Our Summer BAL: 8 Prokofiev's Cinderella

[verismissimo]

Full of wonderful music. Not so frequently performed as Romeo and Juliet.

Which is the finest performance?

[amateur51]

Full of wonderful music. Not so frequently performed as Romeo and Juliet.

Which is the finest performance?I got to know it when Matthew Bourne's Adventures in Motion Pictures dance company did a version infused with the film Brief Encounter - possibly a bit too clever for its own good? I was in funds in those days & so I bunged £500 into the show, of which I saw £25 by way of return. Not even Lynn Seymour could save me :doh:

In spite of that I still love the music and have the LSO/Previn version which suits me fine :ok::smiley:

[verismissimo]

I've had the Melodiya Moscow Radio/Rozhdestvensky recording from 1966 for years. Acquired in Wellington NZ in the 1980s for $5NZ I see. It was issued there on World Record Club, licenced to HMV.

Have always loved it, but it's quite clicky now, so time for something new, please!

[LeMartinPecheur]

I too have the EMI LSO/Previn twofer and know no other versions. It sounds fine to me.

[Brassbandmaestro]

Didn't Ashkenazy do one?

[verismissimo]

BBM - there's a DVD from Ashkenazy - Monte Carlo dancers, Cleveland Orchestra. Wonder if they ever met?

[verismissimo]

There are less alternatives than I'd imagined. Leaving aside the recordings of suites from the ballet, these appear to be the main runners:

LSO/Previn
Cleveland/Ashkenazy
Russian National/Pletnev
Cologne Radio/M Jurowski
USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky
Bolshoi Theatre Orch/???
St Louis/Slatkin

And there a 2-piano recording by Argerich and Pletnev.

[Bryn]

To my considerable surprise, the Rozhdestvensky set of Prokofiev Ballets seems already to be hard to find. It's only a year or two since the Melodiya CD set was re-released.

[makropulos]

To my considerable surprise, the Rozhdestvensky set of Prokofiev Ballets seems already to be hard to find. It's only a year or two since the Melodiya CD set was re-released.

Hm. That's a shame. In that case, I think I'd probably go for the version by Vlad's father - the Mikhail Jurowski set on CPO.

[HighlandDougie]

I can't vouch for it being better (or worse) than other recordings, interpretation-wise, but Pletnev is very well recorded - and well-played, too. If I'm going to listen to Cinderella, it's the version I choose, rather than Previn or Ashkenazy which are also lurking on my shelves. I've never heard it but I can imagine that Rozhdestvensky should be good. I will also now investigate Jurowski père.

[Bryn]

The Rhozdestvensky set is still available, but it now costs around twice or more what I paid for it when it reappeared. For instance:

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/product/product.asp?prod=MELCD1000909&affiliatecode=Froogle&utm_source=MELCD1000909&utm_medium=Froogle&utm_campaign=Froogle

[verismissimo]

I see that the Rozhdestvensky version that I have on LP with the Moscow Radio SO is available on MP3:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prokofiev-Cinderella-Ballet-Three-Acts/dp/B003K4TTGY

Otherwise it's off the market.

[Brassbandmaestro]

BBM - there's a DVD from Ashkenazy - Monte Carlo dancers, Cleveland Orchestra. Wonder if they ever met?

Ah right. Thank you verissimo. I am sure he did a cd recording for Decca?