Although this opera very much resembles the traditional Cinderella story, there are no mice turned into horses or pumpkins becoming a coach. No magic in the story can make it seem a bit more realistic than the normal story of the girl who lost her shoe at the ball.
The character who resembles Cinderella is named Angelina. Her two ugly step sisters are named Clorinda and Tisbe. In this version of the story, the Prince temporarily trades places with his valet. The Prince dresses as the valet and plays the role of a valet while the true valet dresses as the Prince. The goal of the Prince is to find a woman who will love him for himself rather than for his position in life.
Playing the role of the Prince, the valet offers one of the sisters the chance to marry him and the other sister the chance to marry the man who appears to be the valet. Both sisters reject the offer.
Angelina tells the valet, dressed as the Prince, that she is in love with the man dressed as the valet.
It's a heart-warming story for the fairy-tale lovers.
