Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Cinderella – ballet in three Acts (1940-1944)
Choreography by Frederick Ashton
Cinderella – Marianela Nuñez
The prince – Vadim Muntagirov
Artists of the Royal Ballet
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/Koen Kessels
rec. 2023, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Opus Arte OA1378D DVD [113 (ballet) + 9 (extra features)]
“I finished it last week in a really remarkably short time as some of the music is not easy… I feel that [sic.] gratified at my achievement whether it has any worth or not, it is still an achievement to have done it at all in 4 weeks. We open with it on 23rd [December 1948] and all your love & concentration must be directed to me that day, for it is a big moment in my life & a terribly anxious one.” (Frederick Ashton to dancer Dick Beard, quoted in Julie Kavanagh’s Secret muses: the life of Frederick Ashton [London, 1996] p. 364).
The new production of Cinderella premiered by the Royal Ballet at Christmas 1948 was of immense significance in the history of dance in the UK. It was not only Frederick Ashton’s first full length three-Act creation but the very first work on that ambitious scale by any British choreographer. Ashton’s oeuvre is justly celebrated as a core element of the Covent Garden company’s history and, with the year 2023 marking Cinderella’s 75th anniversary, the work has been revived in a brand-new and lavish production. Its designer Tom Pye, seen in one of this DVD’s extra features, aptly likens his work to the process of reframing a famous painting and putting it on display in a new room.
I was in the Royal Opera House audience at the first performance. Having never before seen a live staging of this particular ballet, I have to admit that I was initially a little underwhelmed. The problem lies, I think, in a flawed scenario, arising from the fact that Ashton modified Nikolai Volkov’s original version quite significantly in order to create a more precisely focused story. He jettisons not only individual characters – notably Cinderella’s vindictive stepmother – but even a whole rather lively and colourful scene at the opening of Act 3 when the prince searches the globe for his mysterious, slipper-losing party guest. The result of Ashton’s surgery is to unbalance the ballet’s proportions, making the first Act seem somewhat lengthy and, some may think, somewhat self-indulgent compared to the other two. Moreover, Act 1 takes place entirely within a single domestic setting. While that certainly establishes the heroine’s dysfunctional family circumstances, it simultaneously both limits the ballet’s dramatic possibilities and unbalances the whole production by reducing the time available for us to acquaint ourselves properly with the prince in Acts 2 and 3. In consequence, he remains something of an anonymous cypher and his interactions with Cinderella, which one might otherwise have expected to be lushly romantic highlights, are not only strangely abbreviated but feel somewhat inconsequential. Richard Buckle, writing after watching a couple of performances in January 1966, elaborated on the same point:
“The trouble with Cinderella… was that in spite of the comedy and the glittering ball and the cosily familiar story – nothing happened. The prince was nobody, his relationship with Cinderella never had a chance to develop into anything, nothing worked up to a climax… Why does the prince lack character[?]… Because we meet him cold, knowing nothing of his background. The princes in Swan lake and Sleeping beauty are not attracted by Court ladies and prone to melancholy. The former has a friend, a tutor and an overwhelming mother, and he drinks. The prince in Giselle is a randy double crosser. Cinderella’s prince merely has a jester… A passage of mime… telling how he is dying of boredom… might help.” (Richard Buckle Buckle at the ballet: selected criticism by Richard Buckle [London, 1980] pp. 136 and 138).
But if one of Cinderella’s problems is the under-characterisation of the princely romantic lead, another is, conversely, a case – or, rather, two cases – of over-characterisation that, delightful though they are in their own right, distort the necessary balance among the main characters. Whereas the original 1945 Soviet production had cast women in the roles of Cinderella’s stepsisters, Ashton opted to introduce a much broader comic tone by allocating the roles to male dancers. In all honesty, audiences have loved those crowd-pleasing en travesti roles ever since they were danced in the original production – and reprised thereafter on many occasions – by Ashton himself and Robert Helpmann (you can, by the way, appreciate their outrageously camp partnership, featuring Helpmann as the bossily dominant older sister and Ashton as her hapless, put-upon sibling, in a 1969 Royal Opera House recording that’s been preserved on DVD [Kultur D0093]). Perhaps if Ashton hadn’t been creating parts for himself and his friend, he might have toned down the over-ripe characterisations a little, but, as it is, the scene-stealing sisters dominate the stage whenever they’re on it to the disadvantage of everyone else. For long stretches, one feels, indeed, that the ballet might more appropriately have been called The ugly sisters (as they’re usually described in English) rather than Cinderella.
With those reservations set to one side, it has nevertheless to be said that Ashton’s version of the Cinderella story has become the one most usually danced worldwide, even though very differently choreographed versions have been produced by the likes of Rudolf Nureyev, Alexei Ratmansky, Maguy Marin and David Bintley (review, review). How – and how well – does the modern Royal Ballet tackle it?
Possibly the greatest advantage that the Covent Garden company enjoys in mounting a production of Cinderella is that it is historically steeped in the Ashton tradition. Just as the Royal Danish Ballet is unmatched in the choreography of August Bournonville and the Bolshoi in that of Marius Petipa, the Royal Ballet continues to promote Ashton’s heritage and regularly presents his works to the highest standards of execution. On this occasion it has mounted a production on a very grand scale and cast it with some of its starriest dancers.
Marianela Nuñez is universally recognised as one of the world’s most accomplished ballerinas and has become the regular partner (see, for example, review, review and review) of Vadim Muntagirov, himself regarded as one of the very finest male dancers performing today. They give the impression of having the highest mutual regard and their complementary techniques, bolstered by the confidence built up between them during years of artistic partnership, certainly bring out each other’s best qualities.
I have repeated remarked on Ms Nuñez’s supreme gifts as one of the leading dancers of her generation. Her technical skills may almost be taken for granted these days – though she can still surprise and delight, as when, in the second Act, she descends the palace garden’s steps en point as if that’s the easiest thing in the world. It’s worth, however, noting another aspect of her onstage persona that adds considerably to our appreciation of her performances – her sheer charm and amiability. Those qualities – whether genuine or cultivated – aren’t necessarily as common among dancers as you might assume from watching them on stage. Many star performers, having developed their careers within certain ballet companies’ strictly hierarchical structures, exhibit instead an unfortunate de haut en bas demeanour. Thankfully, by all accounts Nuñez’s affability is completely genuine and one senses that her audiences appreciate that fact just as much as her immaculate technique.
As already noted, Ashton created a somewhat thankless role for Cinderella’s prince. Not only was his globe-trotting episode eliminated entirely, but for lengthy stretches of the important scene where Cinderella attends his garden party (replacing the ball that features in most other productions) he is bizarrely left twiddling his thumbs at the back of the stage while, in the foreground, the company’s corps de ballet enjoys its big moment in the spotlight and the jester cavorts to spectacular effect. Whenever he does take centre stage, however, Mr Muntagirov demonstrates a full command of Ashton’s characteristic style. As Nuñez puts it in one of the DVD’s extra features, “his dancing is textbook, it’s what you want classical dancing to be… the precision, the easiness, the beauty… that gives me inspiration” – a piece of marketing puffery, perhaps, but one that’s nonetheless very true in its essentials. Particularly suited to roles that combine aristocratic manners with gentle diffidence, Muntagirov has also become far more confident and convincing as an actor that he once was. He may not be the sexiest of romantic leads and I doubt, too, that he will ever make a convincing villain. But as Cinderella’s sensitive and considerate prince, he is simply nonpareil.
As I have observed on previous occasions, the current Royal Ballet company has immense strength in depth and there are no weak links in this performance. Gary Avis and Luca Acri take full advantage of all the opportunities offered by the plum roles of Cinderella’s stepsisters. For most of the time they spar and spat delightfully with each other, but they can also interact to great effect with other characters – notably, at the prince’s party, the two hapless targets of their romantic designs, Lukas B. Brændsrød, who’s been costumed to resemble the Duke of Wellington, and Philip Mosley who’s a doppelgänger for Napoleon (track 14, At the ball). As Ashton intended, the sisters aren’t out-and-out cruel villains in the same league as Carabosse (Sleeping beauty) or Rothbart (Swan lake), but, rather, vain, selfish, petty and misguided airheads. Ultimately they may put us somewhat in mind of the characters of Dr Coppélius (Coppélia) or Gamache (Don Quixote) in that they eventually evoke our pity and even our bemused affection.
With the put-upon Cinderella herself dressed appropriately drably for much of Acts 1 and 3, some welcome visual sparkle is added to the story by the character of the fairy godmother, beautifully danced by Fumi Kaneko, and by a series of delightful divertissements featuring ballerinas representing the four seasons. Meanwhile, a splash of extra colour comes to the second Act via the scene-stealing character of the lively jester, energetically and skilfully danced on this occasion by recently-promoted Royal Ballet Soloist Taisuke Nakao. There and elsewhere, Prokofiev’s score is very well served by experienced ballet conductor Koen Kessels and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Not only do they never put a metaphorical foot wrong but, by consistently delivering practicable tempi, they ensure that the dancers on stage never put a literal foot wrong either.
Turning for a moment to the look of the production, Tom Pye’s sets are certainly well conceived and practical. Shabbily-dressed though Cinderella herself may be, her dysfunctional family clearly isn’t poor. Father has a library, the stepsisters enjoy the services of dressmakers, hairdressers and a dancing master, and the room that’s the setting for Acts 1 and 3 has a set of panoramic windows that readers of World of Interiors would die for. The second Act set, featuring the prince’s garden and, looming in the background, a residence akin to a magnificent French château, is a visual triumph. The same may be said in general of Alexandra Byrne’s costume design, even if one rather elaborate creation – for the fairy godmother in her initial disguise as an old woman – unfortunately snags on a doorway and pulls part of the scenery behind it as the character passes through (track 7, Cinderella and the fairy godmother). I do, incidentally, recommend listening to one of the DVD’s extra features in which, albeit briefly, Ms Byrne points out some of the themes and ideas behind her designs – an illuminating insight that I would have enjoyed the opportunity of exploring at greater length. David Finn’s lighting is invariably very well suited to the on-stage action and occasionally, whenever a swish of the fairy godmother’s wand necessitates an appropriate sprinkling of visual “magic”, really rather beautiful.
That visual beauty is enhanced by video director Ross MacGibbon’s skilful work, although there is, on this occasion, one rather infelicitous moment. That’s in Act 1 at the point (track 7, once again) when the fairy godmother magically transforms herself from her disguise as a peasant woman into her real self. In reality, the two aspects of the role are danced by different dancers – Olga Sabadoch and Fumi Kaneko – but, while the point at which Olga became Fumi was presumably visible to the Covent Garden audience, we viewers at home don’t get to see how the change was effected at all because, at that very moment, the camera switches for a few seconds to an astonished Cinderella. That unnecessarily imposed break in visual continuity precipitates a moment of mental discombobulation and temporarily torpedoes our suspension of disbelief. As such, it’s a rare miscalculation.
The quality of both picture and sound on the DVD supplied to MusicWeb was excellent. Unfortunately, however, I can offer no verdict on the quality of the Blu-ray version (OABD7316D) – which many dedicated balletomanes would no doubt prefer to own – as Opus Arte chose not to offer one for review.
As I have already indicated, there is some useful material to be found in the disc’s two accompanying extra features. As always, it’s good to hear a few words from the leading dancers and those working behind the scenes, but, with the combined length of both An introduction to ‘Cinderella´ and Becoming Cinderella coming in at just a paltry nine minutes or so, there’s the sense that an opportunity to do something a little more ambitious (or, at least, simply at greater length) was missed. The accompanying booklet usefully offers a full cast list and a brief synopsis of the story, but adds nothing else.
This new production of Cinderella is an important release on DVD. It memorialises Ashton’s choreography, danced by some of today’s outstanding dancers, in a new and very attractively conceived production that’s been filmed to the highest contemporary technical standards. If the work itself is not without its flaws, it remains not only a landmark in British ballet history but a consistent audience-pleaser that will continue to give immense pleasure to viewers, whether in live theatrical performances or now at home on the TV screen.
Rob Maynard
Previous review by Robert Cummings.
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Other cast
Cinderella’s step-sisters – Gary Avis and Luca Acri
Cinderella’s father – Bennet Gartside
Fairy godmother – Fumi Kaneko
Fairy godmother in disguise – Olga Sabadoch
Dancing master – David Donnelly
Two fiddlers – Kaoru Yamada and Ksenia Berezina
Tailor – Harris Bell
Dressmakers – Katharina Nikelski and Maddison Pritchard
Shoemaker – Giacomo Rovero
Hairdresser – Aiden O’Brien
Jeweller – Harrison Lee
Fairy spring – Anna Rose O’Sullivan
Fairy summer – Melissa Hamilton
Fairy autumn – Yuhui Choe
Fairy winter – Mayara Magri
Jester – Taisuke Nakao
Prince’s friends – Joseph Sissens, Nicol Edmonds, Benjamin Ella and Calvin Richardson
Suitors – Lukas B. Brændsrød and Philip Mosley
Artists of the Royal Ballet
Production staff
Set designer: Tom Pye
Costume designer: Alexandra Byrne
Lighting designer: David Finn
Staging: Wendy Ellis Somes and Gary Avis
Directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon
Video details
NTSC DVD
Picture format: 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 and DTS Digital Surround
Region code: all regions
Subtitles for extra features: English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean
