Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 5 - Cinderella

27 | Lyric Opera of Chicago their father might ridicule her as a matter of course, she is not the victim of physical cruelty. Ponnelle derived this from his careful study of Rossini’s music. Musicologist and theater scholar Kristina Bendikas notes that if there were physical abuse of Angelina, it “would have broken the safety of the comic condition accepted by the audience” as the premise for the comedy they were observing. Equally compelling scenes between Don Magnifico and his daughters portray Ponnelle’s reading of the musical text, notably when the father is awakened from his unfinished dream and threatens to throw his chamber pot on the two but instead throws a pillow (which, moments later, he cradles like a baby). All of the action of the ensuing scene is perfectly aligned with Rossini’s rambunctious score, its levels permitting the appearance of spontaneous improvisations from Don Magnifico. Another choice example occurs at Dandini’s entrance, as the courtiers literally roll out the red carpet in perfect time with the music (when, of course, Dandini is disguised as the Prince). The sisters’ behavior and their introductions reveal their true nature—and the comedic roles they serve in the opera—and, per Ponnelle’s theories of his own role, are all revealed by the composer. For instance, whereas the stepsisters of Brothers Grimm are “beautiful of face, but vile and black of heart,” the musical world of Rossini’s stepsisters, sidestepping the fairy tale, portrays a general foolishness and musical arguments between them, but never approaches anything close to vileness. Ponnelle creates a relatable humanity for them, not caricatures, reiterating his signal prioritization: directors must fully integrate the music and its subject as the sole inspiration for visual realization. “Only in this way,” Ponnelle affirmed, “can musical reality become theatrical reality and re-establish the original text-music balance—because the mise-en-scène, the movement, then derives from the reading of the score.” La Cenerentola was Ponnelle’s most successful and widely-viewed production during his lifetime, among a career marked by rich achievements and extensive variety. For a director who unselfconsciously wrote: “I do not work for the so-called posterity,” this revival of the 1969 production at Lyric nevertheless speaks to the timelessness and value of Ponnelle’s creations. Dr. Justin Vickers was recently named Distinguished Professor of Music at Illinois State University. He is currently writing The Aldeburgh Festival: A History of the Britten and Pears Era, 1948–1986 (Boydell Press) and editing Childhood and the Operatic Imaginary since 1900 (Oxford University Press). Teresa Berganza sang the lead role in the 1969 premiere. Robert Cahen