La Cenerentola at Theater Basel

La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant) is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. The opera was first performed in Rome´s Teatro Valle on 25 January 1817.

Rossini composed La Cenerentola when he was 25 years old, following the success of The Barber of Seville the year before. La Cenerentola, which he completed in a period of three weeks, is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles. Rossini saved some time by reusing an overture from La gazzetta and part of an aria from The Barber of Seville and by enlisting a collaborator, Luca Agolini, who wrote the secco recitatives and three numbers (Alidoro´s ”Vasto teatro e il mondo”, Clorida´s ”Sventurata!” and the chorus ”Ah, della bella incognita.”) The facsimile edition of the autograph has a different aria for Alidoro, ”Fa silencio; odi un rumore”; this seems to have been added by an anonymous hand for a 1818 production. For a 1820 revival in Rome Rossini wrote a bravura replacement, ”La del ciel nel l´arcanno profondo”. The light, energetic overture has been in the standard repertoire since its premiere as La Cenerentola.