La Cenerentola May 1, 2009

Written just a year after 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia', Rossini's telling of the Cinderella story has become one of his most popular operas. Though the librettist Ferretti changed the slipper into a bracelet, and the fairy god-mother into a philosopher, the story is essentially that of the fairy-tale, in which Cinderella goes to a ball and falls in love with a prince in spite of the machinations of her step-father and ugly step-sisters. The music is quintessential Rossini, with hilarious ensembles and magnificent arias (including the famous 'Nacqui all'affanno').