By Daniel Buckwalter
The familiar story of Cinderella came to life with a small twist — which added to the narrative — and overlaying all of it was splendid singing that brought the audience to its feet at the end.
Such were the May 2 and 4 productions of the University of Oregon Opera Ensemble’s Cendrillon at Beall Concert Hall on the UO campus. From the light and charming to the powerfully majestic and dramatic duets with Cendrillon and La Fée as well as Cendrillon and Prince Charmant, this production of Jules Massenet’s four-act opera was delightfully and solidly done.
From the start, Cendrillon, directed by Gustavo Castro, had moments of color. To begin with, Cendrillon (Grace Miller on Friday; Anne Ferguson on Sunday) has a father who is alive, if not always emotionally well. Played on Friday by Doremus Scudder and on Sunday by Aymeric Burthey, the character Pandolfe is a self-centered goof with no real spine, leaving Cendrillon to fend for herself because he can’t handle his wife, Madame de la Haltière (Gianna Alberico), and step daughters Noémie (Lyayuka Janice Irungu) and Dorothée (Jayda Maret).
The anglicized version of Cinderella has the father nowhere in the text, and over the years there have been other variations to the story. My favorite came in a musical I saw last year when Prince Charming turned out to be a philanderer whom Cinderella ultimately divorces, so composers have played with this story and had fun in the process.
Beyond that was the soaring music in Acts 2 and 3, and it was truly beautiful to listen to. Be it with Cendrillon and the fairy godmother La Fée (the wonderful Taylor Hulett on Friday and Makayah Bernell on Sunday) or Cendrillon and Prince Charmant (Jaclyn Beck), these were the spell-binding moments to the opera and worth every moment.
Kudos also need to go out to Alex Amick, the rehearsal and performance pianist. Literally, he was a one-man band, and it can’t be easy to keep the brisk pace of a performance from a piano bench between scenes when sets are changed, but Amick never missed a beat.
No one missed a beat in the production of Cendrillon, and for that, the UO Opera Ensemble can take a well-deserved bow.
