Created in 1904, Cendrillon is the last opera by Pauline Viardot, a leading figure in French musical life in the second half of the 19th century. Emblematic of the“salon operas” of that era, when much of the creative output was linked to the effervescent world of Parisian high society, Cendrillon was originally written for seven singers, accompanied only by piano. For this new production, la co[opéra]tive invited composer Jérémie Arcache to write an adaptation of the work for a chamber ensemble of four instrumentalists, retaining the lines of the original score while giving it new colors.

A luminous variation on Perrault’s tale, Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon makes the heroine’s fate more realistic and human, without altering the wonder of the story. The evil stepmother is replaced by a sad and melancholic stepfather,who is distraught and abandons his daughter to the wickedness of her two stepsisters. The magic of the glass slipper gives way to a Prince who searches for his soul mate, going from house to house dressed as a beggar. The fairy is none other than Cinderella’s grandmother, who still has the power to transform a simple pumpkin into a carriage, of course.

David Lescot delicately captures the magic of the fairy tale, using theatrical tricks to conjure up a carriage from a pumpkin, while suggesting both through his writing and staging the twists and turns of this story, which also reflects social reality and human existence.