La Cenerentola at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

The story of the servant girl who is magically transformed into a princess exists in many forms. Stefan Herheim’s version of Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella brings the old composer to life, and shows us how the real magic lies in the beauty of the human voice.

This is a production that is just as vivacious and powerful as Rossini’s immortal music.
The composer triumphs

The opera’s full title is La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant), and is based on the well-known fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Herheim’s production features no glass slipper or pumpkin carriage, but is just as much a game of power and desire as the original.

“I’ve never trusted this good girl,” says the director, and instead presents us with a wilder and more cunning Cinderella.

The person who triumphs in the end, however, is Rossini himself. He enters the production in the role of Cinderella’s stepfather, Don Magnifico. By directing the piece, and reviving his own music, it is the dead composer who rises from the ashes.