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4Bass-baritone Stefano de Peppo’s portrayal of Don Magnifico (Cinderella’s stepfather) was quite funny. His charisma was just strong enough to pull off the shenanigans, and just dark enough to allow us to enjoy his come-uppance.
Musically, the performance rarely disappointed. Mark Ermler, music director of the Bolshoi Opera, knows this work intimately and proved it. His conducting caught the shadings of the first act and did what could be done to disguise the blatancy of the second. Sheri Greenawald was a more healthy and obvious Natasha than the role ideally requires, but she sang with her usual professionalism. The Soviet baritone Vladimir Chernov delivered Andrei's tortured monologues in clear-toned, almost tenorial upper tones and was believable as the gentle humanist and war-hater. Peter Kazaras as the perfect gentleman Pierre and James Hoback as that nasty little seducer Anatol also were persuasive.
Seattle Opera’s opening night performance brought the house to its feet even before the final orchestral cadences sounded, and Seattle critics doled out generous praise in the following day’s newspapers.
Bring your binoculars. Your wide-angled field glasses; your high-powered spyglass; your best mother-of-pearl lorgnette. Because Seattle Opera's new ``Rusalka'' production is likely to be one of the loveliest-looking shows you'll ever see. Gasps and applause greeted the storybook sets, fairy-tale forests, glittering waters and brilliantly subtle lighting effects created by renowned designer Gunther Schneider-Siemssen, who also made his American stage-directing debut with this production.
