Even though Jules Massenet’s opera Cendrillon (Cinderella) is hardly known in Utah, the fairy tale on which it’s based certainly is universally known, thanks to the magic of Disney.

So when the University of Utah’s Lyric Opera Ensemble decided to do the Massenet opera this spring — a first for Utah, by the way — stage director Michael Scarola knew he wanted to do something a bit different with it. “I wanted to do come up with something unique,” he said in an interview with Reichel Recommends.

After tossing a lot of ideas around, steampunk came up. “I didn’t know much about it so I did some research,” Scarola said. “I found out there are all kinds of steampunk, including sci-fi, Western and Victorian.”

From left: Ruth Ellis as the Fairy Godmother, Jennifer Erickson as Cendrillon. (Photo Credit: Emily Nelson)

When he discovered Victorian steampunk, Scarola was hooked. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do.” He admitted that he likes everything Victorian. “The Victorian period is a favorite of mine. I’m attracted to it — to its society, clothing, everything.”

And the Victorian era fits in with the Cinderella story quite nicely, as well. “Back then you had royalty, elitists, servants. It’s the story of Cinderella, because all the elements are represented. And it fits in with the steampunk imagery, and that imagery fits in with the text. It lets me stay true to the text and music.”

Robert Breault, who heads the opera program at the U., is looking forward to having the Lyric Opera Ensemble be the first to bring Massenet’s 1899 opera to Utah. Speaking by phone from Edmonton, Canada, where he was rehearsing Lucia di Lammermoor, Breault said, “Why doesn’t [Cendrillon] get done? I don’t know. It has an immediate appeal and it’s got something for everyone. Kids and adults will each enjoy different elements of it.”

Cendrillon does get revived every so often and there are several good recordings available. “I saw it at [New York] City Opera several years ago,” Scarola said. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has played a major role in bringing the work to opera houses here and in Europe. “She has been the one who has done more than anyone else to revive it. She’s done it at the Royal Opera and at Barcelona, and also recorded it. And the way she sings [the title role] is amazing.”

Unlike Rossini’s version of the story, in which there are no fairytale elements, Massenet’s embraces all of the magic. “You have to believe in spirits and in a fairy godmother,” Breault said. “It’s pure escapism.”

This production will also include dancers from the U.’s ballet program. “This is the first time we’ve collaborated with another department and we’re excited it’s happening,” Breault said.

The U.’s dance department recently presented its own steampunk version of Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella, and with some alterations the pas de deux from the ballet will be danced in the opera’s second act. It required some reworking of the opening scene of Act II, but without compromising the integrity and intention of the libretto. “I don’t want to give too much away, but the way we ended up incorporating the ballet into the opera will have the two worlds — Prokofiev’s Cinderella and Massenet’s Cendrillon — come together,” Scarola said.

“I think what we’ve done with it will have people say, ‘Gee, I’m glad I saw it,’” Breault said.

The opera is double cast. Singing the leads are Gretchen Windt and Jennifer Erickson (Cendrillon); Ruth Ellis and Emily Nelson (The Fairy Godmother); and Sidnei Alferes and David Sauer (The Prince).

Also in the cast are Hayley Bell and Makenzie Matthews (Madame de la Haltière); Jared Lesa and Daniel Tuutau (Pandolfe); Hillary Koolhoven and Michelle Dean (Noémie); Alyssa Marie Jenks and Stania Shaw (Dorothée); Scott Hebertson and Nathan Curtis (The King); Gregory Harrison and Hunter Olsen (The Dean of the Faculty); Anders Larson (The Master of Ceremonies); and Garrett Tyler Madlock (The First Minister).

Robert Baldwin will conduct the Utah Philharmonia.

• PERFORMANCE DETAILS
• What: Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble, Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon
• Venue: Kingsbury Hall
• Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. April 24-25
• Tickets: $20 general, $10 non U. students, free for U. students and children 17 and under
• Phone: 801-581-7100
• Web: www.kingtix.com

The Westminster Concert Series will end its current season Monday with an all-Brahms concert.

Called “Trio of Trios,” the program will feature a sampling of the composer’s significant chamber works that don’t necessarily receive the attention they deserve: the Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, op. 114; the Trio in E flat major for Horn, Violin and Piano, op. 40; and the Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, op. 87.

From left: Yuki MacQueen, John Eckstein, Karlyn Bond (Photo Credit: Westminster Concert Series)

Playing these works are Utah Symphony members Yuki MacQueen, violin; John Eckstein, cello; Lee Livengood; clarinet; and Ron Beitel, horn. They’ll be joined by pianist and series director Karlyn Bond.

“These works represent the instruments Brahms fell in love with,” Bond said. And there is a personal connection to two of them, Bond added. “Brahms, of course, was a pianist, and his father played the horn.”

Brahms’ attachment to the clarinet came late in his life. “He fell in love with the sound of the clarinet after hearing Richard Mühlfeld [a renowned clarinetist and younger contemporary of Brahms] play Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. He could listen to him for hours.”

What he liked about the clarinet was its range and the distinctive sounds for each of the three registers. “The low register is dark. The middle is velvety, and the upper register is spare,” Bond said. “And in a work like the trio he explores the full range of the instrument.”

The clarinet trio calls to mind late Beethoven, Bond said. “And it’s also what you expect from late Brahms [the work was written in 1891]. There is melancholy and resignation, and also reconciliation with his mortality. It’s strange in a lot of places and not really immediately accessible for general audiences.” But it’s also tantalizing and beautiful. “It’s ethereal and austere at the same time.”

The horn trio, written in 1865, is the earliest of the three works on the program, and not a work that’s heard in the concert hall frequently. “When Yuki suggested we do the horn trio, Ron was onboard right away,” Bond said. “It’s a work he hadn’t played in 20 years and he was ready to play it again.”

Brahms wrote the horn part for a valveless horn. “He knew it was impractical, but he wanted that particular sound,” Bond said. “Ron is mindful of that, and it effects the way he plays certain passages,” in order to try and recreate the sound the composer envisioned.

Of the three trios, the C major Piano Trio is by far the biggest. “It’s the most substantial, and it has a massive piano part,” Bond said.

The most interesting of the trio’s four movements, according to Bond, is the Andante. “It’s unique among his slow movements,” she said. “It’s a Gypsy influenced melody that is very potent and a bit dark, but not in a despairing way. The music is serious, but not sad. It’s my favorite single movement in the whole program.”

• CONCERT DETAILS
• What: “Trio of Trios: An Evening of Brahms”
• Venue: Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College
• Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. April 20
• Tickets: $15 general, free for students and Westminster College faculty and staff with I.D.
• Phone: 801-832-2457
• Web: www.westminstercollege.edu/culturalevents