Prokofiev: Cinderella Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Prokofiev: Cinderella Blu-ray Movie Review

A ravishing new version of a timeless fairy tale.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 12, 2011

Despite working within the confines and strictures of one of the most stultifying and repressive regimes of the 20th century, a number of major Russian composers managed, against somewhat formidable odds, to still imbue acres of their scores with a sense of playfulness, even when the underlying foundation of many of those same scores was that iconic doleful melancholy for which the Russian soul has become famous. Probably the two best examples of this odd yet triumphant proclivity are Shostakovich and Prokofiev, and most classical music aficionados would probably give Prokofiev the upper hand in this regard. Prokofiev’s music often chirps along happily, with sometimes bizarre and piquant dissonances intruding on otherwise languorously lyrical sequences. In fact a lot of Prokofiev’s music is not simply playful, it’s positively childlike, filled to the brim with a sense of wonder and surprise even as more adult ruminations like mortality and evil tend to intrude in sometimes unexpected ways. On its face, Cinderella might seem to be a rather shallow tale on which to hang a major ballet, but upon closer inspection, its many dark and disturbing elements seem more or less tailor made for a composer of Prokofiev’s protean gifts. Everything from the glory of love to the magic of grace to the evil resident in many people’s souls runs rampant in this fairy tale, and Prokofiev’s totally idiosyncratic compositional combination of vinegar and sugar is perfectly suited for this subject matter.

Prokofiev wrote his Cinderella when Russia was deep in the crisis of the German invasion during World War II. Perhaps this fairy land of fantasy, wishes coming true and good triumphing over evil was a necessary escape for a composer who had already withstood the brickbats of the Stalinist regime and managed to stay standing. In fact some of Prokofiev’s most ravishing music in any number of genres was written during the war years, as if the composer was able to drill down into heretofore unexplored depths which his muse suddenly made available during some of his country’s darkest days. Cinderella certainly echoes many of the emotional peaks and valleys which Prokofiev would also explore in his somewhat simultaneous Fifth Symphony, and that same rueful melding of hope and tragedy seems to be at the very core of both pieces.

Cinderella has been a staple of the British ballet scene at least since Frederick Ashton’s legendary 1948 version for the Royal Ballet, and indeed the ghost of Ashton hangs over this new Birmingham Royal Ballet version choreographed by David Bintley and designed by John F. MacFarlane. While Bintley’s choreography seems to deliberately eschew Ashton’s approach, specifically with regard to the importance of the pas de deux between Cinderella (Elisha Willis) and Iain Mackay (Prince Charming), in other ways the influence of Ashton simply can’t be avoided, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While the ugly stepsisters are here portrayed by women (in Ashton’s version they are usually danced by men, evidently upping the ugliness quotient by several fold), the parts are still utilized largely for comic relief and are not especially balletic. And the frog- and mouse-headed magical beasts in elegant waistcoats and pantaloons seem to have wandered in from a nearby production of Ashton’s Tales of Beatrix Potter.

In other ways, though, Bintley’s interpretation of the source material is decidedly more in tune with Prokofiev’s darker sentiments. This is a harrowing account of the Cinderella story, one which starts with the death of Cinderella’s mother and then moves quickly into outright harassment of the poor girl by her adoptive family. MacFarlane’s stage design captures all of the dark corners of the stepfamily’s hovel, shadowy nooks and crannies that aptly convey the fetid undercurrent of the original fairy tale.

The production design is in fact one of the strongest elements of this new production, with some of the most sumptuous sets and costumes in recent memory. Things obviously get off to a fairly drab start, but once we enter the world of the Fairy Godmother ( ), we’re squarely in a world of outrageous magic, with some unbelievably opulent apparel on all of the leads. Just as impressive are MacFarlane’s wonderful sets, capped by a truly amazing mammoth timepiece that closes out the second act ball scene.

But no production, no matter how incredibly visual, can ultimately succeed without the twin embrace of dancing and music. Some ballet purists are probably going to find fault with Bintley’s reinterpretation of Prokofiev’s score, especially when it doesn’t seem organically married to what the music is saying. As impressive as some of the corps work here is, it’s perhaps too often the central thesis in choreography that really should focus more on Cinderella and her erstwhile princely beau. The score itself is given a very good, if not overly vigorous, reading by Koen Kessels. This is a typical Prokofiev piece (if any Prokofiev piece can fairly be termed typical) which walks a rather schizophrenic tightrope balanced above a chasm of desperation and an apex of faith. Like most large scale Prokofiev works, a conductor must shape his forces carefully so as not to fall into the first nor in fact to climb too quickly to the second. For the most part Kessels succeeds admirably, though one might wish for a bit more bristling abrasion in some of Prokofiev’s dryer commentaries.

A few years ago I conducted the stage adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s television musical version of Cinderella, which introduced audiences to a radiant young Julie Andrews in the late 1950s and was in fact one of the top rated specials of all time for decades afterward. I saw firsthand what an incredible impact this story had on young girls especially. The triumph of the human spirit which is really what Cinderella is about speaks to all ages, of course, and Prokofiev’s brilliant illumination in music of this central idea is filled both with the yearning and the inevitable passing disappointments that simply being alive brings. Children of all ages should certainly respond to this magical new production which manages to evoke the intricacies of Prokofiev's score while losing little of its childlike wonder.

Prokofiev: Cinderella Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kultur has come a long way in a relatively short while with its Blu-ray releases. While its early offerings featured less than spectacular transfers, with pasty, sometimes downright ugly, image quality, the good news is this Cinderella looks positively elegant in its VC-1 encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. The colors here, once we get past the drab and dank opening sequence, are nothing short of spectacular. A riot of bright hues populates the stage and makes this one of the more visually sumptuous offerings in the current classical music arena of Blu-rays. Purples, reds, and especially deep, lustrous blues fill the stage and offer a wealth of beauty. Fine detail is also exceptional, especially in close-ups, when the intricacies of the costume designs come fully into view. There are occasional moments when we get close to blooming territory on a couple of the more outrageously saturated costumes, something I attribute more to aggressive stage lighting than to any fault of this Blu-ray. Overall, though, this is easily the sharpest and best looking Blu-ray we've had yet from Kultur.

Prokofiev: Cinderella Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Two steps forward, one step back. Kultur has yet to fully step up to the plate with two lossless audio offerings, and though this is certainly better than no lossless offerings, audiophiles will no doubt be disappointed that only an LPCM 2.0 mix is offered here on the lossless side of things. Otherwise a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is the only surround offering on tap, and after just a few minutes of listening to the increased clarity, not to say the radically improved fidelity at both ends of the frequency ranges, of the LPCM 2.0 track, I can't imagine many people opting for the DD 5.1 accounting of this gorgeous score. The good news is that the LPCM 2.0 track, while obviously a great deal narrower than the 5.1 track, actually overcomes much if not all of that narrowness by virtue of the fact that it's so much clearer than the Dolby track. Prokofiev's pungent dissonances ring out with stellar accuracy and the achingly beautiful string work sounds warm and inviting. Kultur is well on the way to understanding Blu-ray consumers want the best of everything, and hopefully their next release will include a lossless surround track to augment the LPCM 2.0 track.

Prokofiev: Cinderella Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered (though I received a check disc, which may not in fact represent the final retail version of this title). The credits seem to indicate a documentary about the making of Cinderella was produced for BBC-TV, and it certainly would have been a welcome addition on this Blu-ray.

Prokofiev: Cinderella Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frederick Ashton's innate cheeriness may have set him at odds with Prokofiev's penchant for the bizarre and darker aspects of the human soul. In that regard, Bintley seems better able to capture the bifurcated nature of this score. While there are certainly still aspects which are highly redolent of Ashton, this is an individual approach to this piece which should delight anyone who loves Prokofiev's indiosyncratic music. Bolstered by an especially beautiful production design, this Cinderella has magic and charm to spare, and arrives fairly effortlessly at a happily ever after. Recommended.