La Cenerentola – review

This is an absolute knockout, and all the more remarkable for being in some ways unexpected. Peter Hall's production of Rossini's rationalist take on the Cinderella story drew something of a blank on its first outing in 2005, and responses to its subsequent appearances remained equivocal. The opera refashions the familiar tale as a social comedy by replacing its supernatural apparatus with the character of the philosopher Alidoro, who teaches its protagonists some bitter lessons about the relationship between love and status.

Hall admirably refused to treat the work as frivolous, but in underlining its moral seriousness lost sight of its humour.

The latest revival is directed by Lynne Hockney, who has made a few changes. She retains Hall's disturbing view of Don Magnifico (Umberto Chiummo) as a venal bully, who terrorises Cenerentola (Elizabeth DeShong) both physically and verbally. But there are now plenty of laughs in her redefinition of Cenerentola's sisters (Elena Xanthoudakis and Victoria Yarovaya) as a pair of competitive social climbers straight out of Jane Austen, conned into setting their sights on Armando Noguera's glamorous Dandini, rather than Taylor Stayton's gauchely sincere Ramiro.

More pertinently, this is, quite simply, one of the great operatic performances. It is dominated by DeShong, whose voice combines a contralto opulence with blazing top notes and some of the most staggering coloratura you will ever hear. But you can't fault the rest of it, except for a couple of tentative phrases early on from Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang as Alidoro. Stayton, Chiummo and the dashing Noguera are equally sensational, while James Gaffigan's conducting is thrilling in its precision and control.

* The Guardian will be streaming Glyndebourne's 2005 production of La Cenerentola on 22 June. theguardian.com/classical