Rossini's Cenerentola from 17 November at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona

Cinderella, an opera from 1817, is the story of fairy tales, of ‘goodness in triumph’. Just like a fairy tale, amid sooty chimneys, liveries and princely balls, it is staged at the Teatro Filarmonico in the Maggio Fiorentino production by director Manu Lalli, who tells Rossini's story, emphasising its invitation to youthful and feminine emancipation. Bringing the unforgettable music to life amid virtuosity, agility, crescendos and tongue twisters, Maria Kataeva makes her debut with Pietro Adaini, Alessandro Luongo, Carlo Lepore, young voices and the Arenian ensembles conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta. Repeats 20, 22 and 24 November

La Cenerentola, one of Rossini's greatest masterpieces, will now be performed as the penultimate title of the Fondazione Arena's 2024 Opera and Ballet Season, with an acclaimed Florentine staging and a well-rehearsed cast of bel canto singers.

The opera tells the story in two acts of Angelina, nicknamed Cinderella, mistreated by her stepsisters Clorinda and Thisbe and by her stepfather Don Magnifico, a fallen and greedy nobleman. Into their crumbling castle arrives Prince Ramiro, a young man who is looking for love among the girls of the kingdom: he does so incognito, as the squire of his own valet, the witty Dandini, himself a pretend prince, at whose feet Cinderella's entire family throws themselves. In place of the fairy, there is Alidoro, Ramiro's master who, dressed as a beggar, tests the goodness of the most renegade of Magnifico's daughters and, rewarding her, sends her to the ball. Here it is love at first sight with the Prince. At midnight she, on the run, loses not the slipper but a bracelet, which Ramiro will bring back to her. A love story with a happy ending and a play of hilarious misunderstandings between some of the funniest characters in Italian opera.

Gioachino Rossini, already famous but in a frenzy of activity, had divided Roman audiences in February 1816 with his version of the Barber of Seville, a subject already set to music by Paisiello, but soon destined to oust him from the repertoire. By then he had written La Gazzetta for Naples and one of his first experiments in opera seria, with the unpublished Otello from Shakespeare. It was only after this drama that he set the libretto by Jacopo Ferretti to music (the fourth in a year and, it seems, in only thirty days) for another Roman theatre, the Valle, where Cenerentola was staged and won over the public. Due to the short time available, the recitatives and some musical numbers (now expunged) were composed by his colleague Agolini. In Verona, La Cenerentola returns from 17 November for four performances with all the Rossini pieces and a cast of well-rehearsed performers directed by Maestro Francesco Lanzillotta, a long-awaited return to the podium of the Fondazione Arena Orchestra and Chorus prepared by Roberto Gabbiani.

Angelina, the title character, is mezzo-soprano Maria Kataeva, making her debut at the Filarmonico, while Prince Don Ramiro is tenor Pietro Adaini, already applauded as a debutant in this very role eight years ago. The comic mattatori Dandini and Don Magnifico have the voice and body respectively of baritone Alessandro Luongo and bass Carlo Lepore, while the stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe are played by soprano Daniela Cappiello and mezzo-soprano Valeria Girardello, already acclaimed at the Festival areniano, as is the Alidoro of bass Gabriele Sagona, deus ex machina of the story. Which is recounted by director Manu Lalli with the tone of fairy tales and the sparkling play of the comic whirlwind, without renouncing modern acting and an invitation to the youngest to take possession of their dreams. The opera debuts in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino production, created for the Boboli Gardens and successfully revived at the New Theatre, with sets by Roberta Lazzeri and costumes by Gianna Poli. 

La Cenerentola, a masterpiece of bel canto, a funny, tender and pyrotechnic opera, makes its debut on Sunday 17 November at 3.30 p.m. and will be repeated on Wednesday 20 November at 7 p.m., Friday 22 November at 8 p.m. and Sunday 24 November at 3.30 p.m. Tickets are available at https://www.arena.it/it/teatro-filarmonico, at the Arena Box Office and, two hours before each performance, at the Box Office itself at the Teatro Filarmonico in Via Mutilati.

As of 13 November it is also possible to become a new subscriber to the Arena Foundation's Opera and Symphonic Seasons 2025: a special season for the 50th anniversary of the reopening of the Teatro Filarmonico, with unmissable titles and programmes from the 18th century to contemporary music, including the great repertoire from Mozart to Puccini.

The cycle of free in-depth meetings also continues, in this case an opportunity to discover -or rediscover- Rossini's Cenerentola, with lecturer and music journalist Davide Annachini, on Thursday 14 November at 6 pm in the Sala Filarmonica (via Roma 1). Admission is free while places last.

The new BCC Veneta is the main sponsor of the 2024 Artistic Season of the Teatro Filarmonico.

ARENA YOUNG

The rich programme of Arena Young, shows, meetings and initiatives of Fondazione Arena for children, students, families, staff of schools, universities, academies continues. La Cenerentola debuts for them with the Schools Preview, the performance on Friday 15 November at 4 pm reserved for students and young people.

After the premiere, with Andiamo a teatro, the world of schools will be able to attend the midweek performances at the Teatro Filarmonico and participate in the Prelude one hour before the show: a moment of approach to the plot, the characters and the language of theatre in music, organised by the Fondazione Arena, in the prestigious Sala Maffeiana. For La Cenerentola it is possible to attend the Prelude on Wednesday 20 November at 6 pm and Friday 22 November at 7 pm.

La Cenerentola, a title particularly suited to young audiences, will also be presented in a special opera reduction for children: as part of Il teatro si racconta, a series of morning shows dedicated to schools, Cenerentola will be staged. Un lampo, un sogno, un gioco, a show in which Rossini's opera meets the fairy tales that inspired it, with the same performers as in the complete show and directed by Manu Lalli. The appointment is Tuesday 19 November at 10.30 a.m.

Info and booking: Ufficio Formazione scuola@arenadiverona.it - tel 045 8051933