''La Cenicienta'' (''Cinderella'') is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in three acts composed by

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an artist Jorge Peña Hen (1928–1973), to a libretto by the Chilean author, Oscar Jara Azocar (1910–1988). This opera is one of the few operas in the world composed with the aim to be sung, acted and played exclusively by children. It was written in 1966 and played by Jorge Peña Hen's first Symphonic Orchestra of Children at the Theater of the Girls Public School in La Serena, a city in the northern region of

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...

. In 1967, a production of ''La Cenicienta'' went on a tour through several cities in Chile:

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

, Viña del Mar, Concepción and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, the capital. Its debut was considered a great success. In 1986, a new version of this children's opera was played in Colombia. In 1998, 25 years after Jorge Peña Hen's assassination by Chile's military coup officials, another version was re-made in La Serena. In 2004, a new staging by Fondazione Teatro La Fenice, and in 2005 by University of Chile's Theatre in Santiago, Chile. The plot of the opera is based on Charles Perrault's classic fairy tale ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

''.

Sources

*''Il Giornale del Friuli Libero'' (April 16, 2010)
"15 e 16 aprile, Venezia. Rappresentazione teatrale ''La Cenicienta'' (Cenerentola)"
*Pugliaro, Giorgio ed. (2005)
''Opera 2005. Annuario dell'opera lirica in Italia''
EDT srl, p. 299. *''Universia Chile'' (August 14, 2004)
"En la Universidad de Chile estrenan documental 'Jorge Peña Hen: su música y los niños'"
Operas by Jorge Peña Hen Spanish-language operas Children's operas Operas Operas based on fairy tales Operas based on works by Charles Perrault Works based on Cinderella 1966 operas {{opera-stub