On 30 December Rossini's magical opera will resonate in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. The semi-staged performance will feature principal artists Tsvetana Omelchuk, Kristina Gonza, Yekaterina Latysheva, Alexander Mikhailov, Yaroslav Petryanik, Denis Begansky, and Gevorg Grigoryan. The harpsichord part will be played by Yana Grankvist, with Valery Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra.
Rossini's La Cenerentola world premier occurred in 1817 at Rome Teatro Valle. Its abundance of charming melodies, splendid ensembles, and diverse arias made the opera popular in Italy and beyond. Nevertheless, live performances of this music remain a rarity achievable only by virtuosos of the highest calibre.
Casting the role of Angelina (Rossini and libretto Jacopo Ferretti’s name for the main character), written for a coloratura mezzo-soprano, is a significant challenge. In this role luminaries such as Frederica von Stade, Teresa Berganza, Cecilia Bartoli, and Olga Borodina have shone. On 30 December Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers soloist and laureate of international competitions, Tsvetana Omelchuk, will take on the lead role.
Equally challenging is assembling a cohesive team of soloists for other roles who like the main heroine must demonstrate effortless mastery of bel canto in solo numbers and join together in intricate, populous ensembles featuring characteristic Rossinian patter and coloratura.
While the libretto of La Cenerentola traces back to Charles Perrault's fairy tale the opera is not a fairy tale. Teatro Valle, for which Rossini's composition was created, lacked the technical capabilities to magically transform a pumpkin into a carriage or mice into horses. There's no story of a glass slipper either as the scene of trying on the slipper might have been deemed indecent at that time. The librettist replaced the stepmother with the malevolent Don Magnifico as the stepfather, and the fairy godmother with the wise mentor Alidoro, the prince's assistant.
Rossini's La Cenerentola is a splendid Italian opera buffa with disguises and a dazzling musical garland of arias, ensembles, choruses, and symphonic fragments interspersed with recitatives. But the composer did not confine himself to the comic genre. While Don Magnifico and Dandini are purely buffoonish characters, Prince Ramiro and Angelina sing in the language of serious opera: their feelings are lofty and noble.
The semi-staged version does not involve complex sets or machinery but does not exclude vivid theatricality, primarily thanks to the brilliant acting of the artists and the astonishing capabilities of human voices, fully showcased by Rossini's music. The visual aspect is composed of colourful costumes, stage lighting, and video effects.
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