Gioachino Rossini

La Cenerentola

Cinderella

by Gioachino Rossini
Comic opera in two acts
Libretto by Jacopo Ferretti
in Italian with German subtitles
A fairy tale without wizardry: No magical tree on the mother’s grave, no pumpkin carriage and no fitting of the glass slipper. The essence of the Cinderella fairy tale, however, has been preserved in Rossini’s sparkling comedy which first premiered in 1817: Namely the firm conviction that beautiful dresses only enhance the already existing inner beauty of a person whilst nasty step sisters will always remain the way they are. And this is why Angelina’s goodness of heart can finally triumph over the malice of her own family, over rational calculation and reason of state.
Location
Opernhaus
Duration
Part 1: approx. 1 h 40 min
Intermission: approx. 30 min
Part 2: approx. 1 h 5 min
This production's premiere
2013
Recommended age
from grade 8
There will be an introduction 45 minutes before the performance at foyer I. floor.
Plot
LA CENERENTOLA OR WHO WILL MARRY WHOM AND WHY!
Don Ramiro, the only heir to an unspecified estate, has to get married immediately according to the testamentary provision. If he doesn’t, he will be denied the legacy as well as the leading position of his father. This would imply the dissolution of all longstanding systems, which subsequently would mean the disintegration of the empire. Ramiro is summoned to appear before the general assembly of executives, who present him with the choice between immediate marriage or disinheritance.

Alidoro, a young and smart consultant with a bright future, has already largely prepared this wedding, of which the two future spouses are neither aware of nor have they ever set eyes on each other.
Alidoro’s plan is the following: Disguised as the clerk Dandini, Don Ramiro will get to know Alidoro’s chosen “bride victim” incognito. According to Alidoro’s speculation, this girl than will fall madly in love with Ramiro, so that Ramiro, overwhelmed with the sudden force of this innocent love, will fall for her too.

This wonderful meeting is supposed to be happening at the house of the well-known wine lover Don Magnifico, who urgently has to revamp his dilapidated estate. His last assets are his two biological daughters Tisbe and Clorinda. These assets have to be cherished and pampered and may not be spent prematurely. But to find a rich husband for them proves to be a near impossible task: Altogether they have seen better days.
But there is also Don Magnifico’s stepdaughter, who goes by the name of Cenerentola. She may never get married, as her stepfather has long misappropriated her dowry, inheritance of her late mother. Thus Don Magnifico is facing some major challenges, especially because Alidoro – this being quite a puzzling surprise for everybody – has just chosen the unmarried Cenerentola as Don Ramiro’s bride.

Nevertheless Alidoro’s plan seems to come together without conflicts: Don Magnifico and his two daughters fail magnificently all along the line. Thinking they will marry rich, the sisters throw themselves unhesitatingly at Dandini, who is splendidly impersonating the rich heir Don Ramiro. The kindhearted Cenerentola and the blissfully bewildered Don Ramiro, disguised as the modest young man Dandini, function perfectly according to Alidoro’s plans – until, well, until both marriage candidates realize, that they are only part of a game, whose point is not their happiness but only so called matters of greater interest.

Which conclusions will they draw from this? This question arises not only for Dandini, who unfortunately has fallen in love with Cenerentola too, but increasingly also for Alidoro, who confronted with an ever more confident Cenerentola is becoming rather anxious.