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Recommended recording:
Russian National Orchestra / Mikhail Pletnev (DG 445 830 - 2) (2CDs)
Cinderella is generally viewed as lightweight Prokofiev, charming and tuneful, to be sure, but a kind of Peter and The Wolf take to the dance floor. It is, admittedly, a fairy-tale ballet. But it has a dark side, with ominous waltzes and midnight clocks striking, and that dark side is far removed from anything found in the composer's children's music. Most conductors don't play up the grimmer elements of the score, though. Previn (EMI) and Ashkenazy (London), while taking their own individual routes through the score, end up emphasizing the sweeter, lyrical side of the music. Previn is symphonic and massive, while Ashkenazy is balletic and propulsive.
Unfortunately, Pletnev does not break from tradition in his new DG recording. His is a sprightly reading, alert to the lyricism, all right, but overlooking some of the mischief and darkness. Still, he makes a good case for his approach, with consistently lively phrasing and scrupulous attention to detail from an orchestra responsive to his demands. I do wish, however, that the Amoroso, the closing number and the highlight of the work, were taken at a slightly slower pace. Most of his tempo choices, though, are quite judicious, and the listener is apt to hear more of the score here than in any other recording. Of course, Pletnev is abetted by superb sonics from DG's 4D sound process.
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, in a recent re-release (Consonance), manages to capture more mischief and melancholy than anybody else, but is hampered somewhat by mid-sixties Soviet sonics, which usually showcased blaring brass and shrill strings, serving to grate more on the nerves than to please the ears. (A plethora of mostly brazen-sounding, brass-dominated Prokofiev recordings streamed out thirty years ago on the Melodiya/Angel label). The sound here is better than average from that source, but still not up to today's standards. And Rozhdestvensky also short-changes the lyrical side of the music, caught so well by Pletnev.
All in all, then, this is a welcome release, not least because it also offers a performance of Summer Night, a suite taken from Prokofiev's opera, Betrothal In A Monastery, based on Sheridan's play, The Duenna. It is a delightful work, which, while not scaling the heights of other Prokofiev orchestral suites (those from Romeo and Juliet, for instance), is a first-class treat, especially in its infectious opening and obsessive closing numbers. Pletnev's reading marginally surpasses the slightly sluggish Jarvi's on Chandos, his only other competition on CD.
Written by Robert Cummings
Table of Contents for Sergei Prokofiev Website
Copyright © 1996 Robert Cummings (rcumming@csrlink.net)
