Cinderella

This was a rare opportunity to see a fully staged performance of Massenet’s “Cinderella”, and in true Fife Opera fashion, they did it in style! The performance was, principal-wise, double cast, and I was fortunate enough to see both casts in performance. 

In the title role, Susanna Davis – a mere 17 years old – and Myrna Tennant shared this demanding part. Each – and I have to say this about all the pairings – found different styles within the character, and brought this over adequately to the small but appreciative audiences. The “wicked” stepmother Mme de la Haltière (Elaine Young / Barbara Scott) calls for singers with both vocal and acting talents, and here we found both. The facial expressions were so amusing in many instances.  Further amusement was caused, of course,  by Cinderella’s sisters Noémie (Louise Thomson / Rebecca Anderson) and Dorothée (Katie Forrest / Amaya Lopez-Carramero) whose rivalry was visible throughout, up to and including the calls – all in good taste, I hasten to add!

Everyone loves the Fairy Godmother (Jasmine Munns / Laura Curran) and this was no exception in this production.   Cinderella’s father, Pandolfe,  was exquisitely characterised by Ivor Klayman and Jonathan Sedgwick, with their duet with Cinderella in Act 4 being one of the highlights of the evening.  The wheelchair-bound King (Tom Kelman / Douglas Nicholson) brought the necessary touch of regality to the opera, emphasized even more so by the despondent Prince, equally dramatically acted and sung by Grace Wain and Jane Monari.

Together with a host of minor principals, the chorus and the children’s chorus, as has become traditional  with Fife Opera,  shone with a wonderful full sound emanating from the stage.

Director, Douglas Nairne, managed to extract the maximum of performing talent from his cast and made use of John Urquhart’s extremely workable set, to the full.

Final praise must go to Alistair Digges and his first class orchestra. A  pleasure to listen to, not just for one performance, but for two consecutive shows.

Long may opera continue in Fife!

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