It’s another opera about the Almaviva family, but this time there’s no barber, no Figaro!

I’d thought I was aware of the whole series of operas about these guys, but here’s something else from Jules Massenet. It gives us more insight into young Cherubino, and it’s nothing at all like Werther or Manon.

Little Cherubino, home on leave from the military, is celebrating his recent promotion. He falls in love with all of the women in the cast, which, for Massenet and his librettists Croisset and Cain, means that he kisses each of them.

(He appears to make real progress with the visiting Spanish lady, but on stage, he has merely taken off his coat, so we don’t know. Maybe Cherubino thinks kissing is as far as anything actually goes.)

In Marriage of Figaro, this kid is rather funny, an endearing character, and if you like that image, just stay away from the Massenet, because this is different, and it’s not good.

Here, he’s sung by a soprano (not a mezzo), and he’s dolled up in the most exaggerated, effeminate, fluffy puffy costume I’ve ever seen. Then they’ve given him caricature facial features and mannerisms, until he looks like a circus freak, and behaves like a five-year-old girl at her princess party. Kissing all the women.

It’s a bit hard to stomach. Octavian, the stud from Rosenkavalier -- who is also 17 -- would probably punch dumb little Cherubino in the face, except that their costumes are the same girlish prettypants, so instead, they would probably kiss. My preference would be to call in Werther, and have him plug both of those dudes, with the pistols he borrowed from Albert.

As late as 1905, when they first saw Chérubin, the French still appreciated this airhead stuff, and that surprised me, because it’s just like the goofiness in Auber’s 1837 Domino Noir, and Offenbach’s 1869 Les Brigands. All of these shows bank on astronomical costume budgets, absurd gigantic hairdos, and fancy hats that are so massive that you miss some dialog while you try to figure how the performers keep all that up in the air.

(I know: This opera technically belongs in the “20-21st Century” category, but most of what Massenet wrote was back in the late 1800’s, so it’s here with the rest of the pre-modernist pieces, where it fits better artistically.)

The music isn’t my style, but the starting overture and the two entr’actes are pleasant and fully developed. The final soprano aria sung by a very elaborate character called L'Ensoleillad is so touching and melodical that it’s worth playing through twice.

For the rest, someone else should offer their opinion, because I was simply getting sick of watching Cherubino hoot through his weird little face paint and his ten-pound Marie Antoinette wig. God, this kid needs a sharp kick in the ass.

So here’s my advice: Definitely watch Chérubin, if you are trying to distract yourself from terrifying presidential election news; it works very well, with a strong drink and a refill.