The Prince, Don Ramiro (who has changed places with his valet, Dandini), meets Cenerentola and they are instantly attracted to each other. When the Philosopher, Alidoro, later takes Cenerentola (dressed in magnificent clothing) to the palace, Dandini (still posing as the prince) tries to talk of love to her, but Cenerentola rejects him, saying that she is in love with his 'valet'. Ramiro, who has overheard this comment, is overjoyed, and immediately proposes to her, but Cenerentola says that he must first seek her out and then, if he still felt the same way, she would marry him. She gives him one of a matching pairs of bracelets, telling him to look for its companion on her right arm (she then leaves the palace). Ramiro ends the masquerade, and he and Dandini resume their true identities. The Prince then sets out on his quest - little realising that destiny, in the form of a violent thunderstorm, is about to take a hand in the affair.
Acting
Von Stade's Cenerentola: warmth, wit, and a mezzo-soprano for the ages.
Direction
Ponnelle's staging turns sets into storybook fever dreams.
Costume
The bracelet gimmick: jewelry as emotional GPS.
Director
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ponnelle shot this in Munich's Nymphenburg Palace, using actual 18th-century rooms—no set dressing required for the opulence.
Rossini swapped Cinderella's slipper for bracelets because Catholic censors found bare feet on stage indecent. The church: ruining fairy tales since 1817.
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