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Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)

La Cenerentola

In December 1816, the Teatro Valle in Rome was anxiously waiting for a new opera from Gioacchino Rossini. The composer was desperately trying to find a subject. He

invited librettist Jacopo Ferretti to collaborate. They discussed possible topics long into the night. Rossini was ready to retire to bed in exhaustion. Ferretti mentioned in passing that something along the lines of the Cinderella story might work. Rossini jumped at the idea, asking Ferretti how soon he could write it. ‘By tomorrow,’ he replied, ‘I hope you can stay awake that long.’ No sooner said than done. Fortified with a large pot of coffee, Ferretti began his libretto, which Rossini set to music line by line. It was like a competition. It took Ferretti 22 days to write the text and 24 days for Rossini to compose the music.

La Cenerentola ossia la bontà in trionfo (‘Cinderella or Goodness Triumphant’) is a variation on the famous Cinderella fairytale by Charles Perrault. There had been three other operas on the same subject before Rossini’s. Nicolas Isouard’s opéra comique had been particularly successful, not so much for its music, but for the fairytale setting. Not much of the fairy-like atmosphere survives in Rossini’s version. The Teatro Valle had little money for new, fairytale scenery. Furthermore, in their opera Ferretti and Rossini emphasised the dark side of the story.

This Italian Cinderella –here called Angelina – is not at all a sentimental, timid girl, but a fiery young woman looking for luck in life and love. She rejects a prince because she loves a valet (who, of course, proves to be the real prince). The subtitle of the opera says it all: goodness triumphs in the end. As in his comedies, The Barber of Seville and The Italian Girl in Algiers, Rossini’s opera is full of thrilling and unforgettable ensembles and virtuoso coloratura arias.

La Cenerentola had its première on 25 January 1817. Success came slowly, but Rossini remarked that ‘by the end of the Season La Cenerentola will be popular, by the end of the year it will be known throughout Italy, and within two years France and England will love it, too. Impresarios and prima donnas in particular will fight over my opera.’ And so it proved. La Cenerentola is as well-known and well-loved as The Barber of Seville. The triumph of Angelina, the good and virtuous heroine, has lasted for almost 200 years.