Bruno de Simone

Cenerentola (Joyce DiDonato) is the stepdaughter of Don Magnifico but is treated as a servant in his household. As she sweeps the floor and obeys every command given to her, Cenerentola dreams that she will find her very own Prince Charming. Then one day the handsome Prince Ramiro (Juan Diego Florez) arrives at the mansion, announcing that he's looking for the most beautiful girl in the land to be his bride - which changes Cenerentola's life forever!

Live from La Scala Friday 22 December 1989

This is an excellent version of one of the greatest of all comic operas, featuring superb singing and orchestral playing. And it's not just the two headliners; listen, for example, to the entrance of the stepsisters at the beginning of Act One. Nevertheless, some viewers may find the staging problematic, with singers in clown-like costumes and sets featuring human-sized rodents. Those seeking a more conventional production might want to consider the Houston Grand Opera DVD, also on Decca, with Cecilia Bartoli and Raul Jimenez. Both sets are wonderful, but, for me, Joyce Didonato and Juan Diego Florez are slightly to be preferred. Highly recommended.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

The Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège revisits the beloved fairy tale of Cinderella with their new production of La Cenerentola, Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa.

In the plot for this production the story is updated to the 1970s. Gamberotto is a vegetable import/export merchant. According to the Dynamic website Ernestina is a seductive businesswoman. However when she first appears she drifts about reading a book entitled ‘Love’. Buralicchio becomes an Elvis rocker. Leave the rest of the plot alone, yes, including the castrati part, and you are indeed in the land of the ridiculous. Suspend disbelief? Essential if the plot is to have any relevance.

Il Turco in Italia is one of Rossini‘s wittiest but most neglected works. It is full of ingenious and freshly composed invention. It is Rossini‘s first collaboration with Felice Romani - Bellini‘s librettist - on this opera and Romani understood perfectly Rossini‘s love of pastiche and parody. He provided a commedia dell‘ arte scenario that gave Rossini plenty of opportunity to mock traditions he had helped to cultivate in the first place. The plot is delightfully salcious and among the many jewels in the score, the duet for Geronio and Selim, in which the Turk tries to persuade the ageing husband to sell his wife to him, is widely considered one of the composer‘s masterpieces.

La forza del destino - Giuseppe Verdi