Cinderella & Company: Backstage at the Opera with Cecilia Bartoli

by Manuela Hoelterhoff

A wickedly funny look at opera today--the feuds and deals, maestros and managers, divine voices and outsized egos--and a portrait of the opera world's newest superstar at a formative point in her life and career.
        In Cinderella & Company, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Manuela Hoelterhoff takes us on a two-year trip on the circuit with Cecilia Bartoli, the young mezzo-soprano who has captured an adoring public around the world.
        Rossini's Cenerentola is Bartoli's signature role, and Cinderella & Company tells the fairy-tale story of her life, which started on a modest street in Rome where the Fiat was the coach of choice. The lucky break, the meteoric rise, the starlit nights and nail-chewing days are all part of a narrative that shows Bartoli rehearsing, playing, traveling, eating, and charming us with her vivacity and dazzling virtuosity.  
        Along the way, Hoelterhoff gives us an unusually vivid, behind-the-scenes look at the opera world. The first stop is Houston, where Bartoli brightens a droopy Cenerentola production; later scenes follow her to Disney World and to the Metropolitan Opera, where a fidgety cast awaits the flight-phobic mezzo's arrival for Mozart's Cosi fan tutte . Traveling to Santa Fe, Paris, Rome, Venice, and London, Hoelterhoff drops in on opening nights and boardroom meetings, talks to managers and agents, describes where the money comes from, and survives one of the longest galas in history.  
        Here too are tantalizing glimpses of divinities large and small: Kathleen Battle's famously chilly limousine ride; Plácido Domingo flying through three time zones to step into the boots of an ailing Otello; Luciano Pavarotti aiming for high C in his twilight years. And we meet the present players in Bartoli's world: Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu, a.k.a. the Love Couple; Jane Eaglen, the Wagnerian web potato monitoring her cyberspace fan mail; the appealing soprano Renée Fleming, finally on the brink of stardom.  
        At once informed and accessible, Cinderella & Company brings the world of grand opera into sharp focus--right up to the last glimpse of Cecilia Bartoli waving triumphantly from Cinderella's wedding cake.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Humor

259 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 1998

Reviews

[Tina Guard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book used; it was flown to Germany from the US. The book was in great shape and it had post-its from the time its previous owner had read it 23 years ago! This added some nice historical touch - though the book didn't lack it on its own. One should not expect the biography of Bartoli nor a book about her alone; but it is a nice piece of journalism on the opera world of 1995-1997 and before that with some insights into Bartoli's life.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. Gossipy but well written account of the world of opera. I never knew that people could get criticized for doing too much charity work.

I'm sure it was a challenge to write a book about an artist who is very reserved emotionally and keeps her private life private. The author hints that Bartoli suffered from depression, which would not have been surprising considering the difficulties her family had at the time the book was being written.

This book was especially fun for me because I saw Bartoli's debut at the New England Conservatory many years ago when I was a gum-chewing ignoramus. I have since given up gum.

I can't understand Hoelterhoff's fury at unions . . . perhaps it's because she worked for the Wall Street Journal?

I'm giving my copy to a friend whose husband has worked with Bartoli a couple of times. He says she's delightful.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cecilia Bartoli is on the cover and in the subtitle, but this is not as much a Bartoli biography as a snapshot of mid- to late-90s opera in and around her career: Her 1995 tour following her chart-topping collection of 18th-century Italian songs If You Love Me (1992) were two of the things that got me into opera at the time, so it is great to add the personal dimensions of her family life, frugality, and desire for fame in her native Italy. Also swirling around her are other divas, the economics of operatic recordings past the age of their halo effect for labels, Pavarotti past his high C prime, Music Director of The Met James Levine as part of the unreasonableness of that venerable institution, and Columbia Artists Management Inc. CAMI. CAMI is the international leader in the management and touring activities of opera singers.

I am proud that my local Michigan Opera Theatre under the leadership of David DiChiera has funded and staged new American works, generally one every season it seems. However, even I must admit these have so far always been more memorable to me for plot and scenery than melody. The author here also wonders if this genre will ever find a way to extent the bel canto canon. (Personally, I believe all music is destined to become curated and fossilized, only exhibited with a largely purist presentation. It just take centuries. The Let It Be musical and RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles are the symptoms of that disorder.)

As for the current state of new operatic works, the author says "For most people, a modern opera has all the appeal of a large pill that must be swallowed on the orders of an unseen sadist. That's the legacy of fifty years of music that often sounds like water drips and surgery without anesthesia. Championed by a critical elite, nurtured by subsidies and tenured professorships... People just don't want to hear it anymore."

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loosely follows Bartoli performances, but mostly focuses on agents and people in the business of opera houses. Gossipy and funny, and wow, do those singers miss a lot of performances, the big babies.

[Msimone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is acollection of gossip sheets written by New York opera writer Manuela Hoelterhoff with plenty of anecdotes about the longstanding and upcoming diva(o) that performed on the international opera circuit with special attention to Cecilia Bartoli. Hoelterhoff's eye-witness observations and repandant rumors about Bartoli's relationships with agents, conductors, directors, accompanists, lovers and family give the reader a good idea about an operatic career. SheHoelterhoff considers the longevity of an opera singer's voice, as in the case of Bartoli who frequently cancels concerts for the preservation of her voice over desire for fame and money, the tireless omnibudsman tenor, soprano, conductor Domingo who never stops performing, and the crowd-panderer Pavorotti who continues singing after he cracked too many high Cs to refill his insatiable appetite for the good life. The book is a great introduction to international opera singers and the houses and concert halls where they perform.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book given to me by my voice teacher. Since I'm not really an opera buff, I didn't expect to like this book all that much, but was pleasantly surprised when I did. It's focus is on the divas, money makers, and all the large personalities that make up the opera world. It's very well written with lots of gossipy wit and insight. Unlike big stars in film and TV, opera stars have no problem letting everyone know how difficult they are to work with. It's almost a badge of honor to be demanding. This makes for delicious read. While the book does reference a lot of operas and singers, you don't have to be an expert to enjoy reading it. It is definitely a must for any opera fan.

[Rebecca Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I had not read this. Cecilia Bartoli's chocolatey rich soprano voice is so beautiful, distinctive, and otherworldly, but now when I hear her sing I am assaulted by the image of a large, sloppy, childish woman in sweatpants, an ordinary and vulgar person who happened to win the voicebox lottery. Perhaps Bartoli is a more complex as an artist and as an individual than she is portrayed to be in this book, perhaps not -- but if she really is this dull then no one should have written a book about her in the first place.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bartoli's flexible mezzo did not prohibit her from the achieving the fame usually only accorded to the soprano. Written with wit, this is an informative tour of Bartoliat work, as seen in various venues and backstages in the world of opera.

[Georgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this twice in quick succession because it was so totally bitchy and hilarious. It's one for opera fans. You've got to know your Gheorghius from your Flemings and your Eaglens from your Voigts to really appreciate it.

[Anna Trombetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look into the world of big international stars. Had hoped that it would provide more insight into how she got started and how she views the world she's in- more commentary from others around her.

[Magid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly, frothy yet enjoyable fly-on-the wall look at the high camp world of opera, into which I am trying to break. Wish me luck...

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Backstage at the Opera truly summarizes the book, with funny sly digs at nearly everyone.

[Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at the busy life of the world's #1 mezzo soprano.

[QOH · Rating 2 out of 5]

More a 2.5. I love Bartoli's goofy earnestness as much as her voice, but this frenetic, disorganized book (about much more than "Cinderella") made her dull. The gossip is good, though.

[William Herbst · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read for those interested in a behind the scenes look at the Met opera