La Cenerentola
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| Operas by Gioachino Rossini |
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La cambiale di matrimonio (1810) |
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant) is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioacchino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. Rossini's La Cenerentola was first performed in Rome's Teatro Valle in 1817.
Rossini composed La Cenerentola when he was 25 years old, following the success of The Barber of Seville the year before. La Cenerentola, which he completed in a period of three weeks, is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles. Rossini saved some time by reusing an overture from La gazzetta and part of an aria from The Barber of Seville and by enlisting a collaborator, Luca Agolini, who wrote the secco recitatives and three numbers (Alidoro's "Vasto teatro e il mondo", Clorida's "Sventurata!" and the chorus "Ah, della bella incognita.") The facsimile edition of the autograph has a different aria for Alidoro, "Fa silencio; odi un rumore"; this seems to have been added by an anonymous hand for a 1818 production. For a 1820 revival in Rome Rossini wrote a bravura replacement, "La del ciel nel l'arcanno profondo". The light, energetic overture has been in the standard repertoire since its premiere as La Cenerentola.
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[edit] Performance history
At the first performance, the opera was received with hostility, but it soon became popular throughout Italy and beyond; it reached Lisbon in 1819,[1] London in 1820 and New York in 1826. Through most of the 19th century, its popularity rivalled that of the Barber, but as the coloratura contralto became rare it fell slowly out of the repertoire.
However, from the 1960s onward, as Rossini enjoyed a renaissance, a new generation of Rossini mezzo-sopranos and contraltos such as Teresa Berganza, Patricia Kern, Della Jones, Cecilia Bartoli, Ewa Podles, Jennifer Larmore, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Joyce DiDonato, Frederica von Stade, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Susanne Marsee, Bernadette Cullen, Ann Murray and Vivica Genaux ensured the renewed popularity of the work.
There are changes from the traditional fairy tale in La Cenerentola because Rossini did not want magic to feature in his opera.
There are a number of recordings of the opera, and, as a staple of the standard operatic repertoire, it appears as number eleven on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America[2].
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, January 25, 1817 (Conductor: Gioachino Rossini) |
|---|---|---|
| Angelina (Cenerentola, Cinderella) | mezzo-soprano or contralto | Geltrude Righetti |
| Prince Ramiro | tenor | Giacomo Guglielmi |
| Dandini, valet to the Prince | baritone | Giuseppe De Begnis |
| Don Magnifico, Cenerentola's stepfather | bass | Andrea Verni |
| Alidoro, philosopher and former tutor to the Prince | bass | Zenobio Vitarelli |
| Clorinda, Don Magnifico's older daughter | soprano | Caterina Rossi |
| Tisbe, Don Magnifico's younger daughter | mezzo-soprano | Teresa Mariani |
| Courtiers from Prince Ramiro's palace | tenors, basses |
[edit] Synopsis
Angelina (Cenerentola) has a stepfather (Don Magnifico), and the traditional Fairy Godmother is replaced by Alidoro, who is a Philosopher and former Tutor to the Prince. Don Magnifico's spoilt and vain daughters are Clorinda and Tisbe, who are very selfish and self-absorbed.
Prince Ramiro and his valet, Dandini, change places so that the Prince can find a bride who will love him for himself, and not for his social status. Matching bracelets replace the traditional glass slipper as the means by which the Prince finds Cenerentola. (It is of note, however, that editors of the G. Schirmer Cenerentola Italian/English vocal score added an alternate "glass slipper" recitative--in English only--as an option for performance.)
While Ramiro is disguised as a valet, Dandini (pretending to be the Prince) offers his "valet" as a marriage partner to whichever of the two sisters (Clorinda and Tisbe) he does not marry. Both sisters haughtily reject the offer of the "valet" (Ramiro) as husband, in terms which he later quotes back to them after he has resumed his proper position as Prince.
While Ramiro and Dandini are still pretending to be each other, Cenerentola tells the "Prince" (Dandini) that she is in love with his "valet" (Ramiro).
This synopsis is incomplete. [3]
[edit] Noted Arias
- "Miei rampolli femminini" - Don Magnifico in Act I
- "Si, ritrovarla io giuro" - Prince Ramiro in Act II
- "Questo è un nodo avvilupato" - Ensemble in Act II
- "Nacqui all'affano...Non piu mesta" - Angelina in Act II
[edit] References
- ^ Blog da Rua Nove: La Cenerentola, Cinderella, A Gata Borralheira (in portuguese)
- ^ OPERA America's "The Top 20" list of most-performed operas
- ^ for a complete synopsis see John W. Freeman, Stories of the Operas: La Cenerentola, New York Metropolitan Opera
