Cendrillon
Opera by Jules Massenet
Art nouveau poster announcing the premiere performance in 1899
Librettist	Henri Caïn
Language	French
Based on	Perrault's 1698 version of Cinderella
Premiere	24 May 1899 (1899-05-24) Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique, Paris

Cendrillon (Cinderella) is an opera—described as a "fairy tale"—in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale.

It had its premiere performance on 24 May 1899 in Paris.

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera notes that Massenet's sense of humor and wit is more evident in this work, and the use of recurrent motifs is more discreet, while the love music "reminds us how well Massenet knew his Wagner".^[1] Albert Carré (director of the Opéra-Comique and producer of the first staging) persuaded the composer to drop a prologue introducing the characters, but a brief epilogue survives.^[2] Another writer comments that Massenet's perfectly proportioned score moves from a scene worthy of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Armide (in Cendrillon's monologue), through Rossinian vocalises and archaic orchestrations to ballet movements on a par with Tchaikovsky.^[3]

Composition history

The scenario was conceived by Massenet and Cain when they were in London for the premiere of Massenet's La Navarraise^[2] in June 1893. The composer began work on the score in Pont-de-l'Arche, with the final touches being made in Nice in 1895/96.^[4] At the time of the premiere, Massenet had announced in Le Figaro that Cendrillon would be his last lyric work^[5] (although in fact several more followed). The autograph score is dedicated to "Mademoiselle Julie Giraudon", who created the title role and subsequently married Henri Cain.

Performance history

19th century

As one of the first operas to be produced at the newly rebuilt Salle Favart (the third theatre of that name and the home of the Opéra-Comique), it enjoyed the modern facilities provided during the refurbishment, including special effects on stage and electricity throughout the theater.^[6] The original production had sets designed by Lucien Jusseaume (Act I), Eugène Carpezat (Act II), Auguste Alfred Rubé (Act III, scene 2), and Marcel Jambon (Act IV).

Massenet took a close interest in the first production, attending 60 out of 98 rehearsals at the Opéra-Comique prior to the premiere.^[7] The first performance was given at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 24 May 1899, at the height of Massenet's success.^[2] As was his usual practice, Massenet avoided the first night, but received a telegram from Fugère the next day at Enghien-les-Bains (where he was staying with his wife), recording its triumph.^[4]

20th century and beyond

An immediate success, with fifty performances in its first season, it was revived at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris in 1909 with Geneviève Vix as the Prince and Rose Heilbronner in the title role.^[8] Cendrillon was performed in Brussels and Milan in 1899, quickly followed by other Italian cities, New Orleans in 1902, and New York in 1912.^[9] Maggie Teyte in the title role and Mary Garden as the Prince led the cast in Chicago in 1911. The UK stage premiere was given in Swindon, Wiltshire in 1939, thanks to Lord Berners.^[2]

In the post-World War II years, the opera has been seen in Brussels and Liege in 1982 (with Frederica von Stade, Ann Murray and Jules Bastin), Geneva in 1998, Strasbourg in 2003, at the Santa Fe Opera in 2006 (with Joyce DiDonato and Eglise Gutiérrez in Laurent Pelly's production), Brussels and Luxembourg in 2007, New York in 2008, Dresden, Montreal and Brisbane in 2010, Vancouver in February 2011, and the Juilliard School in New York City in April 2014.

Having been produced at the Châtelet in 1984, in a staging borrowed from New York City Opera (with Maureen Forrester as Madame de la Haltière)^[10] Cendrillon was mounted in Paris at the Opéra-Comique in March 2011 conducted by Marc Minkowski. In July 2011 the Royal Opera House, London used Pelly's production, with the conductor Bertrand de Billy (later issued as a DVD), and Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu did likewise in December 2013. Cendrillon waited 119 years for its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera; the 2018 production featured DiDonato and Alice Coote in Pelly's production.^[11]

Roles

Synopsis

A prologue in front of the curtain, suppressed before the premiere, introduced the characters and invited the audience to enjoy the fairy-tale "to escape from dark realities (pour échapper à des réalités sombres)" and to believe in the "fabulous (fabuleux)". The final words of the prologue are repeated at the end of the opera.^[7]

Music

The part of Prince Charming is a breeches role, sung by a Falcon soprano—or "soprano de sentiment"—according to the libretto, a dark dramatic and characteristically French soprano voice. There is no authority for transposing this role for a tenor.^[2] This voice type is contrasted in Cendrillon's other scenes with the coloratura writing for the fairy godmother, which is characterised by trills and arpeggios. The 18th-century is echoed in witty pastiche of galant music, such as the trio of harp, viola d'amore, and flute that fails to rouse the melancholy and silent prince at the opening of Act 2. The score includes a ballet, a series of entrées at the ball of princesses who fail to satisfy the Prince, contrasted with the spectral ballet under a "bluish light" in Act 3, where Cain interposes an episode in which Lucette (as Cendrillon is called) and her Prince are kept apart and tested by the arts of la Fée (Fairy Godmother). ^[13]

Noted arias

• Ah! que mes soeurs sont heureuses (Cendrillon) – Act I
• Ah! douce enfant (La Fée) – Act 1
• Coeur sans amour (Le Prince Charmant) – Act 2
• Enfin, je suis ici (Cendrillon) – Act 3
• À deux genoux (Le Prince Charmant, Cendrillon) – Act 3

Recordings

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cendrillon (Massenet).

• La Cenerentola (Rossini)

References

Notes

Sources

• Harding, J. (1970), Massenet. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London.
• Loewenberg, A. (1978), Annals of Opera. London, John Calder.
• Milnes, Rodney (1998), "Cendrillon", in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One. Macmillan, London and New York.
• Upton, George P.; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 189–90.
• Smith, Craig, "Glass slipper fits for SFO production", Santa Fe New Mexican, 17 July 2006
• Wolff, Stéphane (1953), Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique 1900–1950. André Bonne, Paris.