GIOACHINO ROSSINI
LA CENERENTOLA
CONTENTS
P.
4
SYNOPSIS P.
8
ROSSINI IS PRECISION WITH SOUL JESÚS LÓPEZ COBOS IN AN INTERVIEW P.
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SAN SOGNO SVEN-ERIC BECHTOLF P.
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ABOUT CENERENTOLA’S STAGE ROLF GLITTENBERG P.
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ABOUT CENERENTOLA’S COSTUMES MARIANNE GLITTENBERG P.
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HER SINGING BRIMS OVER WITH PEARLS ANDREAS LÁNG
P.
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TO MY FELLOW DRAMATISTS JACOPO FERRETTI P.
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YOU SIMPLY CANNOT HELP FEELING HAPPY! STENDHAL P.
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LA CENERENTOLA IN VIENNA MICHAEL JAHN P.
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IMPRINT
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
LA CENERENTOLA OSSIA LA BONTÀ IN TRIONFO DRAMMA GIOCOSO in two acts Libretto JACOPO FERRETTI Source Cendrillon, fairy tale by CHARLES PERRAULT (1697) Agatina o La virtù premiata, dramma semiserio by FELICE ROMANI & STEFANO PAVESI (1814)
ORCHESTRA
2 flutes / 2 piccolos 2 oboes / 2 clarinets 2 bassoons / 2 horns 2 trumpets / 1 trombone violin I / violin II viola / cello / double bass pianoforte (harpsichord) STAGE ORCHESTRA percussion
AUTOGRAPH Score: Accademia Filarmonica Bologna Aria “Là del cielo nell’arcano profondo”: Fond. Rossini Pesaro WORLD PREMIÈRE 25 JANUARY 1817 Teatro Valle, Rome FIRST PERFORMANCE IN VIENNA 29 AUGUST 1820 Theater an der Wien PREMIÈRE AT THE HOUSE ON THE RING 2 MAY 1881 Vienna Court Opera DURATION
2 H 45 M
INCL. 1 INTERMISSION
MARIANNE GLITTENBERG
ABOUT CENEREN- TOLA’S COSTUMES How do we begin contemplating the “concept” for a “comic opera” if we do not wish to resort to drastic updating inspired by the wonderful merriment of Rossini’s music – notwithstanding the fact that the constellation of “cruel father – mistreated daughter” (if we reduce the Cinderella story to these basic elements) can easily be found in the news with far more radical cruelty? In this process of deliberation, the music takes a much higher priority than it does in operas with a serious libretto, since a “fairy tale” is not a “realistic” story, the characters are not necessarily fully developed, and the events are often “wonder”-fully unreal. When we look at the costume history of the opera, narrative styles have evolved that, whether paraphrasing commedia dell’arte characters or exaggerating, caricaturing or creating apparent fantasy, are used in countless variations. They do not tell any particular part of the story, are without substance, or smother any message with arbitrariness. This kind of typical
“opera costume” is an enemy stereotype that I wanted at all costs to avoid. Another initial consideration, that of the period in which to locate the “retelling” of a work (since we are now accustomed to choosing any epoch that seems reasonable to us), brings us back to the same consideration: unless the characters are anchored in reality, this opera does not seem portrayable to me. Presenting Cenerentola as a poor kitchen maid wearing a historical long patched dress with a laced bodice seems to me a cliché of operatic “sugarcoating” that does little to touch me. In my mind, images of Anna Magnani type hairstyles and tunic dresses filtered into the story – a compliment to “italianità”; early Visconti and Fellini films from the early 1950s and then even the easygoing village atmosphere from Anthony Minghella’s film The Talented Mr. Ripley which focuses not on social hardship but on sun and Vespa-driving joie de vivre. All these gave me a framework in which this story could take place.
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A B O U T CE N E R E N T OL A’ S C O S T U M E S
With realistic characters in a specific, narrative design style that in this context I would call “drama” costumes, as that brings us somewhat closer to reality. Working with straight theatre in this fashion seemed to me more likely to result in justice being done to the music of the opera, because with this description of real characters an overall atmosphere, a “world” evolves in which we find ourselves, a “costume image” appears that in general is more important to me than the individual “dresses.” So creating the inhabitants of the village of San Sogno was one of the most enjoyable “costume conferences” I had with Sven-Eric Bechtolf and Rolf Glittenberg, albeit also the most work, since in no time at all we had drawn up a population to fill a full-fledged county town. It was then very satisfying hard work to draw up a list of the dramatis personae for costuming and to give the
popular Rossini men’s chorus characteristic a slight list in order not to suppress a small female contingent. The “subjectivity” that is always very important to me in my work allowed me a few “highs” derived from quoting from images that are no longer copyrighted, such as men with Fellini’s hairnets or bridesmaids at the wedding of Grace Kelly or personal things such as the sky blue trousers of the Iceman. My desire to delve deeper into a few favourite passages rather than tackle just the overall mood of the music was seldom satisfied. Unfortunately no costumes could be created for the few bars with which the storm music ends – in completely peaceful mollification, as if Rossini wanted to resolve “nodo avviluppato” and “vertice del lor’cervello” – the confused incomprehension in the limited minds of the characters. It is wonderful to have ears!
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Next pages: STAGE DESIGN, PALACE