Bampton Classical Opera celebrates its 25th anniversary with the UK première of Nicolò Isouard’sCinderella (1810), a charming and lyrical telling of Perrault’s much-loved fairy-tale, continuing the Company’s remarkable exploration of rarities from the classical period. The Bampton production will be sung in a new English translation by Gilly French with dialogues by director Jeremy Gray. Isouard died in Paris in 1818 and so this new production also marks his bicentenary.
Cinderella (Cendrillon) is designated as an opéra féerie, and is in three acts, to a libretto by Charles Guillaume Etienne. Cinderella and her Prince share music of folktune-like simplicity, contrasting with the vain step-sisters, who battle it out with torrents of spectacular coloratura. With his gifts for unaffected melody, several appealing ensembles and always beguiling orchestration, Isouard’s Cinderella is ripe for rediscovery. Performances will be conducted by Harry Sever and directed by Jeremy Gray.
Born in Malta in 1775, Isouard was renowned across Europe, composing 41 operas, many of which were published and widely performed. As a young man and following the success of his first operas which were performed in Italy, Isouard became director of the Teatru Manoel in Valletta, Malta. Moving to Paris in 1799, Cendrillon of 1810 was one of his many successes at the Opéra-Comique and was performed across Europe to great acclaim, especially in Germany and Austria, until knocked off its perch by Rossini’s La Cenerentola in 1817. Isouard’s Cendrillon was nominated in the ‘Rediscovered Opera’ category in the recent International Opera Awards, after its first modern-day performance at the Manhattan School of Music last year. Opera Magazine described it as “a little-known jewel of French opera”.
There will be a pre-performance talk about Isouard's Cendrillon at 6pm.