Department of Music Presents

La Sierra University’s Department of Music will present a production of Cinderella by Pauline Viardot, on May 3 (Saturday), May 4 (Sunday) and May 10 (Saturday), at Hole Memorial Auditorium, on the La Sierra University campus. The Saturday performances will be at 8 p.m., while the Sunday matinee will be at 2:30 p.m. Tickets, sold at the door, are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors.

Local elementary and high schools are invited to bring their students to a free presentation of the program’s dress rehearsal, scheduled for Friday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m.  Contact the Department of Music for more information, 951-785-2036.
  
The role of Cinderella will be shared between two accomplished and experienced La Sierra University students, sopranos, Rrian Patterson and Clarissa Shan. 

LSU alumnus Nathan Hatley, tenor, will sing the role of Prince Charming. 

Guest artist, professional tenor Daniel Babcock, will perform the role of Barigoule.  He has already sung the other tenor role in Viardot's Cendrillon (Prince Charming) in Lyric Opera of Los Angeles' 2004 production.  Mr. Babcock has soloed with the Pacific Chorale, singing in venues like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Hall.

The production is costumed by The Enchanted Attic (San Bernardino), and the production is being supported through a grant from the Riverside Opera Guild

The story of Cinderella has inspired many artists. There is the famous musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rossini's delightful comic masterpiece La Cenerentola and Massenet's beautiful fairy-tale Cendrillon, which La Sierra University Department of Music produced in 2003-2004.

“While the story is the familiar one, this production has a few twists,” says Aram Barsamian, director of the upcoming production. “Just as Rossini introduced the new character of Dandini in La Cenerentola, Pauline Viardot introduces Count Barigoule.  Prince Charming I wants to find a woman who will love him for himself, and not for his title or crown.  So, he devises a plan in which his friend, Count Barigoule, disguises himself as the prince, and the prince assumes the identity of a beggar and, later, of the prince's valet.  The Count takes every opportunity to make the most of his single-day reign.  While the wicked stepsisters are busy trying to impress Barigoule, whom they think is the prince; Cinderella falls in love with the lowly valet, unaware that he is really Prince Charming.  With the help of the Fairy Godmother, in the end everything works out beautifully - of course!”

Pauline Viardot is a famous mezzo-soprano and daughter of the "father of vocal pedagogy," Manuel Garcia.  So, this opera gives the story a female perspective.  Second, this is no "grand opera", with a huge chorus and a 50-piece orchestra.  Rather, it is a "salon" opera, a chamber opera, written to be performed in a large living room, with piano accompaniment. 

“It is a charming, intimate, comic work, full of wit, energy, and gorgeous, lively romantic music,” Basarmain says. “It is a real gem of a piece and I am very happy to have the opportunity to share it with our audiences.”

Pauline Viardot cleverly built into the opera a moment for "entertainment" at the ball - where the guests at the ball entertain each other by singing their favorite songs and arias, as is the custom with operettas like Die Fledermaus.  Rather than presenting a mere concert of solos, our "entertainment" will be the presentation of a gorgeous scene from Rimsky-Korsakov's fairy-tale opera, The Snow Maiden.  Pauline Viardot was an important advocate of Russian music and culture in the West, so it is fitting that the entertainment at the ball be a beautiful Russian scene.

Both Cinderella and The Snow Maiden will be performed in their original languages - French and Russian, respectively - with English translations projected on a screen above the stage, so the audience will not miss a single word!

For more information about the Cinderella production, contact the Department of Music at 951-785-2036.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)