Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Theatre / LaCenerentola

Go To

1''La Cenerentola'' is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts based on the fairy tale ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}''. Music/GioachinoRossini allegedly composed the opera in three weeks.
2
3Cenerentola is forced to work as a servant for her step-father Don Magnifico and her half-sisters Clorinda and Tisbe. One day the whole household is thrown into a frenzy by the news: Prince Ramiro will call on them soon and he's looking for a bride. However, the man they meet isn't the prince, but his valet Dandini, while the real prince has disguised himself as a valet to observe he girls and gauge their real character.
4
5When he meets Cenerentola, he's immediately smitten, but he has to leave her behind as Don Magnifico won't allow her to accompany them to the ball. As soon as they leave, however, Alidoro, philosopher and the prince's teacher, arrives and helps Cenerentola go to the ball, where her beauty stuns the court. When the fake prince tries to court her, she refuses his advances, proclaiming her love for his valet. Ramiro, hiding nearby, reveals himself, but she orders him not to follow her: he has to look for her and see her regular situation, then he can decide if he still wants her. She gives him a bracelet and keeps an identical one on herself so he'll be able to recognize her.
6
7The Prince throws off his disguise, orders his servants to empty his palace of all moochers and starts looking for the mysterious lady. As luck would have it, his carriage breaks down near Don Magnifico's palace...
8
9
10
11
12
13!!''La Cenerentola'' provides examples of the following tropes:
14* [[AbusiveParents Abusive Family]]: Don Magnifico, Tisbe and Clorinda.
15* ActuallyIAmHim: Cenerentola tries to speak up when Alidoro brings up Don Magnifico's third daughter, but Don Magnifico interrupts her, covers her mouth and threatens her.
16* ArrangedMarriage: Fake Prince Ramiro's solution: since he can't marry both Tisbe and Clorinda, he'll pick one of them and the other will marry his faithful valet Dandini. Doubles as SecretTestOfCharacter since the valet is actually the ''real'' prince in disguise and both sisters angrily refuse him.
17* ContrivedCoincidence: Averted thanks to the philosopher Alidoro.
18* EasilyForgiven: Don Magnifico and his daughters, although it doesn't quite reach KarmaHoudini territory.
19* EitherOrTitle: The full title is ''Cenerentola o la bontà in trionfo'' (Cinderella or goodness triumphant).
20* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The whole opera takes place in a day.
21* FinancialAbuse: Don Magnifico admits he spent all his step-daughter's fortune on his own daughters.
22* {{Foreshadowing}}: The first song Cenerentola sings is a fairy tale about a king looking to marry and picking goodness over beauty and riches.
23* GenderFlip: This version of the story has a wicked step-''father'' instead of a step-mother.
24* HappilyEverAfter
25* IAmSong: PlayedWith. ''"Come un'ape nei giorni d'aprile"'' does sound like a perfectly straight example, except it's sung by Dandini pretending to be the prince: he's essentially presenting his persona.
26* IdiotBall: Prince Ramiro. In Act I, Cenerentola tries to explain her difficult family situation, with "a father who isn't a father" and her two half-sisters. Alidoro later appears and asks about Don Magnifico's third daughter. In Act II, Ramiro is surprised by Tisbe and Clorinda's terrible attitudes because Alidoro told him to look for his bride in Don Magnifico's house. He witnessed all that and still utterly fails to put two and two together. He also fails to realize that the mysterious lady at the ball is the "servant girl" who charmed him earlier, despite noticing how much she looks ''and'' sounds like her – though to be fair, Magnifico and the sisters make the same mistake, even though they live with her.
27* IronicEcho: When Tisbe and Clorinda try to flirt with the ''real'' prince Ramiro, he throws back at them all the names they called him when they thought him a mere valet.
28* IWillFindYou: ''Sì, ritrovarla io giuro.''
29* LargeHam: Dandini the valet, especially when he pretends to be prince Ramiro. He's barely on stage when the ''real'' prince has to ask him to tone it down.
30* LetsDuet: ''Un soave non so che.''
31* LoveAtFirstSight: Ramiro and Cenerentola.
32* MarryForLove: Prince Ramiro wants this.
33* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: ''Questo è un nodo avviluppato.''
34* MeaningfulName: Cenerentola's real name is Angelina. Overlaps with AllThereInTheManual since it's only mentioned once toward the end of the opera.
35* MementoMacGuffin: Two identical bracelets, which replace the traditional glass slipper.
36* OldBeggarTest: Alidoro first visits the house disguised as a beggar to test the worthiness of the young women. Tisbe and Clorinda try to get rid of him, but Cenerentola sneaks him something to eat and drink, and thereby earns herself his assistance.
37* PaperThinDisguise: Averted with Alidoro, Ramiro and Dandini. Played straight with Cenerentola.
38* SecretTestOfCharacter: several throughout the opera. Cenerentola passes one when she sneaks food to the disguised Alidoro, while Clorinda and Tisbe fail theirs.
39* SheCleansUpNicely: So nicely her own family doesn't recognize her.
40* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Ramiro ''hates'' the way Don Magnifico mistreats Cenerentola, but he can't act on it as he's disguised as a servant.
41* TheChessmaster: Alidoro.
42* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Daughter Girl]]: All Cenerentola wants is to be acknowledged by her step-father and half-sisters.
43* YoungestChildWins: Subverted. When briefly explaining her family situation to Ramiro in disguise, Cenerentola mentions in passing that Clorinda and Thisbe were also her mother's daughters with the Baron, making them her younger half-sisters, and her the eldest. This line is often changed in English translations.

Top