{"id":40112,"date":"2016-11-19T19:49:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T00:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=40112"},"modified":"2016-11-20T15:17:08","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T20:17:08","slug":"scrutiny-cendrillon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/11\/19\/scrutiny-cendrillon\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Genuine Charm And Youthful Spirit Bring Cendrillon To Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(l-r) Zachary Rioux Justin Maisonneuve Lillian Brooks John Michael Scapin Jocelyn Fralick and Joanna Burt (Photo: Nicola Betts)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Glenn Gould School: Cendrillon<\/em> by Pauline Viardot. Directed by\u00a0Joel Ivany. Friday, Nov. 18.<\/h3>\n

For opera lovers, the story of Cinderella brings immediately to mind Rossini\u2019s La cenerentola<\/em>, or Cendrillon<\/em> by Jules Massenet. Relatively few opera lovers would be aware of Cendrillon<\/em> by the French composer Pauline Viardot (1821-1910). A pupil of Liszt and admired by great composers the likes of Gounod, Berlioz, and Chopin, Viardot was an important figure in 19th-<\/span>century European cultural life, a noted pianist, singer, teacher, and composer. As a singer, she was known for her Desdemona in Rossini\u2019s Otello<\/em>, and as Rachel in Fromental Halevy\u2019s La Juive.<\/em><\/p>\n

Viardot penned some 250 compositions, mostly chamber pieces, solo piano, operettas and lots of songs. Many of her French m\u00e9lodies have a strong Latin flavour, given her Spanish parentage \u2014 the famous Manuel Garcia was her father. Her compositions also include transcriptions of works by other composers, like Chopin\u2019s Mazurkas which she transcribed for voice. She also arranged popular folksongs from Spain and elsewhere. Among the more famous songs are Les filles de Cadix, Hai luli, Havanaise and the like. One often encounters these in recitals of women singers. The great Cecilia Bartoli recorded them early in her career. Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has also recorded these songs to critical acclaim.<\/p>\n

Viardot\u2019s six operettas are best described as \u201csalon pieces\u201d \u2014 relatively short, typically with happy ending and meant to be performed as a sort of after-dinner divertissement.\u00a0 The Royal Conservatory of Music-Glenn Gould School has chosen her Cendrillon<\/em> for its fall production. An interesting choice, and it makes me eager to compare it to the Massenet\u2019s Cendrillon<\/em> which GGS put on about six years ago in Koerner Hall.\u00a0 For those curious, there are a few video clips of the Viardot work on Youtube. It requires a very different venue, so Mazzoleni Hall is ideal. Stage director Joel Ivany and set\/costume designer Anne Treusch have transformed the auditorium to simulate a French salon, complete with swag curtains, antique-looking furniture, etc., all from the University of Toronto Opera division\u2019s props department! It would never have worked in Koerner given its contemporary d\u00e9cor. \u00a0The artists \u2014 soloists and choristers alike \u2014 were dressed in period costumes and mingled with the audience before the show. When I arrived, I was greeted by two charming ladies, who turned out to be the Cendrillon and the Fairy Godmother!<\/p>\n

Musically, the piece was about an hour long, plus a considerable amount of dialogue. It was a wise decision to do everything in English, as audience comprehension is key. The only exception was in the party scene where three songs were sung in the original French \u2014 Kendra Dyck sang \u201cChanson de la pluie,\u201d Joanna Burt sang \u201cMadrid\u201d and Lynn Isnar \u201cAimez-moi,” all delivered with the appropriate balance of high-camp and enjoyable vocalism. \u00a0The diction of all the singers were surprisingly good, making surtitles (almost) not necessary. \u00a0The original translation by Rachel Harris has been modified, \u201cenhanced\u201d if you will, with plenty of contemporary references, funny and absurd at the same time. The audience was exceptionally polite and there wasn\u2019t that much laughter at first. Eventually, everyone relaxed and went with the flow.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This was Viardot\u2019s late work, premiered in 1904 and only a few years before her death, but you\u2019d never have guessed it given its musical conservatism. \u00a0For those audience members wanting to be challenged musically, or expect something profound in the text or in the drama, they\u2019ll have to look elsewhere. If it\u2019s only 90-minute worth of escapism you\u2019re looking for, with not a dissonant chord in sight, step right up!\u00a0 With a large cast made up of students from the Glenn Gould School, all young people with fresh voices and boundless enthusiasm, it was a fun evening.\u00a0 I was impressed by the staging of Joel Ivany, who gave the piece the \u2018straight treatment\u2019 \u2014 as opposed to a spoof. This actually has the effect of making it funnier. He was also very adept in his blocking, or more appropriately in his traffic-directing (!) given the small stage and limited entrances and exits. Lyric soprano Jonelle Sills was a winning Cendrillon, singing with pure, rich tone. \u00a0As Prince Charming, Patrick Simms\u2019 pleasingly lyric yet robust tenor was heard to advantage, not to mention the dramatic statement made by his imposing height. The two of them sang a very nice duet.<\/p>\n

Lilian Brooks (Armelinde) and Jocelyn Fralick (Marguelonne) as the two evil stepsisters were deliciously funny \u2014 in any case, Viardot goes easy on the \u201cevil meter\u201d compared to other versions in opera and ballet. Kudos to Irina Medvedeva as an over-the-top Fairy Godmother acting-wise, singing with nice tone. She also doubled as the hostess at the beginning. Her fearlessly deadpan quality as an actress reminded me of the young Madeline Kahn, an American comedienne. Not to be outdone, tenor John-Michael Scapin acted up a storm as a seriously droll Chamberlain, not an easy part vocally as Viardot throws in some ridiculous coloratura into his music. \u00a0Equally fine was the sturdy baritone of Kjel Erickson as the Father. There was even a minuet thrown in for good measure, danced with enthusiasm and well-rehearsed precision by the whole cast.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be remiss if I don\u2019t mention the rock-solid support of Peter Tiefenbach at the Steinway, keeping everything moving. I must say I would have preferred a chamber orchestra in this piece, but given the economics of student productions, it is what it is. All in all, a short but sparkling evening in the theatre. Don\u2019t miss the second and final show this evening at Mazzoleni Hall \u2014 7:30 pm curtain but get there early to soak up the Parisian Salon atmosphere!<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Joseph So soaks up the Parisian Salon atmosphere at the Glenn Gould School’s Cendrillon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":40119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5723,43,52],"tags":[6520,1736,6521,6527],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/11\/9318_L-R_Zachary_Rioux_Justin_Maisonneuve_Lillian_Brooks_John-Michael_Scapin_Jocelyn_Fralick_and_Joanna_Burt..jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-aqY","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40112"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40129,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40112\/revisions\/40129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40112"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=40112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}