The success of his
Tancredi, premiered at Venice’s La Fenice
on February 6th 1813, firmly
established Rossini’s reputation in
the upper firmament of Italian composers.
He quickly consolidated that position
with the sparkling L’Italiana in Algeri,
premiered at Venice’s Teatro San Benedetto
on May 22nd of the same year.
Whilst Milan was less impressed with
Il Turco in Italia (August 14th
1814) other Italian cities took it up
with enthusiasm and, together with the
earlier works, put Rossini in a pre-eminent
position among his competitors. In the
spring of 1815 he was summoned to Naples
by the influential impresario Domenico
Barbaja and offered the musical directorship
of the two royal Theatres of that city,
the San Carlo and the Fondo. Under the
terms of his contract, Rossini was to
provide two operas each year for Naples
whilst being permitted to compose occasional
operas for other cities. Rossini spent
eight years in Naples composing nine
of his opera serie which contain some
of his greatest music. In the first
two years of his contract he also composed
no fewer than five operas for other
cities, including four for Rome. The
second of these Rome works was Il Barbiere
di Siviglia. Premiered on February 20th
1816 it was only modestly received,
but it has become the composer’s most
popular work and has never gone out
of fashion.
On his return to Naples,
Rossini presented two operas including
Otello premiered on December 4th
1816. Before leaving Rome after Il Barbiere
he had agreed to compose an opera to
open the Carnival Season on December
26th. Rossini arrived back
in Rome in mid-December to find that
the Papal Censors had rejected the proposed
libretto provided by Jacopo Ferretti.
At a late night crisis meeting with
the impresario and Ferretti the subject
of Cinderella was agreed, as was a postponed
premiere. Ferretti’s libretto owes as
much to plagiarism of another poet’s
work as to Charles Perrault’s original
fairy tale. Likewise, in the pressure
of circumstances, Rossini re-used the
overture of La Gazzetta, written a few
months earlier for Naples. He also employed
a local musician, Angolini, to assist
him by composing all the secco recitatives
as well as other pieces. These additions
by Angolini are now omitted in performance
and recordings, which follow the conductor
and Rossini scholar Alberto Zedda’s
Critical Edition, used but not acknowledged,
in this issue. La Cenerentola survived
a noisy first night to be performed
twenty times before the end of the Teatro
Valle season in mid-February. It was
heard throughout Italy by the end of
the year and in France and England within
two years. In the present day it is
second only to Il Barbiere in popularity
among the Rossini oeuvre.
On record La Cenerentola
has had a charmed life. A Sony recording
of 1983 featured Vallentini-Terrani
as the eponymous heroine together with
Francesco Araiza as a strong Ramiro
and the Rossini experts Enzo Dara and
Alessandro Corbelli. This version was
well conducted by Gabriele Ferro and
ran alongside a zestful performance
by Abbado with Teresa Berganza (DG).
A Philips issue of 1987 featuring the
tangy mezzo of Agnes Baltsa as Angiolina
together with Araiza, Ruggero Raimondi
and Simone Alaimo, under Neville Marriner’s
sympathetic baton, largely displaced
both as critical favourite. This recording
is now at mid-price on two CDs in Decca’s
Compact Opera Collection. It in turn
became second favourite to many ears
with the arrival of a Decca full-priced
1992 recording featuring the formidable
Angiolina of Cecilia Bartoli under Chailly’s
idiomatic baton. This issue, with the
exception of William Matteuzzi as Ramiro,
featured a wholly Italian cast orchestra
and chorus. Despite its verve and vocal
strengths, admired by many critics,
I personally found Bartoli’s Cenerentola
a little overpowering with her Angiolina
likely to make short shrift of her stepsisters.
Nor was I wholly happy with Matteuzzi
as the Don Ramiro. However, I found
my ideal with the 1994 Teldec recording
of which this is a re-issue under the
umbrella of the Warner label. Jennifer
Larmore initially presents an appropriately
softer and more vulnerable Angiolina
than some of her rivals. Her Una
volta (CD 1 tr.3) is poignant and
expressive, with a lovely creamy tone,
whilst her contribution to the stirring
rondo finale is strong and vibrant without
being overwhelming or showy (CD 2 trs.
23-26). Throughout her performance her
coloratura is secure and free whilst
her phrasing and expression are exemplary.
As her suitor Raúl Giménez’s
stylishly phrased but rather tightly
focused tenor takes the runs without
aspirants. Whilst his voice is a little
reedy his musicianship and understanding
of the role shine through. His virtues
can be heard in his rendering of Si,
ritrovaria, and scene with his mentor
Alidoro, as Ramiro determines to re-assume
his identity from Dandini and search
for Cinderella (CD 2 trs. 9-11). The
smooth well-phrased baritone of Gino
Quilico as Dandini, the Prince’s stand-in,
is well differentiated from Alessandro
Corbelli’s superbly characterised Don
Magnifico. Their duet, Un segreto,
when Dandini revels in revealing his
true identity to the father of the ‘ugly’
sisters is a highlight (CD 2 tr.13).
The role of Don Magnifico fits Corbelli
like a glove. His singing and characterisation
surpasses his Dandini on the Chailly
version. Alastair Miles is characterful
and expressive as Ramiro’s wise tutor-cum-mentor;
his rendering of La del ciel
is well-phrased and sonorous CD 1 tr.20).
Rossini wrote this aria for a revival
at Rome’s Apollo Theatre in 1821, replacing
music originally provided by Angolini.
The Clorinda of Adelina Scrabelli and
Tisbe sung by Laura Polverelli, make
the most of their opportunities in the
ensembles. Their easily flowing Italian
is an added plus.
It is the rhythmic
vitality of the ensembles together with
the dynamic verve of the chorus and
the pacing of the conducting which make
or break a performance of La Cenerentola.
The conductor Carlo Rizzi has a well
practised and innate feeling for this
genre and these characteristics are
present throughout. The result is a
highly recommendable performance that
is also well recorded with a natural
ambience and balance between singers
and orchestra. Regrettably the booklet
falls far short of the musical standard
in both its contents and faulty presentation
of the libretto. The essay squanders
space on the brothers Grimm and in extensive
quotes from Stendhal’s 1824 ‘Vie de
Rossini’. The synopsis is significantly
better with references to the major
arias and ensembles and would have been
ideal if track-related. However, the
full libretto, with translations in
English, French and German is a presentational
disaster. The Italian original is given
on the right hand side of a double page
with the German translation adjacent;
for the other language translations
the reader has to turn the page forward
to read from the Italian to the language
of choice! This mistake starts on the
first page of the libretto (p 50) and
is perpetuated to the very end (p.197)
making it a near impossibility for French
and English readers to easily follow
the details of the plot whilst enjoying
the performance. It is a pity this was
not spotted at mock-up stage.
For those who can ignore
the translation and enjoy the singing,
this is a welcome return to the catalogue
of an excellent performance. For those
who do not wish to add another complete
recording of this delectable work to
their collection, there is a generous
highlights disc of this performance
available on the Warner Apex label
(review)
Robert J Farr
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, London/Carlo Rizzi 
