“La Cenerentola” in the smallest opera house

After more than two years of the pandemic, the 2022 season should convey some fairy tale lightness, says Stefan Gartner: “Our production ‘La Cenerentola’ is guaranteed to transport audiences to an enchanting fantasy world in the 230th year of this prolific film’s birth. Writer Rossini.” Richard Banzenbock He is the director, and the music director is Homan Khalatbari.

And: “For me, the opera also represents the fact that oppression and injustice can not prevail in the end. I would like to believe this idea now ”, confirms the director. Based on one of the oldest and most famous fairy tales – ‘Cinderella’ – it is Cinrentola who, “despite the humiliation of her stepfather and wives, believes that kindness and a pure heart can overcome all adversity,” according to Stefan Gartner, artistic director of the classics festival in Kirchstein .

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was one of the most important authors of the opera Belle Canto. His works “Il barbiere di Siviglia” (“The Barber of Seville”), “L’italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Lady of Algiers”) and “La Cenerentola” (“Cinderella”) are part of the group of standard opera houses in the whole world.

The opera must be directly tangible

After a long year in which the opera has moved to the main courtyard of Kirchstetten Castle for reasons of coronavirus prevention, 2022 means a return to the original location of the Kirchstetten Opera – in “Austria’s smallest opera house”, by self-definition. Artistic Director Gartner: “We are in a fortunate position to be able to use the Mulbirch Hall, one of Winviertel’s most exclusive concert halls. For the public, but also for us as cultural agents, 2022 should be summer as it was then,” he says. Gartner.

A maximum of 160 people can attend a show at Kirchstetten. The technical claim behind this intimate setting is to make the opera accessible and tactile as quickly as possible. “Instead of excessive technology and props, the focus is on the music, the voices, the expressiveness of the singers, and their unique proximity to them,” says the director.