By Richard Speer | For The Oregonian/OregonLive

Most of us know the Cinderella story from fairy-tale books and Disney's animated 1950 classic, but the beloved scullery maid-turned-princess is also the heroine of one of Gioachino Rossini's most brilliant operas, "La Cenerentola."

The narrative in Rossini's telling differs in some details from the Disney version -- the wicked stepmother is a stepfather, there is no fairy godmother, and instead of a glass slipper Cinderella wears a golden bracelet -- but the essence of the fable holds true: An unappreciated girl, tormented by her stepsisters, navigates a series of improbable intrigues and winds up marrying a dashing prince.

Portland Opera general director Christopher Mattaliano, stage director for the company's current production, has reached far into the past for inspiration, deploying sets based on 19th-century artist Gustave Dore's illustrations for Charles Perrault's "Cendrillon," a late 17th-century morality play. The sets, two-dimensional and limited to a largely black-and-white palette, are unobtrusive, leaving the drama and color to the characters, costumes and of course, the music.

Rossini wrote the score when he was only 25, having just scored a major triumph with his masterpiece, "The Barber of Seville." Never averse to borrowing from himself, the composer reworked a tune from the final act of "Barber" into the climax of "Cenerentola." His musical style was uniquely suited to Cinderella's trajectory, alternating between dark themes, comic touches and fast-moving passages known as coloratura: fleet runs, precipitous jumps from singers' low voices to high and intricate filigree that only the supplest vocal cords can navigate.

There's an effervescence in these prodigious volleys of notes, a glittering quality that evokes fireworks or confetti midair. The effect perfectly captures the spirit of Prince Ramiro's bravura aria, "Si, ritrovarla io giuro," which in Portland Opera's production will be dispatched by rising-star tenor Alasdair Kent. (In 2014 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, another tenor, Javier Camarena, sang the aria with such dexterity and flair, the audience demanded an ultra-rare encore, an honor granted to only two other singers at the Met -- Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Diego Florez -- in more than half a century.

In the title role, mezzo-soprano Kate Farrar gets a coloratura showpiece of her own in the opera's best-known number, "Non piu mesta," in which the newly married Cinderella forgives her stepsisters and stepfather for treating her so execrably.

To Mattaliano, the aria encapsulates the opera's central message. "This is a very emotionally impactful story," he says, "about transformation, forgiveness, and reconciliation. So even with all the virtuosity and discipline it requires of the singers, it's anchored in a story that's profoundly human and true."

That humanity, along with the lighter, decidedly un-Wagnerian voices that thrive in this repertoire, will be well-served by the production's venue. Instead of the nearly 3,000-seat Keller Auditorium, where the company stages most offerings, "La Cenerentola" will bow at the 870-seat Newmark Theatre, affording audiences a more intimate musical and dramatic experience. On Wednesday, July 25, the opera will be simulcast outside the Newmark, allowing Portlanders to watch and hear "La Cenerentola" for free.

This is the fourth production of the opera that Mattaliano has directed since the 1980s, and he admits he may prefer it to Rossini's far more frequently staged "Barber of Seville."

" 'Cenerentola' has the same high-level energy that 'Barber' does. It has the sparkle, the wit, the crazy ensembles, the wonderful Rossini crescendo, the grand finale. ... But it also has something beyond that: a heart, a glow, an emotional warmth in its core. It has the best of both worlds."

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"La Cenerentola"

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 13, Thursday, July 19, Saturday, July 21, Wednesday, July 25, and Saturday, July 28; 2 p.m. Sunday, July 15

Where: Newmark Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway

Tickets: Start at $35, portlandopera.org or 503-241-1802. The Wednesday, July 25, performance will be simulcast for free outside the Newmark.