Exeter Opera Group is performing Rossini’s La Cenerentola, a variation on Cinderella, on Saturday 18 April at St Nicholas Priory.
First staged in 1817, La Cenerentola switches the folk tale’s familiar wicked stepmother for a stepfather, the fairy godmother for a philosopher and the glass slipper for a silver bracelet. It also adds a case of mistaken identity.
In the Exeter Opera Group production, which is performed in Italian, Angelina – known as Cenerentola by her stepfamily – will be played by Iryna Ilnytska with Wendi Zhang as Don Ramiro, the prince.
Supporting roles will be performed by players including HoWang Yuen, Ian Spackman, Nick Young, Clare Northcott and Isobel Hughes.
The production, directed by Nick Lawrence with music by Stephen Moseley, will be accompanied by Tim Laurence-Othen on piano.
Exeter Opera Group, comprised of 25 singers from across Devon, gave its first performance in August 2024 with a staging of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.
The group has since performed works by Mozart, Rossini and Camille Saint-Saëns at venues including Exeter Library and St Nicholas Priory.
It has also staged Bizet’s Carmen and Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and given a fairy-tale themed concert for children.
Exeter Opera Group was founded by Iryna Ilnytska, a mezzo-soprano from Ukraine, who began studying music aged eight before performing at Kyiv Opera Studio in her teens.
In the UK, she has worked with companies including Red Earth Opera, Staircase Opera and Opera in a Box, and has performed with the Stella Maris Trio at venues in Devon and Oxfordshire.
She has given several charity concerts to raise funds for volunteers who are supporting victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Exeter Opera Group’s La Cenerentola takes place at 7pm on Saturday 18 April 2026 at St Nicholas Priory.
Tickets cost £15. For more information and to book visit the Ticketsource website.
Further performances will take place on Saturday 9 May at The Warehouse Theatre in Ilminster, Saturday 16 May at Crediton Arts Centre and Sunday 14 May at Tinners Moon Festival in Ashburton.
