Search - Prokofiev, Previn, Lso :: Prokofiev: Cinderella - Ballet In Three Acts [Highlights]

CINDERELLA IN A GLORIOUS MELANCHOLY NUTSHELL

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 07/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those not wanting the entire Cinderella ballet, the "suites," or highlights, derived by Prokofiev from Acts 1-3 will fill the gap nicely, and so will this superb recording. First released by EMI in 1983, then 1987, and generated now to this 1992 reissue, the decision to maintain Previn's account is a wise one. The conductor's grasp on the music is undeniably persuasive and hypnotic, obvious at once from the heartfelt Introduction, and never fails to garner delight by its fresh immediacy, attention to piquant orchestration and detail, and genuine sense of atmosphere. This is, easily, Prokofiev at his most nostalgic, vulnerable and alluringly melancholy. As the episodes unfold, under Previn, each becomes a marvelous individual "sound picture," yet a distinct part of the integral whole; the conductor quite literally sweeps us away by the sheer inevitability and existential humanism of it all. The London Symphony Orchestra is in fine fettle, as well, luxuriating in the myriad emotional dreamscapes envisioned by Prokofiev, all evocatively captured by EMI engineers.[Running time: 70:58]"