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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Standard Recording, November 11, 2004
This review is from: Prokofiev: Cinderella / Summer Night Suite, Opp. 87,123 (Audio CD)
Recordings of the complete Cinderella ballet are few, so this recording filled a big gap in the record catalog. I was familiar with the ballet from an excellent old LP recording put out by Angel/Melyodia. This recording by the Russian National Symphony became my replacement, and it is a very worthy successor. The ballet was written during 1941 but was not completed until after World War II. The orchestration is not as opulent as Romeo and Juliet, closer in spirit to Tchaikovsky's ballets. The most famous music is the Cinderella waltz, which is often included on Prokofiev recordings as filler. But make no mistakes; this ballet is filled with wonderful and unforgettable melodies. Cinderella was performed on November 21, 1945 to great acclaim. However, the popularity of the ballets follows in the wake of Romeo. The recording also includes a suite from the comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery going under the name Summer Night. It is a charming 5 movement suite that contains all of the best music from the opera. It makes a wonderful addition to the CD set. This recording could not be better and has been named by Gramophone magazine as among its specially recommended essential recordings. Mikhail Pletnev does a superb job as conductor and the recording is clear and well-balanced. Tempos are excellent throughout the recording and the Russian National responds beautifully to the demands of the music's color and shading. The booklet accompanying the record includes a synopsis of the action and a track by track explanation of the action. This recording is a must have for anyone interested in Prokofiev's music and in ballet music.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A glossy performance that never catches fire, September 23, 2005
This review is from: Prokofiev: Cinderella / Summer Night Suite, Opp. 87,123 (Audio CD)
I have never been convinced that the pianist-turned-conductor Mikhail Pletnev was first rate. He belongs with Barenboim, Ashkenazy, and Rostropovich among great musicians who aren't to the manner born on the podium. Everything in this Cinderella is well executed, but the passion, wit, and sardonic point of the music is mostly missed. If only it didn't sound so glib. Ashkenzy is better on Decca, but we are still waiting for a cincerella performed as well as the best versions of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, his masterpiece in ballet form.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
3-Star "Cinderella," 5-Star "Summer Night", February 18, 2012
This review is from: Prokofiev: Cinderella / Summer Night Suite, Opp. 87,123 (Audio CD)
The orchestra is wonderful, which is why I eagerly tried to listen in spite of so many dances being slowed down. Unfortunately, I grew tired of a sort of forced enjoyment due to the tempos in one passage after another that ought to be much faster. Pletnev stays at what I would consider rehearsal tempos time and again. When he chooses to speed up to what is considered standard tempo, the orchestra plays tightly wound and tuneful. There are times when the slower tempo, matched with a delicacy in the orchestra, is actually able to lighten up Prokofiev's heavy orchestrations. It certainly isn't necessary, but since this music is supposed to represent a fairy tale, it has a tendency to actually work now and again. Being less familiar with "Summer Night Suite," I can say that the lighter touch works much better. Beyond that -- and I don't know if it was deliberate on Pletnev's part -- the final movement of the suite has an almost latin type of rhythm underneath. It is written in simple triple meter and subdivided triplets, but with various instruments employed, the overall effect is more mysterious at a softer dynamic level, and lends itself to a bit more fanciful listening. (Well, that's what I do when I listen to it, anyway.) If you don't mind or actually prefer to hear numerous parts of the ballet slowed down, you should be satisfied with the playing here.
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