"English National Opera opens its 2025-26 season with a new production of Rossini's sparkling comedy La Cenerentola (Cinderella). With conductor, director, and both leads all making their ENO debuts, the feel is fresh and fun in a production set in a contemporary world but with moments of magic plus white mice, a pumpkin, a ghost and even a glass slipper, even if Rossini's version of the story involves matching bracelets."
"So, to avoid falling foul of the censors, the glass slipper was swapped for matching bracelets. Nor is there a fairy godmother instead there's Alidoro, the Prince's tutor; while Don Magnifico, Cinderella's stepfather, is the selfish and neglectful parent who mistreats his stepdaughter. Her late mother is present in the house, as a ghost, as well as children in playful mice costumes who oversee the action and mastermind the scene changes."
"Our production is set in the here and now more or less. But we've created some story strands that allow period things or elements of mystery to come in. And there's nods to the classic Cinderella story as well as the Disney version, says director Julia Burbach. Our Cinderella has more dignity, as well as wit and resilience Stepsisters Clorinda (Isabelle Peters) and Tisbe (Grace Durham) And the stepsisters? Here they're neither ugly nor even particularly wicked."
English National Opera opens its 2025-26 season with a new production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola featuring debut appearances by the conductor, director and both leads. The production is set in a contemporary world while allowing period and mysterious elements to enter, and includes white mice, a pumpkin, a ghost and a glass slipper alongside Rossini’s original matching bracelets. Historical censorship in Rome in 1817 led to the substitution of bracelets for a glass slipper. The role of the fairy godmother becomes Alidoro, the Prince’s tutor, and Don Magnifico is a selfish, neglectful stepfather. The stepsisters are needy rather than wicked, and Cinderella is portrayed with dignity, wit and resilience.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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