The recession has hit Don Magnifico hard. He’s not only had to sell the family silver, but also the house itself. He, his poisonous daughters Clorinda and Tisbe, and their downtrodden stepsister Angelina are now all packed into a tiny caravan.

From this you may gather that Garsington Opera’s new production brings Rossini’s Cenerentola right up to date. As Angelina does her chores, and consoles herself by thinking of the story of Cinderella, Clorinda and Tisbe fidget, and thumb through the celeb mags – and, my goodness, couldn’t they learn something from the fashion pages, their clothes sense is riotously appalling.

But who is this handsome man who approaches? Surely he is the Tom Cruise lookalike they’ve just seen being interviewed by gawping journalists, the man with three long-legged lovelies (a swipe at Mr Berlusconi?) in attendance. It must be the Prince himself.

Of course, it isn’t the Prince, it’s his right-hand man, the oily Dandini (Quirijn de Lang, most convincing). Prince Ramiro has switched places with him, and watches from the sidelines, quickly noticing that Clorinda and Tisbe have barely a brain cell between them.

This matters, for invitations to a lavish party are at stake, a party at which the prince will pick a bride. The guest list is duly drawn up by Ramiro’s tutor turned film director, Alidoro (Joshua Bloom) – there’s a prize moment when he snaps open his laptop in exact time with the music.

Alidoro being a film director, he naturally decides to pick potential brides by audition. Here real-life director Daniel Slater comes into his element – the pushing and shoving girls, barely held back by security heavies, make for one of the production’s most hilarious and memorable scenes.

While the contemporary setting works very well, the actual execution is a bit more mixed. Admittedly Rossini gives Dandini the showcase material, but Antonis Koroneos’s Ramino seemed curiously muted the night I went. He may well not have been on top vocal form, but there was little body language to suggest that Angelina/Cinderella is the girl of his dreams.

Meanwhile Ezgi Kutlu hits you firmly between the eyes right from Cinderella’s opening aria: “Once upon a time there lived a lonely king”. Her soul-searching mezzo contrasts well with Eliana Pretorian’s and Lisa Crosato’s hard-bitten Clorinda and Tisbe – both singers have a whale of a time with their parts, as does Henry Waddington with his buffoonish Magnifico. Ensemble is sometimes slightly insecure, but conductor David Parry nonetheless puts over a perky show, albeit one that doesn’t dig deep into Cenerentola’s darker side.

There are further performances of La Cenerentola on June 14, 20, 23 and 25, and July 1 and 4. Phone number for returns: 01865 361636.