La Cenerentola

La Cenerentola is a comic opera by Gioacchino Rossini.

Related Topics:
Opera - Gioacchino Rossini

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The libretto was written by Jacobo Ferretti based on the fairy tale Cinderella.

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Rossini's La Cenerentola was first performed in Rome in 1817.

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Rossini composed La Cenerentola at age 25 in some three weeks, following the success of The Barber of Seville the year before.

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It is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles.

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At the first performance, the opera was received by hostility, but it soon became popular throughout Italy and beyond; it reached London in 1820 and New York in 1826. Through most of the 19th century, its popularity rivalled that of the Barber, but as the coloratura contralto became rare it fell slowly out of the repertoire.

Related Topics:
19th century - Contralto

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However, from the 1970s onward, as Rossini enjoyed a renaissance, a new generation of Rossini mezzo-sopranos such as Cecilia Bartoli, Ewa Podles, Jennifer Larmore, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Joyce di Donato, and Ann Murray ensured the renewed popularity of the work.

Related Topics:
Mezzo-soprano - Cecilia Bartoli - Ewa Podles - Jennifer Larmore - Kathleen Kuhlmann - Joyce di Donato - Ann Murray

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La Cenerentola is part of the standard operatic repertoire.

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There are a number of recordings of it, and it is regularly performed.

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