.