La Ceneretola

Ceneretola was the last of this year’s presentations of opera live from the Met. You have the opportunity of seeing the encore presentation on May 25. Don’t miss it. I get such a rush when I hear the announcer say,” Maestro to the pit.” It is such a thrill. You are sitting in a theatre in Toronto and the camera takes you back stage as close as if you are standing there. The audience is shown the backstage sets and then it is time for the opera to begin.

I loved the simple set used for this production of Ceneretola. The musicians were all great. Not only did they have magnificent voices they were called upon to be fine actors. The two sisters, Clorinda and Tisbe were so funny. Their funny facial looks and body antics must have been difficult considering they were also singing arias.

During the intermission we had the pleasure of meeting Elina Garanca who played the role of Angelina. She is so beautiful and every note was perfection.

The story is the fairytale of Cinderella. The delightful story and Rossini’s fantastic music made for a perfect afternoon. The opera does differ from the traditional tale. There is no glass slipper. There is no coach. Yet, the story is very familiar. The poor Ceneretola is forced to do all the drudgery in the household of her father and step sisters. The father has spent all of her inheritance and keeps her in poverty while he and the step sisters live a pretend life of finery. The father tries to marry his two other daughters to the prince. Meanwhile the prince sets his valet up to pretend to be the prince so that he can observe the stepsisters to see if he should marry one of them.

The stepsisters compete for the love of the valet who they think is the prince. Meanwhile the prince acts as the valet and falls in love with Ceneretola.

We all know how the story ends. In this case Ceneretola makes up with her family and they all attend the fancy wedding.

How privileged we are to have this wonderful opportunity. The Met opera is brought to you live. The quality of the sound and pictures is excellent. You have a close up view that isn’t even possible at the Met.

I can’t wait for next year’s productions. Tickets will probably go on sale in August. Many people purchase their tickets for the whole season at that time. Most productions are sold out well in advance. You also need to arrive over an hour before the production. At 10:30 a.m. yesterday I was not the first in line. The film began at 12:30 p.m. It is always worth the wait.