Rossini's Cinderella is not a fairy tale but a comedy of manners. It was aimed, at not children, but at the sophisticated carnival audience of Rome. All of the magical elements have been eliminated, including the glass slippers. As the subtitle indicates, the emphasis throughout is on her goodness.

Overture: Because of the press of time, Rossini could not compose an original overture but used one from an earlier opera La gazzetta. This had never been given in Rome, so he could be confident it would not be easily recognized. During the overture we hear the first of many of the trademark Rossini crescendos (gradual increases in volume).

Once there was a king: This simple, sad song reflects her status at the beginning of the opera. Her music will change as her condition improves. This song reflects also reflects her simplicity and goodness compared to her vain, superficial stepsisters.

Alidoro: Alidoro plays the role of the "Fairy Godmother", but he is no magical creature. He works in the Prince's household as his tutor and is fully human.

Don Magnifico, Montefiascone: His name is ironic. Far from being magnificent he is a caricature. He has in inflated idea of his own importance but is really petty, lazy, incompetent and greedy. His title, Montefiascone, describes the real man. A fiasco is a failure, a fiascone is a giant failure.

Patter: Parts of this aria are examples of patter singing. Listen for other instances throughout the opera.

A grace: Cinderella and the Prince meet for the first time, not at a ball, but while she is still in rags and being treated like a slave. They fall in love instantly. This emphasizes the fact that she is recognized for her goodness, not just for her beauty as in the versions of the story in which the prince sees her for the first time in all her glory.

Like a bee: Dandini was invented by Romani in his libretto for Pavesi. Just as Prince Ramiro falls in love with a girl he thinks is a poor servant, she also falls in love with a servant, not a prince.

Third daughter: Alidoro has done his homework. He produces an official document proving that there is a third daughter. He also knows that Don Magnifico had deprived her of her true inheritance and that the Baron is lying when he claims she is dead.

Finale: This is a typical Act One finale of the time, a sequence of number: arias, duets, ensembles, and chorus but no recitative. It is fast and furious and uses all of the characters in different combinations. It lasts almost fifteen minutes and includes as section in which all freeze in reaction to the confusion.

Monumental: Notice how the crescendo builds at the emotion of the storm

Servant: This is another example of her goodness. She prefers the "servant" to the man she thinks is a prince.

Bracelet: As many have pointed out, glass slippers would be very unsuitable for dancing, heavy, slippery and breakable. Her giving the bracelet to the Prince reflects an element often overlooked in the Perrault story where she "lets her slipper fall", losing it deliberately not accidentally. For more on this see the article on the versions of the story. Another reason Ferretti used a bracelet was the impracticality of Cinderella trying on a slipper in full view of the Rome audience. She would have to show her ankle!

Thunderstorm: Another great crescendo as the storm grows and then fades away again.

Forgives: This is from Perrault. Other versions, especially that of the Grimms, punish the sisters in a variety of ways. This is the final proof of Cinderella's goodness.

No longer sad: This glorious, spectacular aria reflects the complete transformation of Cinderella from the sad waif who sang the song about the king at the beginning. The melody was borrowed from one of Almaviva's arias in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Frederica von Stade, one of the greatest Cinderellas of the twentieth century says of it: "[It] has some of the most difficult singing in the world but becomes almost easy when you think what it is really about ... love." Her last words are "Father, Husband, Friend ...what a moment!" In spiote of everything, she loves them all.

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Revised 2005
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