Last Thursday the IMHI community had the incredible opportunity to enjoy the amazing opera La Cenerentola from  Gioachino Rossini a the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris.

La Cenerentola, which was premiered in Rome in 1817, rivalled the popularity of Il Barbiere di Siviglia for much of the nineteenth century. The element of the marvellous which provided the charm in Perrault’s Cinderella has disappeared from the opera: gone are the magic coach which changes into a pumpkin and the godmother who resolves every problem with a wave of her magic wand, and there is definitely no vair slipper – the dainty squirrel fur footwear whose name sounds like verre(glass) in French and is therefore full of magical potential. Confusion is at the core of the opera with different opinions, genres and emotions. Musically, it adopts a series of incredibly varied guises, all bursting with joy. Rossini made a particular point of not allowing the moral of the story to dampen the light-hearted mood. He carried this off with great panache in this tender yet sparkling work. In this production with Thomas Hengelbrock back at the rostrum and Marina Viotti in the title role, fresh from playing Périchole, we can enjoy Damiano Michieletto’s vision for staging this dramma giocoso in which good triumphs over evil. 

This was a Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Elysées  & Semperoper Dresden

A huge THANK YOU to the Theatre des Champs Elysees Paris!