According to the publicity for this latest revival of La Cenerentola at Palais Garnier, first unveiled in 2017, Guillaume Gallienne sets the work in Naples and situates the characters “on the edge of a volcano ready to erupt”. Fascinating as the metaphor for political and social unrest is – an idea drawn from the eruptions in the closing scene of Act One – I suspect Gallienne never saw the memo informing him that the work is a comedy of manners with a happy ending. This sober-minded perspective is taken up by designer Éric Ruf who creates two partially charred sets that leave Don Magnifo’s residence and Prince Ramiro’s palace without a stick of furniture, ashes and smoke creating their own unremitting gloom. It’s an oddly oppressive approach for an opera subtitled “Goodness Triumphant”, and while the central rags to riches narrative of Cinderella remains unchanged, the directorial slant with its curious initiatives, including the presence of a fairy godmother in the opening scenes and Ramiro encased in a leg brace, left me less than uplifted by the end in what felt like a very long and largely humourless evening.
That’s not to claim a total absence of laughs, although they were mainly assigned to Huw Montague Rendall’s Dandino who gave an impressive Elvis impersonation in front of the ladies during Act One and, later, made homoerotic advances to Don Magnifico in his attempt to avoid declaring which of his daughter’s he intended to marry. Elsewhere, neither sets nor costumes raised a smile, the whole as cheerless as the empty fireplace presented at the start.
Matters considerably improved in respect of the cast led by the Russian soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, making an exceptional debut at the Paris Opera in a role performed many times. She made a wholly credible Cinderella, no retiring personality here but a spirited young woman burdened by her lot without being entirely submissive to it. Vocally she was thrilling, and from her first folk-like ballad through to her enraptured closing aria (its pyrotechnics were electrifying), she consistently wowed the audience. On the way she combined an easy command of the role’s extended tessitura, not least a remarkable lower register, with a vocal agility that made room for plenty of expression no more so than her pleas to attend the prince’s ball.
From the off she fashioned a persuasive partnership with the American tenor Lawrence Brownlee as an unassuming Prince Ramiro. His bel canto credentials were given a flawless outing, making light work of Rossini’s soaring lines and then charming the ear in his duet “Un soave non so che”. And all the more impressive for having to lug around the leg brace. Did he really need to look so vulnerable when body language should be enough? I enjoyed his collaboration with Montague Rendall’s wideboy Dandini who looked every inch a car salesman yet provoked sympathy with the phrase “So now I’m an ex-prince” when accepting his sudden return as a valet. He developed a lively rapport with Nicola Alaimo’s philandering Don Magnifico, whose comic and vulgar portrayal was coupled to a warm baritone that sailed through his patter songs, and provided vivid colouring to “Un segreto d’importanza” with Montague Rendall.
The Don’s two daughters, Clorinda (Ilanah Lobel-Torres) and Tisbe (Maria Warenberg) delivered well-prepared routines as petulant siblings, their sense of entitlement narrowly avoiding caricature. Not least among the principals was the charcoal tones of Adlofo Corrado as the benevolent Alidoro watching over the fortunes of Ramiro and Cinderella. Ensemble numbers were impressively controlled (the male chorus in fine voice) and, in the pit, Enrique Mazzola secured stylish playing from the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris intermittently reminding us of Rossini’s irrepressible wit.
David Truslove
La Cenerentola
Music: Gioachino Rossini
Libretto: Jacopo Ferretti, sung in Italian with English and French surtitles
Cast and production staff:
Cinderella (Angelina) – Vasilisa Berzhanskaya; Prince Ramiro – Lawrence Brownlee; Dandini –Huw Montague Rendall; Don Magnifico – Nicola Alaimo; Clorinda – Ilanah Lobel-Torres; Tisbe – Maria Warenberg; Alidoro – Adolfo Corrado
Director – Guillaume Gallienne; Set Design – Éric Ruf; Lighting – Bertrand Couderc; Costumes – Olivier Bériot; Choreography – Glysleïn Lefever; Orchestre et Choeurs de l’Opéra national de Paris; Musical Director – Enrique Mazzola
Palais Garnier, Paris, 3 June 2026
All photos © Julien Benhamou/OnP