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Massenet: Cendrillon (Cinderella)
Chorus Director John McCarthy
Massenet: Cendrillon (Cinderella)
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #2

Massenet's version of the Cinderella story is one of his most delectable scores, and it has found the perfect interpreter in the young Frederica von Stade, here singing so sweetly and appealingly that you want to reach thr...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Chorus Director John McCarthy
Title: Massenet: Cendrillon (Cinderella)
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: CBS
Release Date: 10/25/1990
Album Type: Box set
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera & Classical Vocal
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 074643519427

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Massenet's version of the Cinderella story is one of his most delectable scores, and it has found the perfect interpreter in the young Frederica von Stade, here singing so sweetly and appealingly that you want to reach through the speakers and give her a hug. Ruth Welting's high-flying fairy is another plus. There's only one problem with this set, and that is that some goof decided to cast a tenor as the prince, instead of the sort of lyric mezzo for whom the role was written; even Nicolai Gedda can't pull this one off properly. Buy it anyway, for von Stade and the rest of the cast. --Sarah Bryan Miller

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CD Reviews

A Must-Have for Opera Lovers
Edward C. Pazicky | Port Charlotte, Florida USA | 07/02/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Massenet's beautiful lyrical opera is recorded here with an unequalled cast. VonStade is absolutely delightful, Ruth Welting is absolutely enchanting; her coloratura is unparalelled in all of opera and her career should have gone on forever. Gedda, while miscast, is exceptional in the role of the prince. The recording is a must for any opera lovers' collection."
Pure magic
John Cragg | Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada | 06/07/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a marvellous recording. Frederica von Stade floats the title role in exquisite detail, passage after passage sounding just right, with a French style and clarity that puts most native French singers to shame. Even the boring bits (and it would not be 19th c. French opera without long boring stretchs where one can catch up on gossip without loss) become exciting when she is involved. The Philharmonia and Ambrosian Chorus under Julius Rudel are also at their best, and since both have a lot of work, this is a real plus. While Nicolai Gedda is not a soprano, I am more sympathetic to the transposition than many listeners, and he does sing very stylishly, though I suppose he was in his 50's when this was recorded. Jules Bastien makes up for lack of beautiful tone by a characterful performance and Jane Barbie is a delight. But it is von Stade that puts this one into orbit. It is now my favorite Massenet recording. And overall it makes a very stong version of the fairy tale."
Forgotten Masterpiece
Max | Scarborough, Ontario Canada | 04/22/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike the reviewer above, I didn't mind Nicoloi Gedda as the prince, but then I have never heard another recording of this opera. So far as I can make out there has never been another one; in the latter 20th-century it appears to have been produced only once (the production that led to this recording). Apparently it was written in a style that went out of vogue shortly after the first production--in 1902 I think (which, incidentally, was highly successful)--as a result of which this gem has been horribly neglected. If you like the samples that Amazon offers, rest assured that the entire score is just as good, or better, than what you heard here."