A whirlwind of great music full of humor, served by the finest Rossinian singers of the moment
“Questo è un nodo avviluppato,
Questo è un gruppo rintrecciato.
Chi sviluppa più inviluppa,
Chi più sgruppa, più raggruppa.”
La cenerentola (II act)
La cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo, is the outcome of a commission given to Rossini by the Teatro Valle in Rome. Papal censorship banned the planned work as immoral and the hasty solution was to set Charles Perrault’s world-famous fable, Cinderella, to music.
Rossini and Ferret replaced its traditional attributes and eliminated the magical and fabulous aspects of the original version by Perrault and Grimm:
The cruel stepmother becomes a tyrannical stepfather, the grotesque Don Magnifico, unable to overcome the wounds from his past; the role of the de facto fairy is played by Alidoro, the prince’s tutor Don Ramiro, who, in disguise, detects the goodness of Angelina, the Cinderella humiliated by the ungraceful stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe; the prince has swapped his clothes for those of his squire Dandini; Angelina immediately falls in love; Don Magnifico and his daughters are ridiculed by Dandini and the prince; the happy ending includes everyone’s absolution.
Written for the Roman Carnival in 1871, in only 24 days, the young Rossini, with 19 operas behind him (including Il barbiere di Siviglia), wrote a score full of energy with its famous “crescendos” that shake up the dramatic tension.
The most innovative aspects of La Cenerentola and the success it soon achieved – it premiered in Barcelona in 1818, a year after its premiere – emerge from the violent contrast between the main character’s personality, the sentimentality of the plot and the characters populating it from Rosini’s buffo world. From Angelina’s melancholy opening song: “Una volta c’era un re”, we hear a serious opera heroine with extraordinary vocal virtuosity.
A veritable storm of great music, full of humour served up by the best Rossini singers of the moment with production by Emma Dante, that is delicate, full of subtle nuances, but which also has a sombre and burlesque melancholy. A dramma giocoso replete with lessons for modern-day society.
Melodramma giocoso in two acts
Libretto by Jacopo Ferretti based on Charles Perrault’s Cendrillon and libretti by Charles-Guillaume Étienne (for a Nicolas Isouard’s opera) and Francesco Fiorini (for a Stefano Pavesi’s opera)
- World premiere: 25/1/1817 at the Teatro Valle in Rome.
- Barcelona premiere: 18/4/1818 at the Teatre de la Santa Creu.
- Last Liceu performance: 20/1/2008.
- Total number of Liceu performances: 42.
With the collaboration of:
The performances are dedicated to the contralto Ewa Podleś, who passed away last January.
Dates & tickets
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Are you between 18 and 35 years old?
Join the LiceUnder35 Community and come see La Cenerentola on May 16th for only €20. Tickets on sale April 17th at 3pm.
Opera Across Generations
The performance on May 30th at 6pm is an exclusive show at the special price of €35, ideal for enjoying with your sons, daughters, grandchildren, granddaughters, godsons, and goddaughters!
- First act 1h 38min
- Interval 30min
- Second act 1h
Artistic profile
- Stage director
- Emma Dante
- Set design
- Carmine Maringola
- Costume design
- Vanessa Sannino
- Choreography
- Manuela Lo Sicco
- Lighting
- Cristian Zucaro
- Revival
- Federico Gagliardi
- Stage director assistant
- Inés García-Pertierra
- Assistant to the musical director
- Miquel Massana
- Assistant musical maestros
- Rodrigo de Vera, Daniela Pellegrino and Jaume Tribó
- Production
- Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
- Cor Madrigal (Pere Lluís Biosca, director)
- Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
- Conductor
- Giacomo Sagripanti
Cast
Cast changes
- Baritone Pablo Ruiz joins the production in the role of Don Magnifico. Finally, Carlos Chausson will not participate as initially announced, due to his gradual retirement from stage roles.
- Bass Marko Mimica joins the production replacing Roberto Tagliavini, who ultimately does not participate for personal reasons.
- Mezzo-soprano Maria Kataeva joins the production replacing Gaëlle Arquez, who ultimately does not participate for personal reasons.
Get Ready for La cenerentola
Hand program
More info
Liceu Chronology
Explore the history of this title through the Annals of the Gran Teatre del Liceu Foundation: list of performances, casts, photographs, programs, curiosities...
Easy Reading
We offer you a summary of the opera adapted to the international Easy Reading criteria, in terms of form, language, and content. These adaptations of the plots in this format are for everyone, especially for people with temporary or permanent reading difficulties.