AN OPERETTA FOR STUDENTS? “CINDERELLA” BY PAULINE VIARDOT

The article is devoted to the operetta “Cinderella”, created by the famous singer Pauline Viardot (1821–1910) in the late period of her career. The operetta based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault was first performed in 1904 in a music salon in Paris by young vocalists who were Viardot's students. The article describes the history of the operetta's creation, presents unique photographs that captured the first performers during rehearsal work. An analysis of the collected information about the operetta revealed a number of problems related to 1) the genre definition of the operetta, created for staging in the atmosphere of a music salon, and not on a theater stage; 2) the specificity of exclusively piano accompaniment. An analysis of the most indicative vocal numbers in the parts of Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother, Count Barigul showed that Viardot approached their writing with a deep understanding of the nature of the human voice, as a teacher creating brilliant teaching material for her students. At the same time, it would be a mistake to perceive the operetta “Cinderella” exclusively as a “guide for vocalists”. It has all the qualities inherent in the works of masters and deserves attention from modern theater directors and vocal teachers.