Cinderella and I Rusteghi, two of the most acclaimed comedy shows of the last season of Bucharest National Opera, were presented to the public within the conference held on Tuesday, 27 March, at the "Vito Grasso" Italian Cultural Institute in the capital. Why were right these titles chosen? Of course, the fact that both belong to Italian composers - to Gioacchino Rossini, respectively to Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, but also the setting in a modern director's vision - were the common features of the mentioned shows. In front of the participants in the interactive conference there were outstanding representatives of the Bucharest National Opera: Cătălin Ionescu-Arbore, General Director of the institution and scenographer of the two productions, and two of the artists who are included in the distribution of the Cinderella show: mezzo-soprano Antonela Bârnat- the performer of the role of Tisbe, the step-sister of the protagonist and the baritone Şerban Vasile - the performer of the character of Dandini.

A Dialogue with the Performers about their Characters

They talked about Rossini's characters which were born - according to Cătălin Ionescu-Arbore -from the writing of the Italian composer - characters with a simplicity both charming and comic, about the collaboration with the Austrian director Peter Pawlik, but also about the scenographic measures, taken in order to create the framework of the action of the shows - for example, in I Rusteghi, the Venetian landscape is rendered through a water pool. The mezzo-soprano Antonela Bârnat and the baritone Şerban Vasile interpreted - with the accompaniment of the pianist Ioana Maxim - excerpts from the music of Rossini's show, providing explanations on the presented pages at the same time. At the end of the conference, the artists of the Bucharest Opera invited those present in the hall at the following performances of the shows: Cinderella can be watched on Saturday, 31 March and I Rusteghi - on 6 April.