Cinderella

Cinderella, the immortal fairy tale by Charles Perrault, takes shape in the new production created by the Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti under the direction of Nicola Berloffa. The fairy tale comes to life in the musical form that Gioachino Rossini crafted on the libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, which premiered in Rome in 1817: an enduring masterpiece of musical comedy, a ‘comic drama’ that combines the relentless musical laughter of the Pesaro genius with the sentimental emotion of one of the most popular love stories. The mythical kitchen where Paola Gardina’s Cinderella toils for the benefit of her stepsisters (Floriana Cicio and Ana Victória Pitts) was realistically imagined by set designer Aurelio Colombo and realized by the Teatro Comunale team coordinated by Keiko Shiraishi, as was the ballroom, embellished with chinoiserie-style painted canvases by Rinaldo Rinaldi. Due to Covid restrictions, the opera is performed behind closed doors and broadcast to a global audience on the regional OperaStreaming portal on December 30 at 8 PM (with subtitles in Italian and English).

The cast is completed by Don Ramiro (the prince from Perrault’s fairy tale) played by Antonino Siragusa, the stepfather Don Magnifico played by Nicola Alaimo, the servant Dandini played by Nikolay Borchev, and the tutor Alidoro played by Ugo Guagliardo.

The musical production of the opera is curated by Aldo Sisillo, director of the Teatro, leading the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Modena Lyric Choir, as always prepared by Stefano Colò. Lighting by Valerio Tiberi.

“I tried to interpret the opera in a way perhaps more similar to what was intended during its composition,” says the director. “There is no modern reinvention, no contemporary female stereotype present. On stage, there is only Cinderella, a bourgeois comedy or perhaps better a coming-of-age story, where the winners are good manners, education, and pure reason. The story unfolds in two 19th-century sets inspired by the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, looking towards wonder and aesthetic amazement. There are no masks or grotesque caricatures—there is really no need—the libretto, so well written, works excellently on its own; therefore, there are characters that reveal their own human characteristics and with them such feelings, suitable for an opera in which magic or the supernatural was absolutely not foreseen. The coincidences, the cases, the disguises occur exclusively under the guidance of Reason, and the choice of the perfect bride in the end will be dictated by goodness and the expression of a pure feeling. In defining and dressing the characters, there is also a reference to the protagonists of La Comédie humaine by Balzac, a true master in vividly portraying the most human sides of individuals. Is comedy banned? Absolutely not! Rossini’s music and the libretto are so perfect that even listening with eyes closed suggests a good and innocent humor, absolutely enjoyable.”