The dream of a better life

Gioacchino Rossini’s opera Cinderella is a real bel canto gem with very beautiful music. The plot is based on the well-known fairy tale of good and evil. Here, the story gets an absurd and comical twist when director Erik Söderblom creates a playfully surreal world that has clear points of contact with our time.

In a humorous way, today’s obsession with appearance is mirrored, where people in the fashion world and social media present distorted beauty ideals.

Cinderella lives with her brutal father and two evil stepsisters who exploit her as a maid. In order to survive, Cinderella indulges in daydreams about a better life. And the dream actually comes true when a spoiled and somewhat confused prince, looking for someone to marry, sets the intrigue in motion and shakes up the family considerably.

A special shoe is involved in the game and before the story is over, the person who was at the bottom of the social ladder can suddenly find themselves at the top.

Reviews from Malmö Opera’s tour autumn 2025

“Cinderella impresses – it doesn’t get any better than that”
”… What happens is that the format of the performance perfectly expresses the story that is conveyed. It is opera as a uniquely intimate theatre experience that is rooted and communicates in everything.”
– Mattias Gejrot, Ystads Allehanda

“It’s rare to have so much fun with an opera performance”
“The soloists deserve a lot of praise throughout, both for the resilient and lively acting, fully on a par with that of a voice actor, and the mostly well-sounding singing, especially by the three coloratura sopranos.”
– Lars-Erik Larsson, Skånska Dagbladet

Cinderella is a co-production between Norrlandsoperan and Malmö Opera. Photo: Jenny Baumgartner.