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Take an in-depth look at La Cenerentola with the following articles and essays.
The house program for Cinderella, on stage at the Four Seasons Centre Apr. 23 to May 25, 2011.
by Joan Font
The basis for Cinderella is a 1697 tale by Charles Perrault. This tale has become a classic and tells a universal story, that of a girl who is mistreated by her own family and, thanks to a fairy’s magic, can see her dream come true. From this legendary tale, composer Gioacchino Rossini (1792 – 1868) and librettist Jacopo Ferretti created a delightful opera, which premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome on the 25th of February 1817, when Rossini was just 25 years old.
After the success of The Barber of Seville at Rome’s Teatro Argentina in 1816, the impresario of the rival Teatro Valle signed the composer to write an opera for his theatre the following year.
Between these two Roman appearances, Rossini returned to his home theatre, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and composed two more operas, returning to Rome only a few weeks before his new opera for the Teatro Valle was to premiere.
La Cenerentola is generally categorized as a melodrama giocoso since its mood frequently shifts from the comic to the dramatic.
Amongst the frivolity which characterizes much of the opera, darker elements often come to the fore. For example, Cenerentola’s stepsisters hurl horrible insults at her, at one point calling her “alma di fango” (literally, soul of mud).
The Comediants view La Cenerentola as a fairytale: Cenerentola's most faithful and understanding companions are six dancers disguised as rats who loll, cavort and move props throughout the production. When it's clear that she's the woman for Ramiro, Cenerentola sings part of her final rondo to them, some holding hankies they'd just used to wipe away tears of happiness.
Lawrence Brownlee as Don Ramiro and Elizabeth DeShong as Angelina in the Canadian Opera Company production of Cinderella (La Cenerentola). Photo Credit: © 2011 Michael Cooper