CINDERELLA Student Guide | Opera Company of Philadelphia

Gioacchino Rossini’s

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2006-07season

Cinderella and The School District of Philadelphia

2006 October 27, 29m, November 1, 3, 5m & 11

2006 November 8, 10, 12m, 15, 17 & 19m

2007 February 9, 11m, 14, 16, 18m & 24

2007 May 2, 4, 6m, 9, 11 & 13m

NEW Production Season Sponsor

The School District of Philadelphia School Reform Commission James E. Nevels, Chairman Martin G. Bednarek, Sandra Dungee Glenn, James P. Gallagher, Ph.D, Daniel J. Whelan,

Sounds of Learning™ was established by a generous grant from The Annenberg Foundation.

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Additional support is provided by the Independence Foundation and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania’s standards in education call for students to show what they know and are able to do.

As every parent knows, children need to share what they have discovered or learned. Thus, the title of our program is Sounds of Learning™. It reflects our belief that children must be actively engaged in sharing ideas, which reflects the collaborative learning that has been called for by the U.S. Department of Labor. For the future success of our research and development teams, today’s students must learn to work collaboratively using creative problem-solving techniques. This was further highlighted by Professor Richard Florida of Carnegie Mellon University. He noted that 30% of the U.S. work force is directly involved with some level of creative engagements in their work. His June 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class, was published by Basic Books. His work supported the U.S. Governors report that was released in spring of 2002. This report called for arts education in all schools since it has been directly tied to the economic development of urban areas.

With the Sounds of Learning™ program we strive to support the creative needs of our youth while we also support the core literacy goals of our community. This book will integrate with the local core curriculum in literacy in many ways. Since opera is a uniquely integrated art, possessing orchestra, voice, literature, drama, and dance, the Sounds of Learning™ program is an interdisciplinary and student-centered program. The goal of Active Learning is to have your children engaged in the process of self-teaching. They will be able to show how they have gained insights into their learning by drawing, writing, charting, and discussing the issues most relevant to them. In this way, they will be able to show what they can do with what they know.

We believe the family is the most important foundation to learning. Let your kitchen table become a classroom where your children can build their knowledge of opera and the humanities. As you join in the teaching and learning process with your children, watch their eyes sparkle. Opera is a communal celebration, so too should be your children’s education.

In reading the libretto, we suggest that your family members take turns reading particular roles.

This adds a dimension of fun to the reading of this great literature. Recent research by Dr. Ellen Winner of Harvard’s Project Zero found that “drama helps to build verbal skills that transfer to new materials.”

She found that acting out texts helps students in “reading readiness and achievement” and “oral and written language development.” (Journal of Aesthetic Education, v34, #3/4, Fall/Winter, 2000.) In preparing for the opera, we suggest you purchase one of EMI’s excellent recordings of this opera. We are grateful to EMI for offering us their libretti for use in our program. Together, we hope to build future audiences for, and performers of, the arts.

Presser Foundation The Opera Company of Philadelphia is supported by major grants from The William Penn Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Lenfest Foundation.

Opera

A Family Guide to

Best Practices in Arts Education is sponsored

by Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Cinderella production photos courtesy of Teatro Piccini.

Table of Contents Opera 101: Getting Ready for the Opera 4 6 8 9

A Brief History of Western Opera The Man Behind the Music: Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Rossini Timeline Make Your Own Timeline

Relating Opera to History: The Culture Connection 10 12 14 16 17

Game: Musical Crossword Puzzle During Rossini’s Lifetime: Literature The Pop Art Aesthetic In the 1950’s: The Role of American Women Science in 1950’s America: Exploration and Discovery

Cinderella: Libretto and Production Information Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose as Cinderella at The 2005 Glyndebourne Festival in England Photo courtesy of Mike Hoban, Glyndebourne Festival

19 20 22 23 24 26 28 29 30 62

Game: Connect the Opera Terms Philadelphia’s Academy of Music Broad Street: Avenue of the Arts Acting the LIBRETTO Cinderella: Inside the Music Cinderella: Synopsis Meet the Artists Introducing Lawrence Brownlee Cinderella LIBRETTO Game: Cinderella Crossword Puzzle

64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73

Sequence of the Story Make Your Own Synopsis Recognizing Facts and Opinions Supporting Your Opinions Compose Your Own Review of Cinderella Character Analysis and Dramatic Motivation Cinderella in Your Own Words Cinderella – A Long History of Storytelling Going to the Ball Children’s Illustrator Arthur Rackham

74 75

Careers in the Arts Active Learning in the Creative Arts

Lessons

Careers

Glossary

76

Academic Standards

79

State Standards Met

80

A Brief History of

4

Western Opera

The origins of opera as we now know it come out of the long history of instrumental and vocal music, as well as The ancient Greeks were one of the first cultures drama. to use a combination of spoken poetry and musical accompaniment. Their language, Attic, was a singsong language in which half of the words were sung and half of the words were spoken. It has been likened to the chanting of some church services.

The conventions set forth in Greek drama defined most types of dramatic performance until the late 17th century, when the first operas began to emerge. Prior to that period, many developments in vocal and instrumental music were taking place.

Gregorian chant, a style involving single line melodies and heavily relying on the fifth notes of scales, dominated the early Christian church. This monodic music (one line) later developed into polyphonic music, which meant that voices were added that sang at intervals below the melody (producing harmony).

As music increased in complexity, so did its popular usage. Counterpoint, the practice of weaving together melodies horizontally, was considered too secular to the ears of the church. Counterpoint, they said, obscured the meanings of the liturgical text, whose setting was the primary reason for singing in church.

This new secular style of music continued to evolve among the laity in the figure of the troubadour, or minstrel. Their folk songs were both entertaining and informational, relaying anything from serious heroic adventures, to sentimental love stories, to comic tales. They had a one line melody and were accompanied by guitars, lutes, or pipes. Alfonso the Wise, ruler of Castile, Spain was a famous 13th century troubadour. He further expanded this type of music to include harmonies in the instruments that supported the singer. By dedicating his music to Saint Mary, he also helped to ease some of the stress between the church and the purveyors of music.

By the early part of the 17th century, a new musical form began to emerge that began to prefigure modern opera. The motet was a style of vocal music in which sacred texts were sung by multiple voices using counterpoint techniques. The secular style that evolved from this was the madrigal, often sung in taverns, village squares and private homes.

The popular embrace of complex vocal music for multiple voices was now thriving.

Into this picture entered a group of men, who identified themselves as the Florentine Camerata. Claudio Monteverdi Their group was a kind of club, 1567-1643 dedicated to the study and advancement of both music and classical Greek theater. These composers developed recitative, or “sung speech” in an attempt to imitate the Attic language. The solo song became the opera aria. Throughout their work, Greek tragedies and mythology formed the basis of their subject matter.

Because they dealt with fantastical characters, singing seemed to fit naturally into the language.

The earliest operas out of Florence and Naples were very simple, and featured lots of short arias strung together with recitative patches. The first opera, Dafne, by Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) is based on a Greek myth. It was performed in 1598 for Carnival in a private home. It became famous throughout Europe. Claudio Monteverdi, who is considered the last great composer of madrigals and the first great composer of operas, composed his opera Orfeo in 1607.

Monteverdi was in many ways ahead of his time.

In other parts of Italy, composers were struggling to expand and develop opera. Pietro Allesandro Scarlatti, a composer from Naples, helped to shape this young art form and expand the vocal sections. Niccolo Jommelli was another contemporary who began to develop the orchestra in operas. He was credited with making the instruments “speak without words.” While Italian composers were credited with the birth of opera as a form, its next steps in conception were taken in Austria and eastern Europe.

The prolific and gifted composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his first opera, Apollo et Hyacintus, when he was only 12 years old. He went on to dramatically change the way opera would be viewed up until the present time. Mozart’s innovations included manipulating the key and tone of the music to reflect the feelings of the characters. To create conflict within the music in an opera such as Don Giovanni, Mozart would have one character’s arias set in the key of D-minor and his nemesis’ in D-major. The subtle difference in tone creates an audible clash, and thus increases the dramatic tension. Conversely, when a conflict was on its way to resolution, Mozart wrote the music to slowly work down the harmonic scale, until it reached the key in which the opera had begun.

These subtle but powerful manipulations in the musical form of opera bring us into the height of opera’s popularity. In the 18th and 19th centuries, operas were composed to reflect the contemporary drama of the day. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were transformed into operas. Opera later played a role in the development of the nation states of Europe. Today, we have operas written in and produced in the languages of many diverse countries including: Italy, Germany, France, Russia, England, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Spain, the United States, Argentina and Denmark.

Rossini’s

Cinderella (La cenerentola) The universal nature of the Cinderella myth makes it the best-known of all fairy tales; there are more than 900 versions of the story – 341 variations in Italy alone. The story is easily set to music, and thus anticipates an operatic treatment.

The earliest opera setting was by the Maltese composer Nicolo Isouard (1775-1818) in 1810. The opera by Gioacchino Rossini is one of two highly-regarded favorites of present day audiences; its French companion, Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, premiered in Paris on May 24, 1899.

Rossini’s operatic treatment of the Charles Perrault story is regarded as a musical gem; many musicologists consider it a better Rossini opera than his The Barber of Seville, which had premiered eleven months earlier (February, 1816).

Rossini and his librettist Jacopo Ferretti made some radical changes to the Perrault story. All elements of magic and the supernatural were removed, due to Rossini’s dislike for elements of the fantastic and also because of the clumsy execution of special effects by the stage machinery then available in Italian theaters. The characters were altered a bit, resulting in a mean but funny stepfather, two wicked but hilarious half-sisters, a guardian-angel styled tutor, and a royal valet in addition to Cinderella and the Prince.

Another vital change to the story was the substitution of a bracelet for the glass slipper as the token by which the prince identifies his bride-to-be. Roman decency forbade women from exposing their bare ankles in public, thus eliminating them from the plot. That glass slippers were ever part of the Perrault story is up for debate, too. Some scholars feel that the glass slipper tradition resulted from a mistranslation of the French homonyms for fur slippers (vair) and glass (verre).

Rossini composed the opera in just 24 days. Its premiere (January 25, 1817 at Rome’s Teatro Valle) was a fiasco, due primarily to an inadequate performance – although the evening’s singers were familiar with their characterizations.

Reports from the premiere say that there was nearly no applause during the opera and that the only singer to win plaudits from the public was Geltrude Righetti Giorgi who sang Cinderella. It subsequently became enormously popular in other Italian cities and spread to other countries. Its U.S. premiere took place on June 27, 1826, at New York’s Park Theater. Philadelphia first heard the opera the following year, in 1827. Cinderella also has the distinction of being the first opera ever performed in Australia (1844).

After its initial successes, however, the opera disappeared from the repertory, a fate due primarily to its musical difficulties, and the changing musical tastes at the time. Vocal writing became less florid and orchestras became larger – making it difficult for singers to project their voices over densely orchestrated music. The title role requires the voice type known as a coloratura contralto – a low female voice with phenomenal agility. Cinderella is described by one writer as requiring “a woman with a nest of nightingales in her throat.” Few singers, even today, possess the necessary ability to cope with the opera’s required vocal agility. Rossini wrote the parts for the singers he had available, and tailored his music to their specific voices.

Periodic revivals occur when the required voice-types are prominently available.

Gioacchino Rossini 1792-1868

5

The Man Behind the Music:

6

Gioacchino Antonio

Rossini

Gioacchino Antonio Rossini was born on February 29th in the leap year of 1792 in Pesaro, a small town on the Adriatic coast in Central Italy. His father, Giuseppe, was a horn and trumpet player and his mother, Anna, was a singer with a beautiful voice.

Gioacchino grew up in a household filled with music. At six years old, he was accepted in Pesaro’s municipal band as a listaro, or player of the metal triangle that is called the lista. He was thought of as the band’s mascot. His parents traveled from town to town performing in theaters, and while they were away, Rossini stayed with his maternal grandmother.

At school he was a troubled student and he often got into fights. Listening to his mother sing was one of his greatest joys during his childhood. He appeared in a public concert with his mother in 1804; that same year Rossini composed his 6 sonate e quattro in which his graceful, lively manner and idiosyncratic phrasing were already evident. In 1810, he received his first commission to write an opera. He wrote La cambiale di matrimonio (The Bill of Exchange of Marriage), a one-act comic opera that displayed his amazing vitality and imaginativeness. This opera had a run of thirteen performances.

However, this was the era of Napoleon and war was raging in most of Europe. As Rossini came of age, he risked being dragged off to fight in one of the many campaigns of the war. So in 1812, he requested permission from the son of the then deposed Empress Josephine to stay out of the Napoleonic wars. He was fortunate to have had a success with his first opera because he was granted a reprieve so that he could devote himself to his music. Rossini had another great success with La pietra del paragone (The Touchstone). It was first performed in 1812 and was filled with energetic and inventive music. It was a lively satire that had a run of 53 performances in a single season at the famous Milanese theater, La Scala. As a result, Rossini received three times the amount he had received for his first opera. Rossini began to write music at a feverish pace. He composed six operas in the next 15 months, including the 1813 opera buffa masterpiece L’italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers), and the melodrama Tancredi (1813). This last opera brought him European fame. By the end of 1814, Rossini had written fourteen operas.

In 1815 Rossini moved to Naples, where he lived for the next seven years. Naples was a bustling city with several beautiful theaters and many enthusiastic theater-goers. There Rossini met the great Italian opera producer Domenico Barbaja. He also met the striking singer Isabella Colbran. She was a leading soprano who favored grand, tragic roles. In the next seven years Barbaja produced as many as ten of Rossini’s operas which were all composed for Colbran’s virtuosic voice. In 1816, Rossini took a side trip to Rome and wrote his greatest masterpiece, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). Back in Naples, Rossini wrote two more great operas, La gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie, 1817) and the lavish, Bible-inspired work, Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Egypt, 1818).

In March 1822, Rossini married Isabella Colbran. Shortly thereafter, they traveled to Vienna for a Rossini festival that ran from April to July.

While there, Rossini heard Beethoven’s Symphony #3 (Eroica Symphony) and had a visit with the great composer which deeply moved him. Beethoven’s comment to Rossini was that attempting anything but comedy would be pressing his luck. In Venice in early 1823, Rossini premiered one of his last Italian operas, Semiramide. This opera was of the seria (serious) type. It was a great success and affirmed his claim to be one of the world’s leading composers.

In August 1824, the Rossinis traveled to Paris to immerse themselves in the French musical world.

Paris was the major opera center for most of the 19th century, attracting great composers and singers from throughout Europe. Rossini was caught up in Romanticism, the century’s primary artistic ideal.

A response to the rationalism of the 18th century, Romanticism was about love, as well as a celebration of nature and of the simpler life. In Paris, between 1824-29, he composed five operas, one in Italian and four in French. In his final opera, Guillaume Tell (William Tell, 1829), Rossini reached his musical peak and earned a national reputation which during the rest of the century was equaled only by Wagner and Verdi in their best moments. Of Tell, the composer Donizetti said that if the first and third acts were composed by a genius, the second was written

by God Almighty.

A few days after Tell’s premiere, Rossini left Paris and returned to Italy. He was looking forward to a long restful stay in Bologna. Two months earlier, King Charles X of France had granted him a pension when it was learned that he intended to retire from writing opera. Rossini hoped to leave music before it left him. However, a year later (1830) Rossini had to rush back to Paris because King Charles X was deposed in the July Revolution in Paris. The new king, Louis-Philippe, deprived Rossini of all his privileges as well as his pension. Rossini’s visit to Paris turned out to be much longer than he anticipated. It took him five years to secure his pension, but in the end he was able to receive all that was owed him. Unfortunately, Rossini and his wife separated after he had to return to Paris.

the time he died in 1868, many of his operas were no longer played. By the turn of the century, he was known to most people as the composer of a single opera (The Barber of Seville), several overtures, and one religious work (Stabat mater). It has only been since the 1950’s that Rossini has been given the credit he is due. This is a result of committed scholarship and the availability of singers who have mastered the difficult technique that proper Rossini singing requires. Many of his works have been re-evaluated, produced on stage, and recorded.

Each August, Rossini’s hometown of Pesaro holds a festival in which at least one of his rare works is staged. Today he once again is considered a major influence in the development of both Italian and French opera.

While back in Paris, Rossini had dinner with his friend the French author Honoré de Balzac and met Olympe Pélissier. This exceptional woman became his faithful companion, and after the death of Isabella in 1845 she became his wife in 1846.

Active Learning 1. Go to the library and take out a CD or a video on one

Rossini’s main accomplishment in Paris in the early 30's was the publication of Les soirées musicales (1835), a group of eight chamber arias and four duets. By the late 1830’s, however, he was seriously ill. He and Olympe moved to Bologna in 1837.

His next major musical success was his Stabat mater (1842). Despite its immediate worldwide success, he composed less and less. In 1848, after a distressing encounter with an antagonistic mob, he moved from Bologna to Florence, spending much of the next seven years in bed being cared for by his loyal wife.

Finally, in 1855, Olympe moved Rossini back to Paris. There, his condition slowly improved, and in 1857 he began to compose the small piano and vocal pieces that he called Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which numbered more than 150.

In December 1858, he and Olympe held the first samedi soir (a musical party); everyone in Paris wanted an invitation to one of his Saturday evening musical events. In the last years of his life, Rossini enjoyed these gatherings as a way of seeing his friends and as a way of having his small vocal pieces performed. Rossini’s last substantial piece was the sacred choral work Petite Messe Solennelle (1864).

The last samedi soir was held September 1868.

Rossini died a few months later, on Friday, the 13th of November.

Today, Rossini is considered by many to be the first great Italian composer of the 19th century.

For much of the first half of the century, Rossini was the most influential composer in the world. But by

of Rossini’s operas.

2. Listen to the overture to Rossini’s opera Guillame Tell (William Tell). Have you heard this music before?

What does the main theme sound like to you?

3. Research other composers living in the time of Rossini.

How is their music similar or different from his?

4. Rossini was popular during the Age of Enlightenment.

How do the themes of Cinderella reflect those times?

5. Visit the Pesaro Rossini Festival website at http://www.rossinioperafestival.it/?newlang=eng.

What operas were performed there this year?

6. Can you find Pesaro on a map? How far away is it from Rome, Milan, and Venice? What are its latitude and longitude lines? What other cities are on or near those lines?

Isabella Colbran 1785-1845

7

Rossini

Rossini Timeline

8

1792 1803 1804 1805 1806 1810 1812 1815 1816 1817 1818 1822 1823

Born on February 29 in Pesaro, Italy, the only child of Giuseppe, a horn and trumpet player, and Anna, a singer.

Takes singing lessons from Canon Giuseppe Malerbi.

Appears in public concert with his mother; he composes six sonate a quattro.

The family moves to Bologna to be nearer the center of musical life.

Studies singing, cello, piano and counterpoint at the local Liceo Musicale. He begins working in local opera houses.

Timeline From the information on the previous page, select the most important incidents in Rossini’s life and combine them with some of the important developments in world history. Discuss your selections with your classmates. Discover why some students chose different facts or dates to record.

American Presidents

Writes five new operas, including his first great success, La pietra del paragone.

1789-1797 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .George Washington 1797-1801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Adams 1801-1809 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thomas Jefferson 1809-1817 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Madison 1817-1825 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Monroe 1829-1837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Jackson 1837-1841 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martin Van Buren 1841 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .William Harrison* 1841-1845 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Tyler 1845-1849 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James K. Polk 1849-1850 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Zachary Taylor* 1850-1853 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Millard Fillmore 1853-1857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Franklin Pierce 1857-1861 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Buchanan 1861-1865 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Abraham Lincoln† 1865-1869 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Johnson

Arrives in Naples. Elisabetta, his first Neapolitan opera, is a success.

Il barbiere di Siviglia premieres in Rome, and La gazzetta and Otello in Naples.

Writes four new operas: La cenerentola, La gazza ladra, Armida and Adelaide di Borgona.

Writes three new operas: Mosè in Egitto, Adina and Ricciardo e Zoraide.

Marries famous Spanish soprano, Isabella Colbran. Vienna’s Rossini Festival, April 13 - July 8. Meets Beethoven.

Premieres his last Italian opera, Semiramide (from a tragedy by Voltaire) in Venice.

Travels to Paris, then to London.

Season of Rossini operas at King’s Theatre in London. Rossini parties with the aristocracy. Then back to Paris in August.

1833 1835 1837 1839 1842

A Rossini-Tadolini Stabat mater premieres in Madrid.

1845 1846 1855 1857

Visits his ailing former wife, Isabella Colbran. She dies a month later at age 60.

1858

First samedi soir – December 18, where artists, politicians, diplomats, and the well-to-do come to meet and hear a galaxy of musical talent.

His mother, Anna Guidarini Rossini dies.

His last opera, Guillaume Tell premieres in Paris and is attended by a magnificent audience. He returns to Bologna.

In Madrid, Spain, he is commissioned to compose a Stabat mater.

Forms a relationship with Olympe Pélissier, a beautiful and intelligent woman who nurses him during his many illnesses throughout the rest of his life.

His Les soirées musicales, a group of eight chamber arias and four duets, are published.

Separates legally from Isabella Colbran.

His father, age 80, dies.

All-Rossini Stabat mater premieres in Paris and is a huge artistic and commercial success; it is conducted by Donizetti later that year in Bologna.

Marries Olympe Pélissier.

Takes up permanent residence in Paris.

Returns to composing with a gift to Olympe – Musique anodine. It is the beginning of a new phase in Rossini’s creative and social life.

Last samedi soir – September 26. Dies on Friday, November 13 in Paris, age 76. Over 4,000 people attend his funeral.

Re-buried at Santa Croce Church in Florence, Italy, where he lies next to Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and other great men.

9

Below you will find a number of important dates about people and events that happened during Rossini’s time. You can compare the events below with the events in Rossini’s life to get a more complete picture of what it was like to live at that time.

His first professional operatic commission is a one-act comic opera, La cambiale di matrimonio.

1824 1827 1829 1831 1832

1868 1887

Make Your Own

*Died in office †Assassinated in office

European Leaders 1825-1855 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nicholas I (Russ.)

1830-1848 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Louis Philippe (Fr.) 1837-1901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Queen Victoria (UK) 1848-1916 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Franz Josef (Aus.-Hun.)

Telegraph 1837 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Samuel F. B. Morse (U.S.) Refrigerator 1858 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ferdinand Carre (Fr.) Typewriter 1867 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christopher Sholes (U.S.) Telephone 1876 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alexander Graham Bell (U.S.)

Other Major Events 1803 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Louisiana Purchase 1804 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Napoleon proclaimed Emperor of France

1805 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Explorers Lewis and Clark reach Pacific Ocean

1807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .British abolish slave trade 1812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .United States and British at war 1815 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Napoleon defeated at Battle of 1818 1833 1849 1861-1865 1863

Waterloo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Liberia, W. Africa, founded for freed slaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .British abolish slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .California’s Gold Rush begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Abolition of slavery by Lincoln

Other Classical Composers 1732-1809 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Franz Joseph Haydn (Aus.) 1770-1827 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ludwig van Beethoven (Ger.) 1813-1883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Richard Wagner (Ger.) 1813-1901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Giuseppe Verdi (It.) 1833-1897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Johannes Brahms (Ger.) 1840-1893 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russ.)

Inventions Steam Locomotive

1804 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Richard Trevithick (U.S.) Bicycle 1816 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karl von Sauerbronn (Ger.) Camera 1822 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joseph Niepce (Fr.)

Active Learning Cut apart three supermarket paper bags. Cut them open down one of the side seams and cut off the bottom so that when laid flat, you have a rectangular piece of paper. Tape the bags together at the shorter ends, creating a long rectangular piece of paper. From the longer side of the bag near the top, measure in 10” and place a dot. Do the same near the bottom. Draw a straight line from the top to the bottom of the bag through both dots. From the information on this page, select the most important incidents for your timeline. With these facts, include some of the important dates in history listed above. You may also illustrate your timeline.

Musical

Crossword Puzzle

10

11

ACROSS 1

The highest woman’s or boy’s singing voice.

1

6

A series of notes arranged in descending or ascending order of pitch.

A note that sounds twice as high in pitch as another and has the same letter naming it.

2

Very fast.

3

The highest man’s singing voice.

4

One of the separate sections into which a long piece of music is divided.

5

A long elaborate musical composition for a full orchestra, usually in several parts.

9 10

Allegro

Chord

Major

Piano

Sonata

Alto

Concerto

Minor

Presto

Symphony

Andante

Flat

Movement

Rallentando

Tenor

Bar

Forte

Natural

Scale

Tone

Baritone

Fortissimo

Octave

Semitone

Bass

Key

Opus

Sharp

Beat

Largo

Pianissimo

Soprano

A half tone, an interval midway between two whole tones.

Name of the scales which begin with the foundation tone (do) followed by a whole tone for the second note, followed by a whole tone for the 3rd (Music written in these scales often have a strong, cheerful sound).

12

Loudly.

7

Softly.

13

Name of the scales with the third tone a half-step above the second tone (music based on these scales seem sad and melancholic).

8

Very loud.

9

A half-step higher than the corresponding note or key of natural pitch.

14

You may use your glossary.

DOWN

A musical composition for one or more solo instruments and an orchestra.

11

In slow time and dignified style.

18

Fast and lively.

12

21

A half-step lower than the corresponding note or key of natural pitch.

Moderately slow time.

22

15

A group of notes played at the same time in harmony.

A note that is neither sharp nor flat.

23

16

A direction term meaning getting slower.

The basic pulse of a piece of music.

25

17

Very softly.

A musical composition numbered as one of a composer's works, usually in order of publication.

26

The basic note of the main scale used in a piece of music.

18

The lowest female singing voice.

27

19

The line that divides one measure from another.

A musical composition for one instrument or two, usually with three or four movements.

20

The range of the male voice between a tenor and bass.

23

The lowest male singing voice.

24

An interval equal to two semitones.

During Rossini’s Lifetime:

Literature

12

The themes of Cinderella are universal: a family torn apart by jealousy or ridicule, societal class structure issues, a favorite child, a person looking to improve their situation in life, redemption through forgiveness and love. There are hundreds of stories that, while not duplicating Cinderella’s plot, explore the themes present in basic elements of this centuries-old tale. While not all of these works were written during Rossini’s time, the basic Cinderella story can be used for comparison study.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare 1564-1616

(1564-1616): King Lear (1605) Considered the greatest writer in the English language who ever lived, Shakespeare’s plays explore the human condition in both brilliant comedies and searing dramas.

Jane Austen (1775-1817): Emma (1815-16).

While only moderately commercially successful during her lifetime, Austen became one of the most influential novelists of the era due to her mastery of form, irony as well as her uncanny insights into the lives of Victorian-era women.

Emma is a work whose story is probably familiar with today’s younger audiences, given the number of films that have portrayed the story or used its outline to shape their own (Clueless is one example). The story centers around the lives of young female members of the upper or middle class and their struggles for love and acceptance within a highly formalized British society.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) Sense and Sensibility (1811) Pride and Prejudice (1813) Emma (1815-16)

Mary Shelley (1797-1851) Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus (1818) Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) Walden, or Life in The Woods (1854) Mark Twain (1835-1910) Tom Sawyer (1867)

A Vindication on the Rights of Women (1792)

Emily Brontë (1818-48) Wuthering Heights (1847)

Oliver Twist (1838) A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Great Expectations (1860-61)

Jane Eyre (1847) Brontë was a British poet and novelist who initially wrote under the pseudonym Current Bell.

Jane Eyre is the most famous of her four novels and has been made into several films for television and theatrical release as well as a recent opera by Charlotte Brontë 1816-1855 Michael Berkeley. Her sister, Emily Jane Brontë, wrote the famous novel Wuthering Heights.

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Jane Eyre (1847)

Charles Dickens (1812-70)

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855):

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) Stories include: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1845); “The Murders in The Rue Morgue” (1841) ‘The Bells’, ‘The Raven’ (1845-49)

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) Charlotte Brontë (1816-55)

Lewis Carroll (1832-98) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

In the tragedy King Lear, Shakespeare examines the relationships between the old king and his three daughters Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia.

Goneril and Regan treacherously wrestle his kingdom from him, while the third banished daughter, Cordelia, is loyal and virtuous to a fault. Lear falls Jane Austen 1775-1817 into madness and only in that madness is he able to clearly see the merits of his daughters.

Growing up, poor orphaned Jane Eyre is treated most poorly by her stepmother and step-siblings.

Jane’s physical appearance is rather homely, but her character is irrefutable. She works as the governess to the enigmatic Edward Rochester and as the two fall in love, Rochester’s mentally unstable first wife, who is kept in hiding, threatens to endanger their future happiness, but all works out in the end.

The time period during which Rossini lived and worked was alive with literary genius. While he was composing his operas, others were busy telling stories with ink and paper. The amount of great literature that was written in that period is amazing.

They were years filled with intellectual energy, energy preserved in the writing of many great men and women. The short list below is a select list of authors who lived in that period and a sampling of their works

Active Learning 1. Choose a book from the list above and use the following suggestions to compare and contrast it to the libretto of Rossini’s Cinderella.

Language: Is the dialogue formal or casual? What does that tell you about the characters? How do the authors describe settings and surroundings? Does he/she use any of the following conventions: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or onomatopoeia?

Emily Dickinson (1830-86) Poems include: “The Chariot,” “The Snake,” “I Died for Beauty”

Theme: How are the main themes in the works similar/different?

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

Style: Are the works primarily humorous? Are they satirical?

Are the works intended as serious histories?

The Scarlet Letter (1850) The House of the Seven Gables (1851)

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) Les Misérables (1862)

Subject: Do the authors deal with similar settings in place or time?

Character Comparisons: Choose characters who may be similar and compare them. (i.e. Cinderella/ Cordelia/ Jane Eyre/Harriet Smith; Don Magnifico/King Lear/Mrs. Reed/ Mr. Woodhouse; Clorinda and Thisbe/Goneril and Regan/Georgiana, Eliza, and John Reed; Dandini/Emma/ The Fool).

2. Go to the library and take out one of these great books and do a report on it!

3. Be sure to visit Edgar Allan Poe’s House on Spring Garden and 7th Streets. It is open every day except major holidays, and there is no admission charge.

Cordelia aids her ailing father, King Lear.

Charles Dickens 1812-1870

Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849

Mark Twain 1835-1910

The

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The Pop Art Aesthetic Cinderella director Davide Livermore and set and costume designer Santi Centineo have set their production of the opera in the 1950’s. Everything was changing as a new age was dawning: television and mass media had a foothold on America, women had established themselves in the work force as “Rosie the Riveter” during the just-finished World War II (19391945), rock and roll was created; art was reflecting those changes They want to examine the evolving role of women in the 1950’s by comparing the archetype of Cinderella to the new domestic responsibilities of women in that era. In doing so, they’ve chosen the colorful, whimsical Pop Art style for the sets of this production.

The term Pop Art was coined by a British art critic, Lawrence Alloway in the late 1950’s, as a way to refer to a new movement in American art that was inspired by popular culture. In the 1950’s, America was entering a new era as all types of consumer goods were widely available and movies and television changed how people saw the world.

A group of artists responded to this change in the form of paintings, sculpture, film, music and magazines that still capture people’s attention today.

Roy Lichtensteininspired Program cover art from the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s 1999-2000 season.

The movement known as Pop Art began in the early 1950s and was first introduced at a school called Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

It was at this school that the previously held idea that art was for the rich and the elite was changed forever. Prior to the 1950s the most popular style of art was known as Abstract Expressionism, a style that was very serious in subject and focused on the skill of the painter or sculptor. While popular with art critics and scholars, the style was not widely accepted by the public and many artists felt out of touch with their audiences. Out of this rejection of formal, serious work, the artists at the center of pop art created a new style that championed the everyday objects and faces surrounding all Americans.

Pop art was instantly popular in New York City, where the movement came to be centered. The work shown in galleries there reflected an endorsement of American popular culture, both its positive and negative features. Materialism, consumerism, violence, sexuality and celebrity were all part of pop art’s aim of breaking the barrier between the artist and the public. Some images were vulgar, some were shocking, some were silly, but all of them were easily recognizable to their audience.

Another important feature of Pop Art was a rejection of Abstract Expressionism’s heavy emphasis on the skill and hand of the painter in each piece.

Pop artists created many of their works in a commercial way, using screen-printing or other methods of duplication. This gave Pop Art pieces an anonymous sense, and also helped to reflect the artist’s endorsement of all things commercial and mechanical.

One of the most famous artists of the Pop Art movement was Andy Warhol. His studio (which he called “The Factory”) created some of the most recognizable pieces of art of the 20th century, like the giant Campbell’s soup can, and the Technicolor paintings of Marilyn Monroe. Warhol began has career as a commercial artist, designing advertisements and even after he achieved fame as a professional artist he continued to design many commercial advertisements. His style was characterized by a focus on the simplest and grittiest of subjects (such as Coke bottles and Brillo pads) and bold, bright colors. He was also fascinated by celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor, whom he often featured in his works.

Other important Pop artists included Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstien, Robert Rauschenberg, and Claes Oldenburg. Jasper Johns, whose painting of an American flag has become a treasured national symbol, sold four paintings to the Museum of Modern Art in New York at his very first gallery show. Lichtenstein’s most famous works look like giant comic strips, and feature huge dots of primary colors. Robert Rauschenberg is most well known for his collages that feature everyday items and subjects and are meant as a comment on the media’s impact on society. Claes Oldenburg’s primary art was sculpture, and many of his finest pieces can be seen everyday for free here in Philadelphia. He chose everyday objects and recreated them as enormous outdoor sculptures, forcing people to look at things they had previously taken for granted in a totally new way.

Pop Art was created in order for art to be accessible to anyone, and to equalize the difference between high culture and popular culture. Many of these artists changed the way people viewed the world around them, and their place in a modern world. By using images everyone was familiar with, anyone could participate in experience of art.

Active Learning: 1. Experience Pop Art up close and personal by visiting these sculptures by Claes Oldenburg: Clothespin, 1976: 15th and Market Street, in the Centre Square Plaza.

Split Button, 1981: University of Pennsylvania Campus, in front of Van Pelt Library (near 34th and Walnut Street).

2. Learn more about Andy Warhol, and make some art inspired by his style. Go to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh’s website at: http://edu.warhol.org.

3. Create Pop Art in the style of Andy Warhol’s famous Marilyn Monroe portrait. Using the image of the Academy of Music in your teacher’s guide, color the image as wildly and vividly as you can! How do your color scheme compare with those of your classmates?

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Claes Oldenburg, Clothespin, 1976

The 1950’s: The Role of

16 This 1943 poster shows that women were called to work as part of the war effort.

Courtesy, Library of Congress: LC-DIG-ppmsca-12895

American Women World War II, one of the most dramatic conflicts of the 20th century, had brought women into the workforce as a call to patriotism.

Working to support the war effort was seen as a way of supporting their families and their country, and therefore did not conflict with many traditionally held stereotypes about the roles of women. Between 1941 and 1945, over six million women entered the workforce for the first time, due in large part to government propaganda such as “Rosie the Riveter,” In addition to these industrial positions, many women entered the armed forces as well, taking on jobs as nurses, cooks and drivers. Throughout the war, however, women were encouraged to maintain the customary domestic life they had enjoyed before the war, creating a difficult double standard. On the one hand, they could work successfully outside the home in their newly acceptable outfit of trousers, while at the same time they were expected to cook and clean at home with a full face of make-up.

After the war ended, many women were uneasy in the domestic roles they were encouraged to embrace through film and the media. The films of the 1950’s depicted glamorous, put-together women such as Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe. But images of women in the home were changing, and in 1951, I Love Lucy debuted. Lucy was an unconventional female character and when Lucille Ball became pregnant in 1952 she was the first pregnant woman to appear on T.V. The words “pregnant” and “pregnancy,” however, were considered indecent and were never uttered on the show. The 1950s were a time of dramatic social change for America, and the development and success of suburbia were seen by many important thinkers as keeping women out of that change. By the 1960’s, one of the most influential feminist writers, Betty Friedan, coined the term “The Feminine Mystique,” to address the idea that women’s only appropriate roles were as wives and mothers.

The 1950’s did create opportunities for women as never before. During this time, jobs became more plentiful and profitable, and many new consumer goods were available for purchase. Many new inventions made work around the house easier than ever before, including plastic wrap, non-stick

Science in 1950’s America:

Exploration and Discovery

cookware, and the electric sewing machine. Existing appliances like the electric iron, vacuum cleaner and the washing machine were now much more affordable for the average family. The microwave was invented in 1952, but with a price tag of $1,295 (which would cost over $9,000 today) it was far too expensive for the average family.

In the nearly 70 years since World War II, America’s contributions to the scientific world have been both beneficial and catastrophic. The atomic bomb, perhaps the most famous and terrible of all scientific projects undertaken in the U.S., paved the way for the country’s dedication to a better understanding of the world around us.

While the domestic factor in women’s lives may have gotten easier in some respect, the country still had a number of social problems during the 1950s which women were involved in. One of the most important events in the history of the battle for Civil Rights was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and that event began with one very important woman.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus.

This moment would forever change the history of our country. Philadelphian Marian Anderson, one of the most talented opera singers of the century, took the stage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City on January 7, 1955 to sing the role of the fortuneteller Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball). She was the first African-American opera singer to perform with the Met. These women are two examples of how the women of the 1950’s changed our country forever.

The atomic bomb was the product of a government effort called The Manhattan Project.

Many of the scientists involved with this group went on to found two of the largest governmentally funded scientific research groups: The National Science Foundation (1950) and The Atomic Energy Commission (1946). The creation of these groups marked a change in the United States government’s attitude towards science. Prior to the war, the majority of funding for scientific research was done through private individuals and foundations.

During the war, the government understood the value of scientific research for the production of new technology, and ultimately weapons.

Active Learning 1. How have women’s roles changed even further since the 1950’s?

2. What professions are open to women now that were not available to them since then?

3. What was the Equal Rights Amendment and how did it affect the lives of women?

4. What are some of the challenges still facing women on their professional lives today?

5. Who was Philadelphian Marian Anderson?

Why was she so important?

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The all-out war of World War II was replaced in the 50’s by the less violent but equally terrifying Cold War. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, an un-manned satellite, into successful orbit around the Earth. This led to the U.S.’s creation of NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1958). The founding principle of NASA was to explore space, “for the benefit of all mankind.” NASA would go on to create some of the country’s most expensive and most memorable scientific moments.

Part of living in America during the Cold War meant adopting new, “American” ways of life that would set people apart from the perceived enemy of Communism. This led to widespread positive thinking about science, and how science could make people’s lives better. This idea is commonly referred to today in the slogan, “better living through chemistry.”

While the government’s initial purpose for funding this research was less than admirable, the result was very beneficial for the country. In a landmark report called, “Science: The Endless Frontier”(1945), Vannevar Bush (an important presidential advisor) explained that government funding for science would create new jobs, improve the post-war economy, and ultimately better protect the country. While Bush’s recommendations were not implemented exactly as he envisioned, the country did witness a substantial increase in scientific research.

Many major scientific developments of the 1950’s owe their creation to the military. After World War II, 1 in 4 doctors in the United States had been involved in the military. As they returned to their lives after the war, they brought with them a number of practices from the field. One of these was the idea of medical specialization. In the early 20th century most doctors were General Practitioners, meaning that they treated whole families in their towns for anything from the common cold, to child birth, to minor surgery. In the military, things are highly organized and specialized in order to increase efficiency. Doctors employed this idea in their hospitals, and today medicine has a number of smaller sub-groups of specialization.

The first artificial satellite, Sputnik, launched by the Russians on October 4, 1957.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

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Chemistry led to one of the more important developments of the 1950’s: The polio vaccine. Polio is a virus which attacks your body’s motor systems, and in the early 20th century a number of epidemics left tens of thousands of children crippled and disabled. Because polio has very few initial symptoms, it was not always easy to tell if a child was infected.

This led to tremendous fear of epidemic, and during the crisis years of 1949-1954, many towns instituted quarantines to keep young children out.

The development of the first vaccine in 1954 by Jonas Salk, was an important step forward for modern medicine. While today a newer vaccine is in widespread use, polio is still a problem for children in developing nations.

For more information about these topics, you can visit these websites: http://history.nasa.gov; http://americanhistory.si.edu/polio.

?

Did you know...

Many things like the computer and the superconductor owe their origins to governmentally funded research into military developments.

Many doctors after the war were involved in the military (one in four), which affected the way they practiced medicine. In the field, tasks were specialized and organized in a very hierarchial way.

This led to the decrease in family-oriented general practitioners and an increase in academic specialists.

Developments in science in the 1950’s led to amazing discoveries that would help people live fuller lives, while also helping them to understand their origins. One of the most important discoveries in human evolution was the discovery of Zinjanthropus boisei (now known as Australopithecus), a pre-human skeleton found by Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in Africa in 1959. This specimen would allow scientists to firmly place humans in a line of evolution that reached far back into history and continues today. After this discovery, the United States government began increasing the funding available for important scientific research.

1951 The first embryo transplants for cattle are performed.

UNIVAC 1 is the first computer to store information on magnetic tape.

1952 The first accident at a nuclear reactor occurs – a technician makes an error at the Chalk River reactor in Canada and the nuclear core explodes.

The CBS television network in America uses a UNIVAC computer to predict the results of the US presidential election. The computer predicts a landslide victory for Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican candidate. The computer operators do not believe this, so they quickly reprogram the computer to predict a close contest. The eventual result of the election is a landslide victory for Eisenhower.

1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Everest, the world's highest mountain.

In England Frederick Sanger determines the structure of a protein for the first time – the hormone insulin.

James Watson from America and Francis Crick of England develop the double helix model of DNA which explains the way in which this massive molecule can carry and transmit the hereditary information in living organisms.

Connect the

Opera Terms

19

1.

Opera Seria

A.

Dance spectacle set to music.

2.

Baritone

B.

Highest pitched woman’s voice.

3.

Opera

C.

Dramatic text adapted for opera.

4.

Ballet

D.

Low female voice.

5.

Orchestra

E.

Comic opera.

6.

Libretto

F.

7.

A drama or comedy in which music is the essential factor; very little is spoken.

Duet

8.

G.

Opera with dramatic and intense plots.

Aria

9.

H.

Music composed for a singing group.

Soprano

I.

A composition written for two performers.

J.

A group of musicians who play together on various musical instruments.

12. Contralto

K.

Highest pitched man’s voice.

13. Tenor

L.

A musical style used in opera and oratorio, in which the text is declaimed in the rhythm of natural speech with slight melodic variation.

10. Chorus 11. Act

14. Opera Buffa 15. Recitative

M. Male voice between bass and tenor.

practical hovercraft.

16. Bass

N.

The first optical fibres are produced.

17.

A piece of music originally designed to be played before an opera or musical play.

O.

The term describing the realistic or naturalistic school of opera that flourished briefly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; libretti were chosen to depict a ‘slice of life’.

P.

Deepest male voice.

Q.

Elaborate solo in an opera or oratorio.

R.

Main division of a play or opera.

1955 In England Christopher Cockerell develops the first

Albert Einstein dies on April 18 aged 76.

Overture

18. Verismo

1957 The USSR launch Sputnik 2 on November 3.

It carries the dog Laika into orbit.

1958 The first experimental nuclear reactor for generating electric begins operation in America.

A chess program that runs on an IBM computer is developed. It plays about as well as a fair amateur.

1959 The Antarctic treaty is signed, promising to keep the continent free from military use and to use it for scientific research.

Philadelphia’s

20

Academy of Music

Few Philadelphians know that the great Academy of Music was dedicated to the memory of Mozart.

As the guests enter the Opera House’s main hall, there above the proscenium arch, over the Academy stage, a bas-relief of Mozart looks down upon the audience. This place of prominence for Mozart indicates that the builders of the Academy expected to attract the finest performing arts known to the world. However, building this Opera House was not an easy task for the young country. Between 1837 and 1852 there were five attempts to raise the funds needed to build an Opera House within the city limits of Philadelphia. After Commissioners were appointed by an act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Charles Henry Fisher began to sell stock in the Academy of Music on May 24, 1852. On October 13, 1854, the land on the southwest corner of Broad and Locust Streets was purchased. At that time, the area was undeveloped.

(The Old State House, now known as Independence Hall, was the heart of the city at that time.)

The Commissioners held a competition to select the design of the Academy. Fifteen architects submitted designs between October 3 and December 15 of 1854. The winners were announced on February 12, 1855. Gustav Rungé and Napoleon le Brun won the $400 prize. It was their idea to dedicate the Academy to Mozart’s memory. Within four months the ground-breaking took place. This project was so important that President Franklin Pierce, along with Governor James Pollock and Mayor Robert T. Conrad, laid the cornerstone on July 26, 1855.

On January 26, 1857, the Academy held the Grand Ball and Promenade Concert of its opening.

The first opera presented in the brand new opera house was Verdi’s Il trovatore on February 25, 1857.

Gounod’s opera Faust had its American premiere here on November 18, 1863. On February 14, 1907, Madama Butterfly premiered to “emphatic success” with its composer, Giacomo Puccini, in attendance.

On May 14, 1897, John Philip Sousa’s composition “The Stars and Stripes Forever” was premiered on the Academy stage. On March 29 and April 5, 1900, Fritz Scheel conducted two serious concerts of professional musicians. These two concerts are considered the genesis of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Today the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet call the Academy home.

Numerous presidents have visited the Academy, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon. The Academy has had many world-famous performers on its stage: Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Anna Pavlova, George Gershwin, Arturo Toscanini, Marian Anderson, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti, and thousands more

Historic images of the Academy courtesy of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

The Academy was made a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1963. Since then, a few changes have been made to the structure. In 1996 the “Twenty-First Century Project” began, which allowed for a new rigging system, replacement of the stage floor, and cleaning and restoration of the historic ceiling. With Mozart’s image looking down on the Academy’s audiences from his position above the stage for over one hundred years, let the joy of opera and dance continue forever.

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Academy Facts ✒ Built in 1857, The Academy of Music is the oldest grand opera house in the United States used for its initial purpose.

✒ In 1963, The Academy was honored as a National Historic Landmark. As a National Historic Landmark, live flame can never be produced on the stage.

✒ The auditorium seats 2,897; 14 columns support the Academy’s tiers; and the auditorium is encased within a three foot-thick solid brick wall. ✒ The Academy of Music chandelier is 50 feet in circumference, 16 feet in diameter, and 5,000 pounds in weight. It is lowered once a year for cleaning.

It used to take four hours and 12 men to hand lower the chandelier. Now it takes five minutes, thanks to an electric-powered winch. ✒ The red and gold pattern on the Academy’s stage curtain simulates that of a pineapple, a Victorian-era symbol for “welcome.” ✒

The Academy of Music has an expandable orchestra pit to accommodate works with larger orchestral requirements. The first two rows of seats on the Parquet level are on a platform which can be removed to enlarge the pit. The decorative brass and wooden orchestra pit railing can also be moved to ornament the expanded pit as well.

✒ In the 1800’s, an artificial floor was placed over the Parquet level seats for balls, political conventions, gymnastic and ice skating expositions, carnivals, parades, and other events. You’ll see a wooden guide along the edge of the Parquet wall that helped support the floor. ✒ The first-ever indoor football game was held on the Academy’s Parquet level on March 7, 1889 between University of Pennsylvania and Riverton Club of Princeton. At halftime, tug-of-war matches were held as entertainment. ✒

A motion picture was first screened at the Academy on February 5, 1870. The silent movie consisted of an oratory, an acrobatic performance by a popular Japanese gymnast, and a waltz danced by the presenter, Henry H. Heyl and his sister. 1,600 people attended.

✒ There were talks underway to turn the Academy of Music into a movie theater in 1920. ✒ Starting in 1884, electricity was used to light the large chandelier (originally lit by 240 gas burners), the auditorium, and stage lights. New regenerative gas lights were placed along the exterior walls on both Broad and Locust streets. ✒

Incandescent electric lighting was introduced to the foyer and balcony in 1892.

✒

Air conditioning was installed in the theatre 1959.

✒ There was no elevator for the general public in the Academy until 1990!

For more information on the Academy of Music, go to the library and take out Within These Walls, by John Francis Marion or go online to www.academyofmusic.org.

Broad Street:

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Avenue of the Arts Here is part of a map of Center City. This area, which includes Broad Street south of City Hall, is the home of many famous theaters, museums, hotels, restaurants and cultural centers. Here are some descriptions of the attractions around the Academy of Music. See if you can match them to the lettered flags on the map.

_____ The Kimmel Center Dance, orchestra, chamber and folk music

_____ Prince Music Theater Contemporary music, musicals and blues

_____ Merriam Theater Theater and broadway musicals

_____ University of the Arts Art and Design School

_____ Wilma Theater Modern theater and musicals

_____ Ritz Carlton Hotel World famous 5-star hotel and restaurant

1.

The Academy of Music is marked on this map with a picture. What is its address? _______________________________________

2.

How many blocks is it from City Hall to the Academy?

Libretto Playing the roles of the characters adds fun to the reading of the libretto. This allows you to take ownership of the opera in your own classroom. But do you know how to act?

One of the greatest teachers of acting was a man named Constantin Stanislavski. He lived in Russia and he taught his students to become one with the characters in the play. Prior to his day, actors often looked stiff or wooden. The actors would often hold poses as they declaimed their lines. If you have ever seen a silent movie where the actors over-acted to help the audience understand the text of the movie, this was also true of how many actors performed in theaters.

Stanislavski developed the idea that actors should not just tell a story. He felt that they should help the audience believe that the actors were in reality the characters they were playing. He called this idea realistic acting.

Stanislavski said that “the actor must first of all believe in everything that takes place onstage, and most of all, he must believe what he himself is doing.

And one can only believe in the truth.”

In learning to act, Stanislavski’s performers had to master the following techniques. The goal is not to memorize his techniques but to know them so well that once on stage, the actor becomes the character under study.

23

Here are the goals of his system of techniques:

1. To make the performer’s outward activities natural and convincing.

2. To have the actor or actress convey the inner truth of their part.

3. To make the life of the character onstage dynamic and continuous.

4. To develop a strong sense of the ensemble.

His techniques for realistic acting are as follows: (Remember, in Acting, the whole is greater than the sum of these parts.)

1. The actor must be relaxed in his or her role. All action should appear as natural.

2. The actor must have strong concentration. Know your lines and stay in character.

3. The actor must know the importance of specifics.

Every little thing counts. All gestures, tones of voice, facial expressions reflect the inner truth of the character.

4. The actor must capture the inner truth of the character being performed. How does this character feel at this very moment in this play?

5. The actor must have the emotional recall that reflects the inner truth of the character.

_______________________________________

6. The actor must know the: Why? What? How? of the action onstage as it reflects to the whole of the piece.

3.

7. The actor must become one with the others in the

All but one of the East to West streets on this map have names that have something in common?

What is it? _______________________________________

For more information about this exciting part of the city, visit: www.avenueofthearts.org/visit.htm.

Acting the

4. You and your friends are planning a night on the town. You will hear a lecture about famous artists, see the Broadway musical The Lion King and scout celebrities at a fancy restaurant. Where do you go? _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________

Constantin Stanislavski 1863-1938

performance so that they show the audience ensemble playing. Ensemble Playing is when the actors are one with their roles and share a common understanding of the director’s vision.

A direct correlation has been found between acting out a play in class and improved reading.

Cinderella:

24

increasingly aggressive undercurrent.

Inside the Music Gioacchino Rossini is most highly regarded for his comic operas, or opera buffas. His opera Cinderella, or La cenerentola, is one of three comic masterpieces, including The Barber of Seville and The Italian Girl in Algiers, which are most frequently performed.

The opera opens with the two half-sisters admiring themselves in the mirror. (No, no, no, no…) The music has a slightly defiant yet comical tone as the sisters assure themselves that no one is as wonderful as they. The music turns dark as Cinderella, sitting by the fire, sings a touchingly simple ballad. “Once upon a time” she sings as she begins her unaffected tale. The vainglorious sisters snap at her to stop singing and Cinderella shows a touch of defiance as she sings her scales on the word cantar (to sing) at her sisters.

In the famous sextet, Siete voi? (Is it you?), Rossini stops time again for the characters to express their shock that Cinderella is the chosen princess, thanks to her matching bracelet. As in the finale to Act I, there are slight variations on the theme sung by Dandini, Cinderella, Ramiro, and Clorinda.

Listen, too for the classic Italian rolled “r” sound on words like gruppo, rintrecciato, sgruppa, and raggruppa.

The prince’s courtiers ebulliently burst into Don Magnifico’s home, excited to announce that Prince Ramiro will soon be there, O figlie amabile di Don Magnifico (O gracious daughters of Don Magnifico). The half-sister bark out orders to Cinderella, both ordering her to help dress them for his arrival. Notice Rossini’s use of patter, or quickly repeated words to express the sister’s agitation, Cinderella’s frustration, and Alidoro’s compassion.

This ensemble also features the typical Rossini crescendo: the dynamics of an ensemble or passage are allowed to slowly get louder and louder until their virtual breaking point.

Prince Ramiro arrives, disguised as his valet Dandini. He scares Cinderella, but the two are instantly attracted to one another, Un soave non so che in quegli occhi scintillò (A gentleness I have never known sparkles in those eyes). In this graceful duet, Rossini uses the coloratura runs to highlight specific words like scintillò (sparkle), cor (heart), palpitò (palpitate or beat). Rossini has the vocal lines interweave, intersect, and harmonize to reflect the growing interest of the two.

Dandini arrives, disguised as the Prince, Come un’ape ne’giorni d’aprile (Like a bee on an April day).

His music is comically pompous and ceremonial.

Through the music alone we can tell how much fun Dandini is having pretending to be his boss. The half-sisters react with appropriate awe and reverence, yet with a certain amount of tentativeness.

The ensemble continues as the characters express their emotions in dizzying coloratura runs.

Don Ramiro and Dandini meet to discuss Alidoro’s reaction to the two half-sisters: Zitto, zitto, piano, piano (Hush, hush, quietly, quietly). The music has a fast paced, breathless, conspiratorial nature to it as the two gossip about the girls.

Through the bubbly comical nature of the music, Rossini shows that both Ramiro and Dandini are flustered yet amused by these girls who are a mixture of “insolence, stupidity, and vanity.”

It’s almost as if he uses the coloratura aspects to represent the two laughing at the girls.

In the finale to the opera, Cinderella ascends the throne and pardons the evil inflicted upon her by her stepfather and half-sisters, Nacqui all’affano e al pianto…Non più mesta accanto al fuoco (Born to worry and tears…No longer tending to the fire).

Cinderella launches into coloratura fireworks on words like baleno (lightening), lampo (flash), sogno (dream). She’s overjoyed not only that the Prince has accepted her for who she is, but also her family, too.

Scene from Act 2.

Discussion Topics 1. Do you think that Rossini accurately reflects the emotions that the characters experience?

We’re at the ball and Cinderella has just removed her veil. The guests, including her stepfather and half-sisters, are in a state of shock at her beauty and striking familiarity in Parlar, pensar, vorrei, parla, pensar, non so (I’d like to speak my thoughts, but I don’t know what to say). Rossini brilliantly has time stop as the characters react to Cinderella’s unveiling. He uses variations on the theme introduced by Clorinda. Rossini uses distinct changes in melody and rhythm to express the emotions of each character.

In the second act, Dandini divulges to Don Magnifico that he really isn’t the Prince after all in Un segreto d’importanza (A confidential matter of importance). In this comic duet, Rossini starts off by having Dandini’s music be very comical and over the top as he baits Don Magnifico for what he’s about to tell him. Then the music becomes more dramatic until Dandini shocks the elder with the truth.

Meanwhile, Rossini gives Don Magnifico’s music an

2. In the fourth excerpt, do you think that the sister’s music reflects the arrogance they display in the first musical excerpt? If not, what emotion does their music reflect in this scene?

3. If you could play any of these roles, which one would you want to perform and why?

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Cinderella:

Synopsis

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The opera takes place at Don Magnifico’s mansion and the court of Don Ramiro in the early 19th century.

Act I Scene One (A room in the house of Don Magnifico) While Cinderella’s half-sisters, Clorinda and Thisbe, are admiring themselves before a mirror, she sings her favorite song about a king who, when seeking a wife, chooses innocence and goodness over wealth and beauty. Clorinda and Thisbe tell her to shut up. When Alidoro, advisor to Prince Ramiro, shows up at their door, Clorinda and Thisbe think he is a beggar and rudely tell him to leave, but Cinderella gives him some bread and a cup of coffee.

When her half-sisters notice her charity, they start hitting her and Alidoro asks them to have pity. They are interrupted by courtiers, who enter to announce the imminent arrival of Prince Ramiro. He will invite them to his palace for singing and dancing; then he will choose the most beautiful to be his bride.

Clorinda and Thisbe are so excited that they start ordering Cinderella to get their shoes, bonnets, feathers, necklaces. Alidoro is ready to burst out laughing because they are making fools of themselves.

Clorinda orders Cinderella to give the courtiers some money; Cinderella wishes she could give the money to Alidoro instead.

Don Magnifico enters, complaining to his daughters that they woke him up in the middle of a wonderful dream. He was a beautiful, great donkey who grew feathers and flew to the top of a steeple where he sat like a king and listened to the bells ringing below. The bells mean happiness in his house, the wings mean goodbye to their common existence. His daughters will be queens with many children that their grandfather will embrace.

Clorinda and Thisbe then tell Magnifico of the Prince’s invitation; he is overjoyed at the prospect of one of them marrying the Prince and his dream coming true. They leave to prepare for the Prince’s party, and Prince Ramiro enters disguised as a servant. When Cinderella comes in, Ramiro and she immediately lose their hearts to each other.

Cinderella leaves when her half-sisters call for her; shortly afterward, Dandini enters disguised as the Prince. He compliments Clorinda and Thisbe excessively; they and their father are beside

themselves with excitement. The sisters leave with Dandini. Cinderella asks Magnifico if she can go to the ball at the Prince’s palace, but he just laughs at her. The Prince overhears him and becomes angry.

When Dandini returns, Magnifico calls Cinderella worthless and good for nothing. She pleads with Dandini and Ramiro to persuade Magnifico to take her to the ball, but Magnifico refuses and tells her to go inside and sweep up the dust.

Alidoro enters, now dressed as an official, and says that, according to the register, there are three daughters that live in Magnifico’s house. He insists that the third daughter be brought there, but Magnifico says that she died. When Cinderella starts to speak up, Magnifico tells her to shut up or he will kill her. Shortly afterward, all leave except Cinderella and Alidoro. He tells her that a coach will soon arrive to take her to the ball and that he will provide clothes, jewels and everything she needs.

Scene Two (A room in the Prince’s palace) Dandini tells Don Magnifico that he will promote him to cellar master, and Magnifico leaves to check out the wines. Clorinda and Thisbe fall all over themselves trying to get Dandini to choose one of them as his bride.

Scene Three (In the wine cellar) Don Magnifico, who has already tasted thirty barrels of wine but has shown no ill effects, is overjoyed at becoming cellar master and pompously dictates a letter forbidding anyone to pour the slightest drop of water into good wine or they will be beheaded and hung. After he and the cavaliers leave, Dandini and Ramiro enter.

When Ramiro asks Dandini what he thinks of the two sisters, Dandini replies that they are stupid and vain. The two men are confused because Alidoro has advised Ramiro to marry one of Magnifico’s daughters, so they decide to continue with their disguises.

Clorinda and Thisbe enter, both beseeching Dandini to marry one of them. He says that it is impossible to marry both of them, but that he will marry one and give the other to his friend, Ramiro. They are both mortified and refuse to marry a servant, putting him down to his face. Dandini and Ramiro enjoy the joke.

Alidoro enters to announce the arrival of a mysterious veiled lady. Clorinda and Thisbe immediately become jealous. Cinderella sings of her ideal husband who will love and respect her. When Ramiro hears Cinderella’s voice, hope stirs within him. Dandini asks her to unveil herself. When she does so, there is a moment of astonished silence.

Magnifico, Clorinda and Thisbe are shocked by the resemblance to Cinderella, but think that she is at home among the cinders. Dandini and Ramiro are enthralled by her beauty. Everyone goes to eat, dumbstruck by the events and expressing their doubts and fears.

Act II Scene One (A room in the palace of Don Ramiro) Don Ramiro sees Dandini and Cinderella approaching and hides. When Dandini, still disguised as the Prince, tells Cinderella that he loves her, she tells him that she loves his servant instead. Upon hearing this, Ramiro is overjoyed because he knows that she isn’t after his rank and wealth, and he comes out of hiding. He asks Cinderella to marry him, but she replies that first he must see her as she really is and that if he isn’t disappointed then she will be his wife.

She gives him a bracelet and says that when he searches for her, he will know her by the companion bracelet she will be wearing on her right hand.

She hastily leaves. Ramiro tells Dandini they’re switching back to their regular roles; he calls for the attendants to bring the coach and he is going to search for the woman he loves.

After Ramiro leaves, Dandini is left behind.

He bemoans his sudden change in status from prince to servant. Magnifico enters, and still thinking that Dandini is the Prince, asks if he has made his decision as to whom he will marry. Dandini leads him on for several minutes, telling him that it is an important secret that must be kept confidential.

He asks Magnifico how he should treat his daughter if he were to marry one of them. When Magnifico says that she should live a life of luxury, Dandini responds that it would be very different than that.

Magnifico is confused, so Dandini tells him that it was all a joke, that he is really the Prince’s manservant.

Magnifico is outraged; Dandini laughs at him.

Scene Two (The house of Don Magnifico) Cinderella is back home by the fireside, singing her favorite song, when the others return. Magnifico is in a bad mood, but when Cinderella asks what is

wrong, he orders her to leave and prepare supper.

There is a huge storm, and the Prince’s coach breaks down outside Magnifico’s house. Dandini and Ramiro take refuge inside and are surprised when they see whose house it is. Magnifico grudgingly welcomes them and asks Cinderella to get the Prince a large chair. As she realizes Ramiro is really the Prince, he notices the bracelet on her right wrist and is overjoyed. Everyone’s head is spinning at the turn of events. Ramiro asks Cinderella to be his bride.

Clorinda, Thisbe and Magnifico all are astounded; Ramiro reminds them of how scornful they were of him when they thought he was a servant. Cinderella attempts to embrace her step-father and half-sisters, but they push her away. Cinderella is so happy that she finds it in her heart to forgive them.

Everyone praises her kindness and they all sing to the end of sadness.

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Set design for Act 1.

(Underlined words in the synopsis and libretto are listed in the glossary.)

Meet the

28 Angelina (Cinderella) Ruxandra Donose, mezzo-soprano Romania Opera Company Debut: Rosina, The Barber of Seville 1999

Don Ramiro Lawrence Brownlee, tenor Ohio Opera Company Debut: Don Ramiro, Cinderella 2006

Don Magnifico Kevin Glavin, bass Pennsylvania Opera Company Debut: Dulcamara, The Elixir of Love 1989

Dandini Daniel Belcher, baritone Missouri Opera Company Debut: Prince Paul, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein 2004

Alidoro Richard Bernstein, bass- baritone New York Opera Company Debut: Figaro, The Marriage of Figaro 1999

Artists Clorinda

Kiera Duffy, soprano Pennsylvania Opera Company Debut: Clorinda, Cinderella 2006

Tisbe Leslie Mutchler, mezzo-soprano Virginia Opera Company Debut: Tisbe, Cinderella 2006

Conductor Corrado Rovaris Italy Opera Company Debut: The Marriage of Figaro 1999

Director Davide Livermore Italy Opera Company Debut: Cinderella 2006

Set and Costume Designer Santi Centineo Italy Opera Company Debut: Cinderella 2006

To learn more about our artists, visit www.operaphilly.com.

Introducing

Lawrence Brownlee So how does a young tenor go from singing in churches and his family in Youngstown Ohio to the great opera stages around the world? Ask Lawrence Brownlee, who sings Don Ramiro (also known as Prince Charming) in Cinderella. For Larry, it was purely by chance, “My parents would force me to sing as a kid. (I hated it, by the way.) They both sang and directed the church choirs, so their influence shaped my life. I came to opera by accident. I was taking part in a program for gifted music students through the university I attended in my home town. At the end of the program, we had to do a recital. It was there that I sang classical music for the first time.

A gentleman approached my father and asked if I would be studying there soon. I said no, but little did I know that I would be.”

Education plays a big part in the lives of classical musicians. Most professional musicians have gone to college and gotten their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Larry received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Anderson University and his Master’s at Indiana University.

Mentors have played an important part in Larry’s life, too. Not only were his parents important role models, but Cinderella’s conductor Corrado Rovaris, helped launch Larry’s international career at the prestigious Teatro alla Scalla, one of the world’s most famous opera houses, in Milan, Italy. Larry counts African-American classical singers bass, Paul Robeson, and tenor, George Shirley among his role models, too. These men helped pave the way for singers of color today by helping to break down the walls of prejudice in the arts.

Larry’s excited to make his debut in Philadelphia and work with his mentor Corrado Rovaris again. The tenor really likes his character Don Ramiro, too. “Don Ramiro’s very powerful.

At the drop of a hat he could end the ‘mistaken identity’ game that he and his valet Danidini are playing with everyone, but he wants to find out if Cinderella is a good person more than anything.”

The hardest part for Larry is to emotionally stay in control. Since Don Ramiro is royalty, he would not get overly emotional and angry. Larry says he always wants to do more, but he has to keep the Prince a “cool character.”

We think that Larry’s a pretty cool character, too. Not only is he a great singer, but he’s a great down-to-earth fellow that has all sorts of interests.

Although his job-required traveling comes with the price of jet lag, he counts himself as being very lucky that he gets to see the world. When he’s not busy singing or practicing, he loves to Salsa and Mambo dancing and never misses Monday Night Football when he’s in the States.

Quick Facts...

Birth Name: Larry Everston Brownlee Jr. Stage Name: Lawrence Brownlee Hometown: Youngstown, OH Parents: Larry and Frances Brownlee Sr. Siblings: Cynthia, Cathy, Paula, Carol, Keith Education: Youngstown State University, 1 year Anderson University - Bachelor of Arts Indiana University – Masters of Music Seattle Young Artists Program

Fraternity: Kappa Alpha Psi Inc. Role Models: Larry Brownlee Sr., Paul Robeson, George Shirley

Hobbies: Salsa/Mambo, Fishing, Table tennis, Basketball, Tennis

Favorites...

Movies: Color Purple, Lean On Me, Coming to America, Pride and Prejudice

TV Shows: Cosby Show, Sanford and Son Game Shows: Family Feud, Jeopardy Foods: Korean BBQ (Bulgogi), French Fries Desserts: My mom’s homemade sweet potato pie and banana pudding

Sports: NFL – Pittsburgh Steelers NBA – Boston Celtics College Football – Ohio State University College Basketball – Indiana Hoosiers Tennis – Andre Agassi Baseball – Cleveland Indians

Colors: Crimson and cream Things of Most Importance: “4 F’s” Faith, Family, Friends, Fraternity

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Cinderella

Crossword Puzzle

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Academy of Music Angelina Bemoan Beseech Cavalier Cease Charity Charles Perrault Confidential Courtier Dandini Din Don Magnifico Don Ramiro Eloquence Enthrall Entice Fairytale Fickle Gioacchino Rossini Grudgingly Imminent Insolence Ordain Overseer Plummet Pomp Ponder Rapt Sham Sublime Venerable

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ACROSS

DOWN

2

First name of the Italian composer of Cinderella.

1

An attendant at the court of a sovereign.

3

Splendor; vain or ostentatious display.

4

To order by virtue of superior authority.

5

A fashionable young man.

6

About to occur; impending.

7

Consider carefully; to weigh mentally.

8

Cinderella’s “wicked” stepfather.

11

Philadelphia theatre that opened in 1857 (3 words).

9

12

Cinderella character who is the Prince’s valet or assistant.

Something false trying to become genuine.

13

10

Noise.

Cinderella character, known as Prince Charming in other versions.

14

A supervisor or superintendent.

15

Worthy of reverence or respect by virtue of dignity.

18

16

Last name of the French writer on whose version of Cinderella the opera is based.

To come to an end; to stop.

17

19

Beg for; to request earnestly.

Deeply absorbed; engrossed.

20

20

Told in secret.

The giving of help or relief to the needy.

21

22

To lament or mourn; to express grief for.

First name of the French writer on whose version of Cinderella the opera is based.

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To attract by arousing hope or desire; lure.

23

Last name of the Italian composer who wrote Cinderella.

27

Inspiring awe; impressive; moving.

24

Persuasive, effortless and graceful verbal expression.

28

Changeable, especially with regard to affections.

26

Cinderella’s first name.

28

A fantastical story of legendary deeds and creatures, written to teach a moral.

29

To hold spellbound; captivate; charm.

30

Reluctantly; resentful.

31

To drop straight down; plunge.

32

The quality of being insulting or arrogant.

Sequence of the Story

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The sequence of a story or play is very important for understanding the content. The sequence of events explains how things happen and when they happen. After reading the libretto, place the following events in order. Re-number the events from one to ten in the order that they occur in the opera.

Extra credit: Write the act in which you find that event. _____

1.

During a huge storm, the Prince’s coach breaks down outside Don Magnifico’s house.

Act ___

_____

2.

Cinderella sings of her ideal husband who will love and respect her.

Act ___

_____

_____

_____

3.

4.

5.

Ramiro overhears Cinderella telling Dandini that she loves his ’servant.’

Act ___ Alidoro asks where the third daughter is, but Don Magnifico says that she died.

Act ___ Cinderella sings her favorite song, while Clorinda and Thisbe admire themselves in the mirror.

Act ___

_____

_____

_____

_____

_____

6.

7.

8.

9.

Cinderella is so happy at becoming the Prince’s bride that she forgives her stepfather and half-sisters.

Act ___ Cinderella gives Ramiro a bracelet and tells him that when he searches for her, she will be wearing the companion bracelet.

Act ___ Don Magnifico is angry because his daughters woke him up in the middle of a wonderful dream.

Act ___ The Prince sees the bracelet on Cinderella’s wrist and is overjoyed.

Act ___

10. Prince Ramiro is disguised as a servant, and when he and Cinderella meet, they fall in love at first sight.

Act ___

Active Learning

Make Your Own Synopsis A synopsis is a concise summary or brief statement of events. In writing a synopsis, the main points or ideas are written and the supporting details are left out. To do this successfully, we must make judgments on what are the most important facts or details.

Often you are asked after a day of school, “How was your day?” or “What did you learn today?”

You know how to answer these questions because you know what the important things you did were.

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1. In a small group, examine the main characters of Cinderella. How did the actions of the characters move the plot forward? What were the most important things which happened?

2. Make a word bank of the main characters. List important adjectives which describe their character traits. Then list the verbs or action words which highlight their actions.

Characters

Descriptive Adjectives

Actions

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Now write a brief account of Act I of the opera. Check it against the actual synopsis found on pages 28-29 of this activity book.

See which member of your group wrote the most comprehensive synopsis.

Choose what you feel is the most important event in the sequence above and explain how, if changed, it would affect the other events.

Illustrate the most important event you have chosen or ask your teacher if you can act out the scene with your classmates.

Discuss why you feel this scene is important with your classmates. How could you cause a change in this scene and affect the rest of the story’s plot? Discuss this new view of the opera with your classmates or write a new ending to the opera.

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Recognizing Facts and Opinions

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1.

Read the following statements. Before each statement, write whether it is a fact or an opinion.

1. Prince Ramiro will choose the most beautiful woman to be his bride. _____ 2. Clorinda and Thisbe are lazy because they make Cinderella do all the chores. _____ 3. The Prince and Dandini shouldn’t have tricked Don Magnifico and his daughters. _____ 4. Cinderella is the kindest person in the world to forgive her stepfather and half-sisters. _____ 5. Magnifico threatens Cinderella with death if she reveals that she’s the third daughter. _____ 6. Alidoro must be Cinderella’s guardian angel. _____ 7. Cinderella gives the Prince a bracelet so that he can find her.

_____

2.

Write an opinion about each of the following topics. Support each opinion with two facts.

Love

Supporting Your Opinions 1. Write “I believe” or “I think” four times. Then complete each phrase with a different statement regarding the opera Cinderella. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Identify which statements are fact and opinion by placing an ’F’ or ’O’ next to each one.

Then combine the two statements to make a sentence using the following connectives: since, because, therefore, thus.

The first one has been done for you.

F _____ O _____

1a. Clorinda and Thisbe admire themselves in the mirror.

1b. They are vain.

Sentence: Clorinda and Thisbe are vain because they admire themselves in the mirror.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

2a. Alidoro is crafty.

2b. Alidoro disguises himself as a beggar and an official.

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_____ _____

Kindness

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_____ _____

Vanity

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Cinderella ________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____ _____

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4a. Alidoro says that he will provide Cinderella with clothes and jewels for the ball.

4b. Alidoro must be a magician.

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Alidoro

3a. Magnifico refuses to let Cinderella go to the ball.

3b. Magnifico is mean.

_____ _____

5a. When Cinderella attempts to hug her stepfather and half-sisters, they push her away.

5b. They don’t deserve to be forgiven.

________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

6a. The Prince is a lucky guy.

6b. The Prince’s coach breaks down right outside of Cinderella’s house.

Clorinda and Thisbe

_____ _____

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c

Compose Your Own Review of Cinderella

Use this word bank for ideas when composing your own review of the opera. singing lighting props conductor acting

Cinderella music orchestra plot Rossini

set designer Don Ramiro chorus costumes set

Pop Art stage action Academy of Music love funny

Character Analysis and Dramatic Motivation We’ve heard the expression that actions speak louder than words. Actions reflect who we are by showing our motivations and intentions. In all forms of drama, whether it is a book, play, movie, comic book, or opera, characters have some sort of motivation in order to advance the action or plot of the story. The actions in our everyday lives are

also based upon motivation such as: desire for better grades; desire to be a good friend; desire to please our parents; desire to buy a CD, or DVD, or computer game, etc. Write down your thoughts on the topics below and discuss some of them with your classmates:

1. Describe Cinderella’s personality. What characteristics does she show based upon her actions or motivations? ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. Describe how Cinderella acts towards her stepfather and half-sisters. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What do you think motivates Cinderella to act as she does towards her stepfather and half-sisters? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. Cinderella’s mother does not appear in the opera because she died before the opera beings. What do you think Cinderella’s relationship was like with her mother based upon how she acts in the opera?

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5. What kinds of motivation do these characters demonstrate:

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Don Ramiro, the prince ____________________________________________________________________________

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Dandini, the valet _________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

Clorinda and Thisbe, the half-sisters __________________________________________________________________

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Don Magnifico, the stepfather ______________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Cinderella in Your Own Words Now that you have a better understanding of Cinderella’s personality and motivations, review the text at the right, a translation of Cinderella’s final aria, Non più mesta. Identify the motivations and character traits, based upon what has happened in the opera. Write your own version of Cinderella’s final monologue. What do you feel she should say to her stepfather and half-sisters? What should she say to the Prince, Dandini, and Alidoro?

Born to worry and tears, I kept silent the pain in my heart; but by a sweet magic, in the flower of my youth, as quick as lightning, my life changed. (to Magnifico and the sisters) No, no: do not cry. Why are you frightened, why? In my arms let me hold you. Daughter, sister, friend: all of these you find in me. No longer tending to the fire, I shall no longer sing alone, no! Ah, it was a flash, a dream, a sham, my long time of yearning.

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Cinderella – A Long History of Storytelling

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Long before Rossini wrote the opera Cinderella, and long before famous versions of the story were written by Italian Giambattista Basile (1634), French Charles Perrault (1697) – on whose version Rossini based the opera – and the German Grimms Brothers version 1812, there was the original version of her story. Perhaps it doesn’t come from a time or place that one would expect, but she first appeared around 860 A.D. (the time of the T’sang or Tang Dynasty) in The Miscellaneous Record of You Yang by Tuan Ch’eng-Shih.

In it the young girl Yeh-hsien’s father has died and she has a horrible stepmother and stepsister.

Yeh-hsien catches a magical fish that continues to grow and grow. When her stepmother tricks Yeh-hsien into leaving the house, she kills the fish, serves it for dinner, and hides its bones in a dung heap. Yeh-hsien is distraught but is consoled by a magic man who mysteriously descends from the sky.

He tells her to dig up the bones and hide them in her bedroom. If there is anything that she ever wants or needs, she should wish on the bones and she will receive it. When a festival is announced, Yeh-hsien’s stepmother and stepsister attend it, leaving Yeh-hsien to tend to the house and garden. After they leave, Yeh-hsien asks for a beautiful dress and golden shoes to go to the festival, and she receives them just as the man said she would. She goes to the festival but realizes that her stepfamily has recognized her. She runs off, leaving her peculiarly small golden shoe behind. The shoe comes into the possession of the King of T’o-han. He searches all over the islands to find the woman who fit into the beguilingly small shoe. After months of searching for the foot that fits the shoe, The King visits Yeh-hsien’s village. Yeh-hsien tries on the shoe and it fits her.

She and the King are married and they live happily after after.

This tale fascinated countless other countries throughout the centuries. There are over 900 recorded versions of the story from virtually every continent and culture in hundreds of languages. Versions have been found in the Native American, African American, Scandinavian, Spanish, Russian, South American, African cultures, and more. The story has been the inspiration for countless novels, movies, ballets, and several operas, too.

19th century engraving of Gustave Doré’s Cendrillon.

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Did you know…

Because of this original story, small feet on a woman were considered a sign of great beauty in China.

Women began to bind their feet to stunt their growth so that they could have tiny feet like Yeh-hsien.

Active Learning Now it’s your turn to write your own Cinderella story.

Keep in mind that there are several elements that are consistent in the Cinderella tale that you will have to incorporate into your story:

1. A family member in a unfortunate or terrible situation.

2. The aid of a helper - usually something or someone fantastical or supernatural.

3. The opportunity for a better life.

4. Acknowledgment or identification of that person’s qualities by some object or person.

5. Improvement in the family member’s situation – frequently through a marriage or other sort of coming together or union.

Going to the Ball

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Cinderella’s not the only one going to a ball; it’s time for you to prepare to go to your ball, too! The Senior or Junior Prom can make the girls in the class feel exactly like Cinderella and the guys like Prince Charming, or in this case, Don Ramiro. But proms can be expensive, and unless you have a magical tutor to help you pay your way, you’re going to need to save money and budget your expenses to see what you can really afford. In this exercise, you’ll be given $500 to spend for your prom. It’s up to you to decide how you are going to spend that money. One fixed expense is the $100 prom ticket.

Ladies, you are responsible for: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Your own prom ticket Purchasing or making your own gown New pair of shoes Any accessories – jewelry, purse, etc. that you may need ✓ Some sort of jacket or throw in case it gets cold ✓ Hair, makeup, and nails at the salon or done at a friend’s house

Gentlemen, you are responsible for: ✓ Your own prom ticket ✓ Tuxedo rental – including shoes, vest or cummerbund, cufflinks, and tie ✓ Flowers for your date and a boutonniere for yourself ✓ Transportation for the evening (if you are renting a limousine, you may ask a male friend or two in your class to split these costs with you) ✓ Dinner after the prom for you and your date ✓ Pictures at the prom – a fixed expense of $50 ✓ Any after party festivities for you and your date Again, it’s up to you to decide how to spend your $500 without going over budget, with $100 of that going to the prom ticket. Take to the internet or do some window shopping to price gowns, tuxedos, and the like. Do anything you can to save money – explore eBay.com, consignment or secondhand shops, or making things like your gown or flower arrangements yourself. Don’t forget to have fun with this! Express your own sense of style and dress up like you are Cinderella and Prince Charming. It’s one of the most exciting nights of your school years. It’s important to experience it – but experience it responsibly!

You’ll need to do comparison shopping to get the best prices. Perhaps you can ask your teacher or parent to help you? While the Opera Company of Philadelphia does not endorse any of these sites, check them out to get an idea of how much the things that you’ll need to buy cost:

For Her: http://promspot.com http://www.bestpromdresses.com http://www.sewing.org http://www.cosmeticscop.com

For Him: http://www.afterhours.com http://www.menswearhouse.com http://www.limos.com http://www.tie-a-tie.net

For Everyone: www.eBay.com www.overstock.com

Active Learning 1. On a separate piece of paper, draw a picture of what you think the evening will be like. You can design a gown, the limo or car you’ll be using for the night, or your group of friends dancing the night away!

2. Assume that you have to pay for this night yourself.

How are you going to save money to afford to go?

If you get an allowance or if you have a job, how long will it take you to save $500?

3. Compare your budgets to your classmates. Where did you spend most of your money compared to them?

4. Did you have any money left? If so, how much?

5. What percentage of your costs went to your clothes for the evening?

6. What percentage of your costs went to your prom ticket?

7. Where you able to find the best deals and save the most money for what you bought?

Children’s Illustrator – Arthur Rackham The silhouette illustrations in the Cinderella book are by British artist Arthur Rackham, one of the most famous artists of his time. He was born on September 19, 1867 at Lewisham, England. When Arthur was growing up, he was told a tale about one of his great-great-great grandfathers, John Rackham, who was a pirate! He commanded a ship that sailed out of Providence Island. He was caught and met a nasty end in 1720 when he and many of his crew were hanged at Port Royal, Jamaica.

The story of John Rackam was part of Arthur’s family heritage. Each generation told his story as a tradition. Some wonder if the story of pirates filled Arthur with visions and wonders that only art could capture.

As he grew older, Arthur displayed many artistic talents. He would draw under his blankets after he was put to bed. Arthur did not attend formal school until he was twelve years of age. After four years he took ill and was sent to Australia with some family members. On the trip he took his watercolor paints and captured many of the scenes of his journey.

Once recovered he returned to England and entered the Lambert School of Art in 1884. The following year he took a job as a clerk in one of London’s fire insurance companies. He worked during the day and went to school for art at night.

From this job he learned keen business skills that would aid him as he grew older. During the evenings he created sketches that he sent off to the magazines and newspapers. He also spent time making watercolor landscapes. One of his paintings of Winchelsea from 1888 was accepted into the collections of the Royal Academy and sold at a good profit for the young artist.

In 1891 his work was regularly accepted by the Pall Mall Budget newspaper. Rackham’s work was on the pages of the paper almost every week of the year.

He had an unusual ability to capture political leaders in cartoons. The following year Rackham took a position with The Westminster Budget and was soon a leading illustrator of the paper. He was given permission to do full page illustrations. One of these was “The Influenza Fiend.” This drawing captured many of the visions that were to make some of his later book illustrations famous.

Soon he took contracts to illustrate books.

By 1896 he was widely recognized as a leading illustrator in publishing. He left the newspaper and, using the skills he learned in the fire insurance office, went into business for himself. Some books would require over seventy drawings.

In 1899 he illustrated Gulliver’s Travels and in 1900 he achieved wide fame when he illustrated Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Many of his books became collector’s items that today are very valuable. His illustrated his last great book in 1940, Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. It was published the year after he died.

Active Learning 1. On a map, can you find the following locations: Lewisham, England; Providence Island; Port Royal, Jamaica.

2. Find one of Rackham’s books at your local library and see if you can copy his style.

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Careers

in the Arts

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Accompanist Actor/Actress Advertising Director Announcer Architect Architectural Model Builder Artist Artistic Director Art Festival Coordinator Art Teacher Arts Administrator Arts Consultant Arts Ed. Curriculum Writer Audio Engineer (recording) Band Director Book Designer Book Illuminator Box Office Director Business Manager Casting Director Choir Director Choreographer Cinematographer Clothing Designer Comedian Commercial Artist Composer Computer Graphic Design Computer IT Specialist Concert Singer Conductor Contract Specialist

Copyright Specialist Costume Buyer Costume and Mask Designer Creative Consultant Critic Cutter (costumes) Dancer Dialect Coach Dramaturg Draper (costumes) Dresser (theater) Extra (background actor) Fashion Designer First Hand (seamstress) Fundraiser (Development) Furniture Designer House Manager (theater) Illustrator (fashion, book, etc.)

Instrumentalist Librettist Lighting Designer Makeup Artist Manager (arts organizations) Master Electrician (stage) Model Builder Mold Maker Music Contractor Music Copyist and Transcriber Music Editor Music Librarian Music Teacher Musician

Musicologist Orchestrator Painter Producer (theater, TV, movies) Proofreader (music) Props Buyer Props Designer Public Relations Specialist Publicist Publisher Scene Painter Scenic Designer Sculptor Set Decorator Set Dresser Shop Foreman (stage) Singer Special Effects Coordinator Stage Carpenter Stage Director Stage Hand Stage Manager Stitcher (costumes) Stunt Coordinator Theater Director Ticketing Agent Translator TV Camera Operator Visa Coordinator Vocalist Wardrobe Mistress Wigmaker

Active Learning What career would you consider interesting? Where do you think you could go to learn more about it? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

Active Learning in the Creative Arts Below are some art activities that you can do at home or in school. Think of using one of these for our art contest.

Opera Dioramas 1. You need a shoe box with lid, tissue box or milk carton,

Make Your Own Mask 1. You will need paper plates, paints, crayons or markers,

crayons, heavy paper (construction, tag or index), paste or glue, colored paper or paint for background.

glue, scissors, popsicle sticks, sequins, feathers, felt, pipecleaners, buttons, beads or anything else fun you have lying around.

2. Paint, color, or paste colored paper on the back and sides of the box to make a background for the characters.

3. Draw in the background scenery. For example, you can draw houses, trees, and grass.

4. Draw characters and other scenery on a separate piece of heavy paper. Cut them out, leaving an extra piece for a fold at the bottom.

5. Decide which end the scene will be viewed through.

Face the characters that way. Fold the bottom of each cut-out character to the back and paste or glue in place in the box.

6. Cut out the side of the box if it is an open-view diorama.

Cut out one end, put a peep-hole in the other end and put the lid on, if it is a peep-hole diorama.

7. Write the title and author on a separate piece of paper and then cut it out and glue it to the top or side of the box.

8. There are two ways the class may learn about the story

2. Cut out the round bottom of the paper plate and discard the edge.

3. Cut your paper circle into the shape you want your mask to be (maybe a cat face, or just an oval...)

4. Cut out two holes where the eyes will be.

5. Glue a popsicle stick to one side of the plate, so that you can hold the mask up to your face.

6. Decorate your mask with anything you like. Use popsicle sticks for whiskers, feathers along the top, sequins around the eyeholes... Anything you can think of!

Make an Opera Poster 1. Using markers and a large piece of paper, make your own poster for Cinderella.

you read: A. Show the box to the class and tell them a summary of what the characters are doing in the diorama.

B. Write a summary of what is happening in the diorama and attach it to the box for the class to read.

Make an Opera Mural 1. You need paint or crayons, butcher paper in rolls.

2. Cut a long piece of butcher paper from the roll.

3. Paint or draw a mural of an interesting part of the opera. You may want to ask some of your friends who have read the opera to help you.

4. Write the title of the opera at the top of the mural.

5. Tell the class about the part of the opera you painted

________________________________________________________________________________________________

or drew on the mural.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Hang your mural on a bulletin board or wall. Don’t forget to sign your name at the bottom of the mural.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Mural from Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program, at 13th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia.

Photo by Edward Savaria, Jr., Courtesy of Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Glossary

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entice (en-tı¯s) v. to attract by arousing hope or desire; lure. et al. (et al) and others (abbr. for et alii: and other people, et alia: and other things.) exeunt (e˘k-se¯-ənt) v. used as a stage direction to specify that all or certain named characters leave the stage.

act (a˘kt) n. one of the main divisions of a play or opera. ad nauseam (a˘d nô-ze¯-əm) n. to a sickening or disgusting extent. allegro (ä-leg-ro¯) adv. musical term for fast and lively. alma mater (älma mä-ter) n. a title used in reference to one’s university, college or school. alto (äl-to¯) n. the lowest female singing voice; also called contralto. andante (a˘n-da˘n-ta¯) adv. a musical term meaning in moderately slow time.

fickle (fı˘. k-əl) adj. changeable, especially with regard to affections. flat (b) (fla˘t) adj. a half-step lower than the corresponding note or key of natural pitch. foppish (fo˘p-ı˘.sh) adj. pertaining to, or characteristic of a vain man; dandified. forte (ƒ) (fôr-ta¯) adv. a musical term meaning loudly. fortissimo (ƒƒ) (for-te¯-se¯-mo¯) adv. a musical term for very loud. grudgingly (gru˘ j-ı˘.ng-le¯) adv. reluctantly, resentfully.

aria (a˘r-i-a˘) n. an operatic song for one voice.

imminent (i˘m-ə-nənt) adj. about to occur; impending.

bar (ba˘r) n. a division of music, marked by two barlines, containing a set number of beats.

insolence (in-sə-ləns) n. the quality of being insulting or arrogant.

baritone (ba˘r-ı˘. -to¯n) n. the range of the male voice between tenor and bass. bas-relief (bä-rı.˘-le¯f) n. sculpture relief that projects very little from background. bass (ba¯s) n. the lowest male singing voice. beat (be¯t) n. the basic pulse of a piece of music. bemoan (bə-mo¯n) v. to lament or mourn; to express grief for. beseech (bı˘. -se¯ch) v. beg for; to request earnestly. cavalier (ka˘v-ə-lîr) n. a fashionable young man. cease (se¯s) v. to come to an end; stop. charity (cha˘r-ə-te¯) n. the giving of help or relief to the needy.

keepsake (ke¯p-sa¯k) n. a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person or an event. key (ke¯) n. the basic note of the main scale used in a piece of music. Music in the key of G, for example, has the sound of being based on the note G and often returns to G as a home note. largo (lär-go¯) adv. & adj. a musical term meaning in slow time and dignified style. libretto (lı˘.-bre˘t-o¯) n. the words of an opera or other long musical. livid (lı˘v-ı˘d) adj. extremely angry; furious. major (ma¯-jər) adj. music in a major key uses a major scale, in which the first three notes are the key note followed by intervals of a tone and then another tone (for example, A, B, C). It often has a cheerful, strong sound. melodrama (mel-ə-dra˘-mə) n. a play full of suspense in a sensational and emotional style.

chaste (cha¯st) adj. morally pure; decent; modest.

minor (mı¯-nər) adj. Music in a minor key uses a minor scale, in which the first three notes are the key note followed by intervals of a tone and then a semitone (for example A, B, C). It often has a sad, melancholic sound.

chord (kôrd) n. a group of notes played at the same time in harmony.

muse (myo¯o¯z) n. a poet’s inspiring goddess, a poet’s genius.

chorus (kôr-əs) n. 1. a group of singers. 2. a piece of music for these.

natural (na˘ch-ər-əl) adj. a note that is neither flattened nor sharpened.

chronological (kro˘n-ə-lo˘j-i-kəl) adj. a method of arrangement that puts events in order of occurrence. confidential (ko˘n-fə-de˘n-shəl) adj. told in secret.

octave (o˘k-tı˘.v) n. a note that sounds twice as high in pitch as another is an octave above the other note, and has the same letter naming it.

contemporary (kən-təm-pə-re˘-re¯) adj. belonging to the same period of time.

opera (o˘p-ə-rə) n. a play in which the words are sung to musical accompaniment.

contralto (kon-tral-toh) n. the lowest female singing voice; also called alto.

opus (o¯ -pəs) n. a musical compostion numbered as one of a composer’s works (usually in order of publication).

courtier (kôr-te˘-ər) n. an attendant at the court of a sovereign.

orchestra (or-kı˘-strə) n. a large body of people playing various musical instruments, including stringed and wind instruments.

cue (kyo¯o¯) n. something said or done that serves as a signal for something else to be done, as for an actor to speak in a play.

ordain (ôr-da¯n) v. to order by virtue of superior authority.

din (din) v. noise.

overseer (o¯-vər-se¯-ər) n. one who keeps watch over and directs the work of others; a supervisor.

discreet (dis-kre¯t) adj. lacking ostentation or pretension; unobtrusive; modest.

overture (o¯-vər-cho˘o˘r) n. an orchestral composition forming a prelude to an opera or ballet.

duet (do¯o¯-e˘t) n. a musical composition for two performers.

pianissimo (pp) (pe¯-a˘-ne¯s-e¯-mo¯) adv. a musical term meaning very softly.

eloquence (el-ə-kwəns) n. persuasive, effortless and graceful verbal expression.

piano (p) (pe¯-a˘n-o¯) adv. a musical term meaning softly.

enhrall (en-thrôl) v. to hold spellbound; captivate; charm.

plot (plo˘t) n. the sequence of events in an opera, story, novel, etc. plummet (plu˘ m-it) v. to drop straight down; plunge.

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pomp (po˘mp) n. splendor; vain or ostentatious display.

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pompous (po˘m-pəs) adj. full of ostentatious dignity and self-importance.

Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards

ponder (po˘nd-dər) v. consider carefully; to weigh mentally. premiere (pri-mîr) n. the first public showing of a play, movie, or other performance. proscenium (pro¯ -se¯ -ne¯-əm) n. the arch or frame that separates a stage from the auditorium. presto (pre˘s-to¯) adv. a musical term meaning very fast. protagonist (pro¯-ta˘g-ə-nı˘.st) n. the leading character in an opera, play, story, etc. provoke (prə-vo¯k) v. to bring on by inticing. prudent (pro¯o¯-dənt) adj. showing carefulness and foresight. prudence, n. rallentando (räl-le˘n-ta˘n-do¯) adv. a musical direction term meaning getting slower. rapt (ra˘pt) adj. deeply absorbed; engrossed. scale (ska¯l) n. a series of notes arranged in descending or ascending order of pitch. semitone (se˘m-e¯-to¯n) n. a half step or half tone, an interval midway between two whole tones. sham (sha˘m) n. something false trying to be genuine. sharp (#) (shärp) n. any note a semitone higher than another note. also, slightly too high in pitch. sonata (sə-nä-tə) n. a musical composition for one instrument or two, ususally with three or four movements. soprano (so¯-pra˘-no¯) n. the highest female or boy’s singing voice. stage (sta¯ j) n. a platform on which an opera, play, etc. are performed for an audience. staging (sta¯-jı˘.ng) n. the presentation or production on the stage. status quo (sta˘-təs kwo¯, sta¯t-tus) the state of affairs as it is or as it was before a change. sublime (sə-blı¯m) adj. Inspiring awe; impressive; moving. symphony (sı˘m-fə-ne¯) n. a long elaborate musical composition (usually in several parts) for a full orchestra. synopsis (sı˘. -no˘p-sı˘.s) n. a summary, a brief general survey. tenor (te˘n-ər) n. the highest male singing voice. theme (the¯m) n. the subject about which a person thinks or writes or speaks. throng (thrông) n. a crowded mass of people. tone (to¯n) n. 1. an interval equal to two semitones. 2. the sound quality of an instrument or voice. utopia (yo¯o¯- to¯ -pe¯ə) n. any condition, place, or situation of social or political perfection. vanquish (va˘ng-kwı˘.sh) v. to defeat in any contest, conflict, or competition. venerable (ve˘n-ər-ə-bəl) adj. worthy of reverence or respect by virtue of dignity, character, position, or age. vengeful (ve˘nj-fəl) adj. seeking retribution or vengeance. verismo (ve˘r-ı˘.z-mo¯ ) n. realism in opera. waver (wa¯-vər) v. 1. to show indecision. 2. to move back and forth. 3. to become unsure. yearning (yu ˘ r-ning) n. a deep longing.

Pennsylvania’s public schools shall teach, challenge and support every student to realize his or her maximum potential and to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to: Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening 1.1. Learning to Read Independently GRADE 5 D. Identify the basic ideas and facts in text using strategies (e.g., prior knowledge, illustrations and headings) and information from other sources to make predictions about text. 1.1.8. GRADE 8 E. Expand a reading vocabulary by identifying and correctly using idioms and words with literal and figurative meanings. Use a dictionary or related reference. 1.1.11. GRADE 11 H. Demonstrate fluency and comprehension in reading. Read a variety of genres and types of text. Demonstrate comprehension. 1.2. Reading Critically in All Content Areas GRADES 5, 8, 11. A. Read and understand essential content of informational texts and documents in all academic areas. 1.3. Reading, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature GRADE 5 E. Analyze drama as information source, entertainment, persuasion or transmitter of culture. 1.3.8. GRADE 8 E. Analyze drama to determine the reasons for a character’s actions, taking into account the situation and basic motivation of the character. 1.3.11. GRADE 11 E. Analyze how a scriptwriter’s use of words creates tone and mood, and how choice of words advances the theme or purpose of the work. 1.4. Types of Writing GRADES 5, 8, 11. GRADE 5 A. Write poems, plays and multi-paragraph stories (GRADES 8 & 11 - and short stories). 1.4.5, 8, 11.

C. Write persuasive pieces (Review of Opera Experience, p. 78). 1.5. Quality of Writing GRADES 5, 8, 11. A. Write with a sharp, distinct focus. 1.6. Speaking and Listening GRADES 5, 8, 11. B. Listen to selections of literature (fiction and/or nonfiction).

C. Speak using skills appropriate to formal speech situations. E. Participate in small and large group discussions and presentations.

F. Use media for learning purposes. 1.8. Research GRADES 5, 8, 11. A. Select and refine a topic for research. B. Locate information using appropriate sources and strategies. C. Organize, summarize and present the main ideas from research.

Academic Standards for Mathematics 2.1. Numbers, Number Systems and Number Relationships 2.1.8. GRADE 8 A. Represent and use numbers in equivalent forms (e.g., integers, fractions, decimals, percents, exponents, scientific notation, square roots).

2.2. Computation and Estimation 2.2.5. GRADE 5 A. Create and solve word problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers. 2.5 Mathematical Problem Solving and Communication 2.5.11. GRADE 11 A. Select and use appropriate mathematical concepts and techniques from different areas of mathematics and apply them to solving non-routine and multi-step problems.

Academic Standards for Science and Technology 3.1. Unifying Themes 3.1.10. GRADE 10 E. Describe patterns of change in nature, physical and man made systems. •Describe how fundamental science and technology concepts are used to solve practical problems (e. g., momentum, Newton’s laws of universal gravitation, tectonics, conservation of mass and energy, cell theory, theory of evolution, atomic theory, theory of relativity, Pasteur’s germ theory, relativity, heliocentric theory, gas laws, feedback systems).

3.2. Inquiry and Design GRADE 7 Apply process knowledge to make and interpret observations. GRADE 10 Apply process knowledge and organize scientific and technological phenomena in varied ways. GRADE 12 Evaluate experimental information for appropriateness and adherence to relevant science processes. 3.3. Biological Sciences 3.3.10. GRADE 10 D. Explain the mechanisms of the theory of evolution. 3.7. Technological Devices 3.7.7. GRADE 7 E. Explain basic computer communications systems. Describe the organization and functions of the basic parts that make up the World Wide Web. (Check operaphilly.com to see photos of the rehearsals and sets.) See Teacher’s Guide for additional science lessons.

Academic Standards for Civics and Government 5.2. Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship 5.2.12. GRADE 12 C. Interpret the causes of conflict in society and analyze techniques to resolve those conflicts.

Academic Standards for Economics 6.1. Economic Systems 6.1.6. GRADE 6 B. Explain the three basic questions that all economic systems attempt to answer What Goods and Services (G&S) should be produced? How will G&S be produced? Who will consume G&S? 6.4. Economic Interdependence 6.4.9 A. Explain why specialization may lead to increased production and consumption.

Academic Standards for Geography 7.1. Basic Geographic Literacy 7.1.6. GRADE 6 A. Describe geographic tools and their uses.

• Basis on which maps, graphs and diagrams are created. 7.3. The Human Characteristics of Places and Regions 7.3.6. GRADE 6 B. Explain the human characteristics of places and regions by their cultural characteristics.

Academic Standards for History 8.2. Pennsylvania History 8.2.9. GRADE 9 8.2.12. GRADE 12 Pennsylvania’s public schools shall teach, challenge and support every student... skills needed to analyze the interaction of cultural, economic, geographic, political and social relations to. A. Analyze the... cultural contributions of individuals... to Pennsylvania history from 1787 to 1914.

• Cultural and Commercial Leaders (e.g., Academy of Music architects Napoleon Le Brun & Gustav Rungé, opera star Marian Anderson). 8.3. U.S. History 8.3.9 GRADE 9 B. Identify and analyze primary documents, material artifacts and historic sites important in United States history from 1787 to 1914. • Historic Places (e. g., Academy of Music). 8.4. World History 8.4.6 GRADE 6 A. Identify and explain how individuals and groups made significant political and cultural contributions to world history. 8.4.12.

GRADE 12 C. Evaluate how continuity and change throughout history has impacted belief systems and religions since 1450 C.E. Academic Standards for the Arts and Humanities 9.1. Production, Performance and Exhibition of Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts A. Know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities. I. Know where arts events, performances and exhibitions occur and how to gain admission. 9.2. Historical and Cultural Contexts C. Relate works in the arts to varying styles and genre and to the periods in which they were created (e.g., Renaissance, Classical, Modern, Post-Modern, Contemporary...). D. Analyze a work of art from its historical and cultural perspective. E. Analyze how historical events and culture impact forms, techniques and purposes of works in the arts. F. Know and apply appropriate vocabulary used between social studies and the arts and humanities.

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State Standards Met

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State Standards met in Cinderella Sounds of Learning™ Lessons:

Written and produced by:

Special thanks to:

Opera 101: Getting Ready for the Opera

Opera Company of Philadelphia Education Department ©2006

Rose Muravchick Judy Williams The Teachers of Our Children EMI Records Academy of Music Ushers

A Brief History of Western Opera The Man Behind the Music: Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Rossini Timeline Make Your Own Timeline

1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1,

1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2,

1.3, 1.3, 8.4, 1.8,

7.3, 8.4, 9.2 1.8, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.2 9.2 8.3, 8.4, 9.2

Relating Opera to History: The Culture Connection Game: Musical Crossword Puzzle During Rossini’s Lifetime: Literature During Rossini’s Lifetime: Science The Pop Art Aesthetic In the 1950’s: The Role of American Women Science in 1950’s America: Exploration and Discovery

1.1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1,

9.2 1.2, 1.8, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2,

Maureen Lynch Operations Manager Academy of Music

1.6, 3.1, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3,

1.8, 3.2, 3.1, 3.1, 3.1,

7.3, 3.3 5.2, 5.2, 5.2,

Michael Bolton

8.4, 9.2 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2 8.3, 8.4, 9.1, 9.2

Community Programs Manager

Shannon Walsh

bolton@operaphilly.com

Operations Assistant Manager Academy of Music

Carolyn Grugan Intern

Greg Buch

Opera Company of Philadelphia

Production Manager Academy of Music

1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1,

9.2 1.2, 7.1, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 9.2

1.3, 7.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3,

1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.2,

1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.2, 1.3,

1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.5, 1.4,

7.3, 8.2, 1.6, 8.4, 9.2 9.2 6.1, 1.6,

8.2, 9.1, 8.4, 9.1,

8.3, 9.1, 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2

6.4, 7.1, 7.3, 9.2 8.4, 9.2

Aileen Kennedy Volunteer

Cornell Wood

Opera Company of Philadelphia

Head Usher Academy of Music

Juan F. Saa Volunteer

R. A. Friedman

Opera Company of Philadelphia

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Dr. Dennis W. Creedon

Debra Malinics Advertising

Creator, Sounds of Learning TM Curriculum Consultant

Lessons Sequence of the Story Make Your Own Synopsis Recognizing Facts and Opinions Supporting Your Opinions Compose Your Own Review of Cinderella Character Analysis and Dramatic Motivation Cinderella in Your Own Words Cinderella – A Long History of Storytelling Going to the Ball Children’s Illustrator Arthur Rackham

Tel: (215) 893-3600, ext. 246 Fax: (215) 893-7801 www.operaphilly.com/education

Cinderella: Libretto and Production Information Game: Connect the Opera Terms Philadelphia’s Academy of Music Broad Street: Avenue of the Arts Acting the LIBRETTO Cinderella: Inside the Music Cinderella: Synopsis Meet the Artists Introducing Lawrence Brownlee Cinderella LIBRETTO Game: Cinderella Crossword Puzzle

1420 Locust Street, Suite 210 Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. 19102

dwcreedon@phila.k12.pa.us

1.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.8, 1.5,

1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 2.1, 1.8,

1.6 1.6, 1.6 1.6 1.8, 1.8, 1.8, 1.8, 2.2, 7.3,

9.2

9.1, 7.3, 9.1, 9.1, 2.5, 9.1,

9.2 9.1, 9.2 9.2 9.2 3.7 9.2

Careers Careers in the Arts Active Learning in the Creative Arts

1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 6.1, 6.4, 9.2 1.4, 1.6, 9.1, 9.2

Glossary

1.1, 9.2

Design