Trionfa la bontà

La Cenerentola was one of four or five opera in the 2008 season which I knew about ahead of the announcement, thanks to a customer who'd been engaged for the chorus and came to buy a recording. It made me happy then, and I've become happier still. As Rossini comedies go, I enjoy Cenerentola more than Barbiere on every level. Angiolina is one of my favourite heroines in opera. And I'm also just a sucker for any kind of Cinderella story; you don't want to know how many times I've seen Ever After.

I had wondered, when I heard it was coming, who OA's Angiolina would be. I couldn't pick it, but when I saw they'd put Dominica Matthews in the role she did seem the natural choice. Dominica has grown on me a lot during this year, from an unremarkable Flora in La traviata to an impressive Eunice in A Streetcar Named Desire and a strong performance as the Monitress in Suor Angelica. But in fact the best thing I've heard her sing was Carmen's Habanera, at the Australian Opera Auditions Committee. That confirmed for me both her vocal abilities and star power — you need both for a role like Angiolina, a typical Rossini mezzo upon whom absolutely everything hinges.

But unusually for me, I'm just as excited — if not more so — about the Dandini. Joshua Bloom is singer for whom I can never find adequate adjectives. He was a magnificent Figaro. In the St Matthew Passion he was beyond belief, one of the most beautiful and exciting voices I've heard anywhere. Of course I'd rather hear him in a much bigger role than Dandini, but anything is better than nothing, especially as his star rises and his career takes him away from Australia. Luxurious casting for Dandini seems to be an Opera Australia trademark; the role was also Teddy Tahu Rhodes' big break.

I've no idea what the Opera Australia production of La Cenerentola is like, past the one photo provided on the website. That photo at least gives the impression of a pretty straightforward and conventional take on it, which is absolutely fine by me. The more it looks like a fairytale, the better. Brad Cohen conducts, and I thought for a moment I'd not heard him before, then realised I have — of all things, at Opera Holland Park's production of Giordano's Fedora, which was a wonderful experience in every way.

I have a few slight doubts. I can't make my mind up how I feel about Kanen Breen as Don Ramiro. He's the funniest man in the company, without a doubt. But his singing, while always musical and appealing enough, has seemed a bit underpowered of late. Then again, my recent opportunities to judge haven't been ideal — a Rinuccio sung from the side of the stage, funny-voiced character roles in Hoffmann and a lunchtime concert in the appalling acoustic underneath the QVB dome. If I'd heard him as Almaviva in the second half of the run of Barbiere I'd probably have a much better idea, but I didn't. So who knows. The rest of the cast is mostly promising. The ubiquitous Taryn Fiebig gets a chance to be nasty as an ugly stepsister and the trustworthy Richard Alexander is the terrible father. But really, it's all going to be about the heroine, and I think we've got a worthy one in Dominica. So all should be well, and goodness shall indeed triumph.