Cendrillon

"Recording of the week: Lindsey's dusky mezzo is the perfect foil to de Niese's brighter sound, particularly crucial in the glorious love-duets ... The other knock-out performance comes from Armenian soprano Nina Minasyan, whose ravishingly sung, unusually sassy Fairy Godmother all but steals the show ... In the pit, John Wilson works miracles too, keeping a score which can easily seem stodgy and overblown light on its feet without ever short-changing or apologising for the music's heart-on-sleeve sentimentality".

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"This DVD presents a staging by the renowned director/actress Fiona Shaw, whose work I have long been impressed with. Unfortunately for Cendrillon Ms Shaw misses the mark in an extremely disappointing production ... Among the cast Danielle de Niese is a winning Cendrillon. Her enchanting stage presence is the emotional core of this performance ... The other standout on this DVD is the glamorous portrayal of the Fairy Godmother by Nina Minasyan. Her voice gleams like fine crystal as she executes the diaphanous music Massenet wrote for this role ... John Wilson seems to have found a nice approach to this multi-faceted score; his direction of the orchestra and chorus is a distinct pleasure. If he were to concentrate more of his time in the field of French music he could well become the go-to conductor for the French repertoire for the future".

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"Laurent Pelly's production balances charm with caricature ... This exaggeration threatens to overpower the fairy tale ... Massenet's score is full of charm ... Casting is strong ... Joyce DiDonato in a performance teeming with star quality ... Alice Coote convincing ... Bertrand de Billy leads a highly sympathetic reading of the score".

"As there is no wholly recommendable recording of Cendrillon on CD, a new DVD release is welcome ... Insofar as there is any weakness here, it lies with Laurent Pelly's production ... The sets consist of the open pages of a giant book and disappointingly little else ... Happy, the cast is a strong one. Joyce DiDonato brings star quality to the title-role, touching the heart ... As the prince we have Alice Coote in simply stunning form, pouring out a stream of molten mezzo ardour ... Bertrand de Billy's sparkling style makes him an ideal conductor for Massenet and he obtains first-rate orchestral playing".

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or" - "Cette Cendrillon a fait aussi les beaux soirs de Covent Garden où elle a été filmée".

"Bereit für ein wenig Psychoanalyse? In Fiona Shaws Glyndebourne-Produktion [von Cendrillon]... gibt es genug Hinweise auf Träume, um Siegmund Freud schlaflose Nächte zu bereiten. Doch das auf die Couch gelegte urbane Märchen-Update erfüllt trotzdem jede Menge Musikwünsche ... Die lyrisch fein und charmant singende Danielle de Niese pellt sich aus einer Art Leichensack, um in grosser Robe zum Prinzenfest zu schreiten ... Der hier von einem Mezzo, der wunderbaren Kate Lindsey, gesungene Prinz ist nicht nur ein ebenfalls noch unreifer Jüngling, er taucht bereits früher als Dienstmädchen auf ... Zumal auch John Wilson mit dem London Philharmonic Orchestra für samtig glitzernde, irreal funkelnde Klänge sorgt. Ein kostbar rarer Operndiamant wird hier zum Strahlen gebracht".