Gioachino Rossini - La Cenerentola - "Signor, una parola"

While the big sextet forms the apotheosis of the plot as a whole, the Quartet/Quintet from Act One is a conclusion of the introduction, finally fleshing out the main conflict and the roles of the protagonists.

Here is the cast:

Joyce DiDonato - Angelina (Cenerentola),
Jose Manuel Zapata - Don Ramiro,
Paolo Bordogna - Dandini,
Bruno Pratico - Don Magnifico,
Luca Pisaroni - Alindoro.

The piece deals with a most dreadful situation: Ramiro and Dandini are witnesses to Magnifico forcefully refusing Angelina's requests to let her go to the ball. These requests are presented in a striking arioso, employing descending coloratura lines to give weight to Cenerentola's words: "permit me to dance as well". Magnifico's response, heard above a confused dialogue between Ramiro (who is furious to see the girl being treated so dreadfully) and Dandini (who tries to stop his prince from doing anything rash), is "decorated" by horrific laughter and even more reproaches. This is were the "prince" and the "valet" (as they have switched places before arriving to Magnifico's castle) enter, politely wondering what is happening. The baron spares no kind words, openly declaring Angelina as being a servant of lowest order (both statements use the same melodic line which has appeared in Magnifico's original verse). He then proceeds, in a miniature crescendo, to order Angelina back to her room before he is completely humiliated in the eyes of the "prince". The crescendo is continued by the other two men as they ask the baron to be kinder to the poor girl. Angelina, aside, laments her father's cruelty, before returning to the opening statement and asking the prince and his valet to persuade her father. This statement is then elaborated with the addition of the three men, even more confused than before. The quartet then turns into a quintet with the appearance of Alindoro who, in a stately arioso, remarks that his records speak of the baron having three daughters and ordering him to present the third one. The melody is continued into a dialogue as Magnifico, first unsure of what to do, claims that the girl is dead (despite Angelina's desire to make herself heard). By this moment, nothing truly can be added, Magnifico has successfully refused to admit his own daughter. Thus, we are given a strikingly tragic moderato, stated first by Dandini with each of the protagonists noting how much he or she is shocked by the news. After Angelina's and Magnifico's verse, the piece flows into a superb sustained quintet, alternating the lovers lyrical lines with the basses low bubbling ones. A short but markedly hurried tempo di mezzo leads into a reimagining of the original moderato into an allegretto before the piece overflows into a brilliant coda.

Hope you'll enjoy :)!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Rossini
• La
• Cenerentola
• classical
• belcanto
• coloratura

[Makashi11]

The best Cenerentola out there is Ponnelle/Abbado's 1981 Production imo.