Profile reviews
2For one, it is quite well shot, and its choices of shot did a wonderful job of highlighting soprano Théodora Cottarel’s electrifying performance as Elle, the sole character we see throughout the show. Cottarel acted her part gloriously well, conveying so much information about the way her moods swung throughout the performance with even just the slightest twitch of her brow that it really only amplified the moods Poulenc conjured in his score. Her singing voice, too, was absolutely perfect for Voix humaine, and the way she maintained a beauty of tone through much of Poulenc’s heavily recitative-like writing for the character while also finding great ways to color the characters’ neuroses was masterful.
Armed with confidence and purity of tone, Cottarel’s wielded power lends to her delicateness. Her singing is thoroughly enjoyable and the expression of solid warmth is neatly articulated through her emotions.”
Past Production Reviews
3Opera need not be opulent to be marvelous. Opera del West, helmed by Eve Budnick, brings fully staged—if fringe—opera to the Metro West area of Massachusetts and provides a space for young professional singers to tackle exciting roles. Between August 9 and 11, the company, under the insightful direction of Rebecca Miller Kratzer, picked up their ladders, tulle, and sparkly shoulder pads and transported their production of Cendrillon, by Jules Massenet, to the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA).
Armed with confidence and purity of tone, Cottarel’s wielded power lends to her delicateness. Her singing is thoroughly enjoyable and the expression of solid warmth is neatly articulated through her emotions.”
For one, it is quite well shot, and its choices of shot did a wonderful job of highlighting soprano Théodora Cottarel’s electrifying performance as Elle, the sole character we see throughout the show. Cottarel acted her part gloriously well, conveying so much information about the way her moods swung throughout the performance with even just the slightest twitch of her brow that it really only amplified the moods Poulenc conjured in his score.
