La Cenerentola
Find out more about this new production, on stage next summer.
A brief introduction:
La Cenerentola is Rossini’s take on the Cinderella story – a musical fairy tale whose magic is woven into the sparkling brilliance of the score, as human imagination, determination and love battle the forces of ambition, vanity and selfishness.
Sweet-natured Angelina lives as a servant in her own home, at the bidding of her stepfather Don Magnifico and his daughters Clorinda and Tisbe. When Prince Ramiro arrives on the hunt for a bride (disguised as his valet Dandini) he’s disdained by the rest of the family, but he and Angelina fall instantly in love…
Rossini’s youthful opera is a dramma giocoso – a warmer, softer, more human take on musical comedy. So while there’s plenty of silliness here – chattering sisters, a pompous wicked stepfather, a valet and prince trading place with predictably tangled results – there’s also wonder and sincerity. This is real romantic comedy, set to one of Rossini’s most ebullient bel canto scores. Ensembles crackle and spark with intricate invention, arias capture character while also serving up some dazzling bravura feats of coloratura, and finales rise to breathless crescendos.
Why not to miss it:
This is the first new La Cenerentola at Glyndebourne for over 20 years – following on from five-star stagings of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Il turco in Italia, it’s a fresh, youthful irreverent take on Rossini’s fresh, youthful and irreverent opera.
Olivier and Tony-nominated theatre director Max Webster – whose recent Eugene Onegin for Grange Festival was praised for its ‘dramatic intensity’ (The Stage) and ‘striking sophistication’ (The Telegraph), and whose Merry Widow at ENO was hailed as ‘the most fun you can have at the opera’ (Bachtrack) – brings over a decade of West-End experience to his stylish Glyndebourne debut. His Cenerentola – a show designed with all the family in mind – will be packed with humour and visual invention. Expect a lot of silliness powered by a big beating heart of a staging.
A great moment to look out for:
If you had to distil the essence of La Cenerentola down to just one piece it would be Act I’s quartet and chorus ‘O figlie amabili’. Sisters Clorinda and Tisbe, together with Angelina (Cinderella), the Prince’s former tutor Alidoro and assorted courtiers all create a joyous musical chaos as they anticipate the arrival of the Prince and the ennoblement of one of Don Magnifico’s daughters.
A cantering theme is introduced by brass, woodwind and strings (catching a Prince is, after all, a hunt…) before the chorus ramps up the energy, introducing solo exchanges for the two sisters and Angelina, music reminiscent of Figaro’s first aria in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, in which we hear the barber summoned all over town. Angelina is battered by insistent semiquaver orders from all sides that swell in a classic Rossini crescendo. Musical-comedy perfection.
Cast and creative team:
Multi-award-nominated theatre director Max Webster makes his Glyndebourne debut with this new production, which stars Bulgarian mezzo Svetlina Stoyanova (praised by critics for her ‘velvety’ tone and ‘elegant’ delivery) as Angelina. Glyndebourne favourite Levy Sekgapane (a riotous Count Almaviva in 2019’s Il barbiere) is back as Prince Ramiro, with Russian bass Mikhail Timoshenko as faithful sidekick and valet Dandini. Italian bass Marco Filippo Romano returns as the blustering Don Magnifico, and former Jerwood Young Artist and Festival regular Michael Mofidian makes his role debut as Alidoro. Italian specialist Enrique Mazzola has been bringing his signature sparkle to bel canto at Glyndebourne for almost 20 years, and returns to conduct.
with a Syndicate and Circle of Individuals.
To find out more about production support for Festival 2027 click here
or contact our Director of Development, Helen McCarthy for an informal chat:
call 01273 815032 or email helen.mccarthy@glyndebourne.com
Main image: Liliya Rodnikova/Stocksy. Image design by Louise Richardson
