283:– but her Fée was even better. The album's other three women were all good too, with Teresa Cahill and Elizabeth Bainbridge "sprightly" as Cendrillon's stepsisters and Jane Berbié bringing out all the comical villainy of their mother. The set's male principals were less successful. As Cendrillon's father, Jules Bastin was "sympathetic and idiomatic" but occasionally unreliable in pitch. Nicolai Gedda's reading of Prince Charming was uncomfortably "strenuous", but was defective more fundamentally simply because of his being a man. His musicianship and command of French could not make up for the fact that Massenet had scored the Prince for a mezzo, not a tenor. The Philharmonia Orchestra played as well as they knew how, and Julius Rudel conducted the score "lovingly, appreciative of both its many delicacies and its romantic heart". The album was the finest in his entire discography. Its audio quality was mostly satisfactory – "a little too recessed" but also "spacious and atmospheric", with neither voices nor instruments allowed undue prominence. The opera itself was "imbued with warmth, ingenuity and charming colours", a score offering craftsmanship, magic, gossamer, erotic passion and Massenet "at his most bewitching".
300:. Jane Berbié was "capital" as Mme de la Haltière, and Teresa Cahill and Elizabeth Bainbridge "harmonize prettily" as her daughters, none of them being obliged to perpetrate any Despina-like grotesquery in the interest of comic effect. Jules Bastin's Pandolfe was likeable and well drawn but sung in a voice that was rather dry. Vocal limitations were also an issue with the distinctly mature Nicolai Gedda. He could not sing with the glow, flexibility and ring that had been his fifteen years earlier, but his chivalrous Prince Charming was still an asset to the set. The orchestra presented Massenet's ball, march and pantomime music with "charm, dash and emphasis", and Julius Rudel's conducting achieved a laudable precision of ensemble. The album's engineering was exquisite. A star-bright recording of a "colourful, inventive, sparkling" score, the album had recovered a forgotten work that eminently deserved its revival.
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injunctions and her whole-hearted involvement in the part". She was entirely at home in
Massenet's "enchanting, light-fingered" style, and expressed every chapter of Cendrillon's story, both sorrowful and joyous, with equal eloquence. Ruth Welting was no less impressive as Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. She sang her glitteringly high music with "not a note misplaced and every one struck truly and accurately". She had been an accomplished Philine in CBS's recording of
685:
synopsis in French by Gérard Condé, an essay in
English by Barrymore Laurence Scherer, an essay in German by Karl Dietrich Gräwe and production photographs by Clive Barda of Bastin, Berbié, Gedda, Rudel, von Stade, Welting and the orchestra. The booklet also offered several images of Massenet, his score, a poster advertising the opera's première and illustrations of the opera's story.
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conducting for resisting the temptation to lapse into an excess of sentimentality. The audio quality of the album he branded disquietingly boomy. The opera itself he thought good in parts, mocking its court scenes as pedestrian but acknowledging the "sprinkling of fairy dust over so much of the rest" as "pure magic".
357:
Pandolfe and even
Nicolai Gedda deserved a word of praise. Purists might object to a tenor's usurping the role of a mezzo, but Gedda had sung "with such ardour" that O'Connor was won over. Julius Rudel had conducted with "a nice feeling for Massenet's gentle sensuality". The album's one fault was miserly packaging.
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named the album as one of its "Best
Recordings of the Month". In December 1979, Alan Blyth included the album in his "Critic's Choice" list of the best recordings of the year: "I cannot imagine a more appropriate Christmas present than CBS's delightful recording of the composer's light-fingered score
268:
in July 1979. The only negative thing that he could find to say about
Frederica von Stade's performance of the opera's title role was that she was a mezzo singing music conceived for a soprano. She was "utterly delightful in her portrayal of vulnerability, in her attention to Massenet's many musical
295:
in
September 1979. Frederica von Stade, he wrote, "was evidently born to play ... Cinderella. She has a very special kind of voice: a soprano with a luscious downward extension and all of a seamless piece". Her singing was like "an unbroken stream of whipped cream". Ruth Welting was "scintillating"
139:
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In 1989, CBS Masterworks issued the album as a double CD (catalogue numbers M2K 35194 in North
America, M2K 79323 elsewhere) in a clamshell box with a 148-page booklet. The latter provided libretti in English, French and German, notes and a synopsis in English by Michael Williamson, notes and a
356:
in the 1970s and 1980s, he affirmed that "her singing of the title role remains one of the best things she has ever done". Unusually, he had a similarly high opinion of all the album's other principal soloists too. Ruth
Welting was "delightful" as the Fairy Godmother, Jules Bastin was "fine" as
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colleagues, he found Ruth
Welting's Fairy Godmother "a touch edgy", but he was at one with them in his bemusement that CBS had allotted Prince Charming to the "hard-pressed" tenor of Nicolai Gedda instead of the "elegant female pantomime boy" of Massenet's wishes. He approved Julius Rudel's
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tailor-made for her. Ruth
Welting, too, was "accomplished", but both Jules Bastin and Nicolai Gedda were disappointing. Bastin lacked the "finesse and vocal elegance" for Pandolfe, and Gedda was doubly disqualified from singing Prince Charming by his considerable years and his not being the
310:
in September 1989. Frederica von Stade, he wrote, was a "touchingly beautiful" Cinderella. "The sadness that her voice expresses so well has its place in some of the most exquisite of Massenet's solos, and many of her phrases have a specially memorable loveliness". The role could have been
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mezzo-soprano that Massenet had intended. The album's chorus and orchestra were both excellent, the Ambrosians singing with unimpeachable technique and dramaturgical imagination and the Philharmonia making the most of Massenet's fresh, animated score.
680:
In 1979, CBS Masterworks released the album as a triple LP (catalogue numbers M3 35194 in North America, 79323 elsewhere) with a booklet containing notes, texts and translations. The album was not released on cassette.
237:
The covers of the LP edition and the first CD edition of the album share the same design, prepared under the art direction of Allen Weinberg, featuring a photograph of von Stade as Cendrillon taken by Valerie Clement.
213:
The album presents the opera with only one small cut, but deviates from Massenet's score in casting Prince Charming as a tenor rather than as a soprano. The album was the first recording of the opera ever undertaken.
320:
was, Steane promised, "a most delightful web of moonshine choruses, pastoral woodwind, coloratura filigree, wistful sentiment and neat comedy", and readers should not miss the opportunity to hear it for themselves.
483:
20 (1:47) "O la suprenante aventure" / "O la décevante aventure" (Crowd, Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée, Pandolfe, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Master of Ceremonies, Prime Minister, King)
340:
s 2000 Awards issue. "Who could resist Frederica von Stade's ethereal Cinderella", he asked, "as she falls in love at the ball with the words, 'Vous êtes mon Prince Charmant!'?" Unlike his
374:
with Frederica von Stade as a tender, pathetic Cinderella, Ruth Welting as an airy Fairy and idiomatic conducting from Julius Rudel, so responsive to Massenet's delicate scoring".
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19 (2:09) The Rigaudon of the King (Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Master of Ceremonies, Prime Minister, Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée, Pandolfe)
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12 (4:59) "Que les doux pensers" (Master of Ceremonies, Courtiers, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Doctors, Prime Minister)
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as the Fairy Godmother, sounding like a kindly, mirror-universe version of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's
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198:
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3 (4:49) "Lorsqu'on a plus de vingt quartiers" (Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée, Pandolfe, Lucette)
264:
352:
in October 2003. Recalling how Frederica von Stade had taken part in several theatrical productions of
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170:
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12 (5:36) "Posez dans son écrin" (Prince, Crowd, King, Fairy, Lucette, Pandolfe, Mme de la Haltière)
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In 2003, Sony reissued the album as a repackaged double CD (catalogue number SM2K 91178).
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6 (2:43) "Madame. ce sont les modistes" (Servants, Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée)
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7 (4:25) "Félicitez-moi donc" (Pandolfe, Noémie, Dorothée, Mme de la Haltière)
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Richard Fairman included the album in a survey of the Massenet discography in
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5 (1:14) "Prenez un maintien gracieux" (Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée)
251:
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10 (5:09) "Avancez! Reculez!" (Mme de la Haltière, Herald, Lucette, Crowd)
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4 (2:31) "Faites-vous très belle" (Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée)
222:
The album was recorded using analogue technology on 14–24 June 1978 in
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7 (10:13) "À deux genoux" / "Je viens à vous" (Lucette, Prince, Fairy)
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2 (1:24) "C'est vrai" (Mme de la Haltière, Noémie, Dorothée, Pandolfe)
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323:
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41:
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9 (3:34) "Ah! Ouvre ta porte" (Young Girls, Lucette, Pandolfe)
255:
Jules Massenet portrayed by Jules Clément Chaplain (1839–1909)
577:(mezzo-soprano), Madame de la Haltière, stepmother of Lucette
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15 (2:24) 1st entrance: the daughters of the nobility (Crowd)
443:
9 (4:36) "Ah! Douce enfant" (Fairy, Spirits, Elves, Lucette)
559:(mezzo-soprano), Lucette, nicknamed Cendrillon (Cinderella)
465:
14 (1:40) Entrance of the King and the Court (King, Crowd)
737:, cond. Julius Rudel, CBS Masterworks CD, M2K 79323, 1989
449:
11 (4:11) "Enfin, je connaître" (Lucette, Fairy, Spirits)
817:, cond. Julius Rudel, CBS Masterworks LP, M3 35194, 1979
348:
Patrick O'Connor reviewed the album on a reissued CD in
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Teresa Cahill (soprano), Noémie, stepsister of Lucette
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4 (5:32) "Ma pauvre enfant chérie" (Pandolfe, Lucette)
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8 (7:28) "Ah! Que mes sœurs sont heureuses!" (Lucette)
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830:, cond. Julius Rudel, CBS Masterworks LP, 79323, 1979
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Christian du Plessis (baritone), Master of Ceremonies
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2 (2:23) "On appelle, on sonne!" (Servants, Pandolfe)
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Paul Crook (tenor), Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
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10 (3:56) "Pour en faire un tissu" (Fairy, Spirits)
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516:6 (7:33) "Ah! Fugitives chimères" (Fairy, Spirits)
486:21 (8:40) "Toi qui m'es apparue" (Prince, Lucette)
586:(mezzo-soprano), Dorothée, stepsister of Lucette
843:, cond. Julius Rudel, Sony CD, SM2K 91178, 2003
529:8 (5:04) "O pauvre enfant!" (Pandolfe, Lucette)
571:(1933–1996, bass), Pandolfe, father of Lucette
8:
462:13 (4:07) "Allez, laissez-moi seul" (Prince)
665:Vivienne H. Taylor, production co-ordinator
63:All Saints Church, Tooting Graveney, London
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29:
20:
538:11 (4:12) March of the Princesses (Crowd)
425:3 (4:29) "Du côté de la barbe" (Pandolfe)
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513:5 (6:07) "Seule, je partirai" (Lucette)
501:1 (5:52) "Enfin, je suis ici" (Lucette)
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653:Pamela Stirling, French language coach
477:18 (1:36) 4th entrance: the Florentine
703:
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607:John Noble (baritone), Prime Minister
592:(1948–1999, soprano), Fairy Godmother
401:, a fairy story), with a libretto by
328:A poster advertising the première of
281:Mignon (Antonio de Almeida recording)
169:'s opera, performed by a cast led by
18:1979 studio album by Julius Rudel
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474:17 (1:50) 3rd entrance: the Mandores
565:(1925–2017, tenor), Prince Charming
471:16 (2:17) 2nd entrance: the fiancés
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165:is a 136-minute studio album of
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35:CBS Masterworks CD: M2K 79323
637:John McCarthy, chorus master
306:reviewed the album on CD in
289:reviewed the album on LP in
262:reviewed the album on LP in
753:, September 1979, pp. 89–90
205:. It was released in 1979.
908:
779:, Awards Issue 2000, p. 50
671:Mike Ross-Trevor, engineer
224:All Saints Church, Tooting
117:Paul Myers and Ray Emerson
613:Act Two Stage Musicians:
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766:, September 1989, p. 534
598:(baritone). King, Herald
397:, Conte de Fées (1899) (
804:, December 1979, p. 969
616:Clifford Seville, flute
610:Carl Pini, first violin
201:under the direction of
882:1970s classical albums
668:Robert Auger, engineer
643:(1921–2014), conductor
633:Philharmonia Orchestra
628:Ambrosian Opera Chorus
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199:Philharmonia Orchestra
195:Ambrosian Opera Chorus
792:, October 2003, p. 91
662:Roy Emerson, producer
327:
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584:Elizabeth Bainbridge
171:Elizabeth Bainbridge
788:Patrick O' Connor,
711:, July 1979, p. 255
622:Nuala Herbert, harp
557:Frederica von Stade
365:In September 1989,
187:Frederica von Stade
143:Sony CD: SM2K 91178
619:Rusen Gunes, viola
491:Track listing: CD2
405:(1859–1937) after
378:Track listing: CD1
334:
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242:Critical reception
839:Massenet, Jules:
826:Massenet, Jules:
813:Massenet, Jules:
775:Richard Fairman,
749:George Jellinek,
733:Massenet, Jules:
657:Paul Walter Myers
181:, Teresa Cahill,
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412:1 (1:43) Prelude
407:Charles Perrault
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287:George Jellinek
271:Ambroise Thomas
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590:Ruth Welting
569:Jules Bastin
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387:(1842–1912)
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203:Julius Rudel
191:Ruth Welting
175:Jules Bastin
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46:Julius Rudel
42:Studio album
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887:1979 albums
575:Jane Berbié
338:Gramophone'
313:en travesti
179:Jane Berbié
876:Categories
841:Cendrillon
828:Cendrillon
815:Cendrillon
802:Gramophone
790:Gramophone
777:Gramophone
764:Gramophone
735:Cendrillon
709:Gramophone
692:References
659:, producer
403:Henri Caïn
399:Cinderella
393:Cendrillon
372:Cendrillon
354:Cendrillon
350:Gramophone
342:Gramophone
330:Cendrillon
318:Cendrillon
308:Gramophone
265:Gramophone
260:Alan Blyth
229:, London.
209:Background
161:Cendrillon
127:Cendrillon
24:Cendrillon
546:Personnel
496:Act Three
361:Accolades
233:Packaging
218:Recording
193:with the
524:Act Four
227:Graveney
197:and the
113:Producer
94:Language
52:Released
44: by
551:Musical
454:Act Two
417:Act One
332:in 1899
247:Reviews
852:Portal
279:– see
276:Mignon
97:French
78:Length
60:Studio
866:Opera
648:Other
103:Label
73:Opera
69:Genre
370:for
189:and
55:1979
273:'s
83:136
878::
742:^
716:^
700:^
185:,
177:,
173:,
87:33
854::
85::
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