LA CENERENTOLA is Now Playing at Opera Paris

Relieved of her traditional attributes - velvet slipper and pumpkin carriage - and dominated by a tyrannical stepfather instead of a cruel stepmother, Rossini's La Cenerentola plays with the traditional figures of the fairy tale. Cinderella lives, nonetheless, in a closed and loveless world, under the yoke of the tyrant she protects. Beneath her goodness smoulders a fire to be unleashed by her encounter with the prince...

In this drama giocoso written for the Roman Carnival in 1871 in only 24 days, the young Rossini, with 19 operas to his name already, including Il barbiere di Siviglia, composed a jubilatory score with his famous "crescendi" that stoke up the dramatic tension. Taking up this brilliant and highly contrasted score, Guillaume Gallienne delicately underlines its subtle shades, from sombre melancholy to burlesque.

Performances run 10 September - 9 October.

To post a comment, you must register and login.