22nd of June 2024, Saturday, 7:00 p.m. Royal Theatre in the Old Orangery at the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw La Cenerentola / Gioachino Rossini – Premiere and Festival Inauguration.
VII Summer Festival of the Polish Royal Opera – Rossini - Photo: Polish Royal Opera
Everyone knows the magical and fantastic fairy tale of Cinderella in Charles Perrault's version. However, in Rossini's opera, there is no search for a good fairy, a conjured carriage or a glass slipper that fits only one special foot in the entire kingdom. In the libretto, prepared by Jacopo Ferretti based on earlier texts by Charles-Guillaume Étienne and Francesco Fiorini, the fairy is replaced by the wise man Alidoro, the stepmother is replaced by an unjust stepfather, and the shoe is replaced by a bracelet, thanks to which the prince recognizes his chosen one. However, the triumph of Cinderella's modesty and charm over the greed and vanity of her stepsisters and the unconditional kindness of the main character, who in the happy ending forgives her previous tormentors, remains unchanged. Rossini, telling a fairy-tale story half-jokingly and half-seriously, does not shy away from virtuosity, setting ambitious tasks for all the soloists. Since the world premiere, which took place during the carnival of 1817 at the Teatro Valle in Rome, a galaxy of singers have taken on the main roles, because after the cool reception of the first performance, similarly to the case of The Barber of Seville, each subsequent performance was met with great acclaim. Soon the opera conquered stages not only in Italy, but also throughout Europe, and interest in this title has not waned to this day. In the staging prepared by the Polish Royal Opera, the "frisky comedy" typical of Rossini is interpreted with lightness and virtuosity characteristic of her by the excellent director Jitka Stokalska.
source - Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska, Polish Royal Opera
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