Jules Massenet

Massenet’s opera Cendrillon, which was inspired by the Perrault fairytale, was first performed on 24th May 1899 in the Opéra Comique’s new theatre, the Favart, which had only opened six months previously. Massenet had written Cendrillon four years before that but it had been shelved in favour of his opera Sapho (based on a novel by Alphonse Daudet) with the principal role being sung by the international diva of the era, Emma Calvé. The role of Cendrillon was first sung by Julia Guiraudon, the future wife of the librettist Henri Cain. At that time Massenet was an acclaimed composer whose operas were performed all over Europe and further afield. As was his habit, he did not attend the opening night. He waited for the telegram telling him how the evening had gone at his property in Égreville, far from the hullabaloo of Paris. He need not have worried, for Cendrillon was very well received, especially as the lavish production appealed to the taste for fantasy of the public at the end of the century. Massenet was not the first to transform the fairytale of Cinderella into an opera. In 1810 a successful Cendrillon was performed at the Opéra Comique composed by Nicolas Isouard with a libretto by Charles-Guillaume Étienne. This was followed by two Italian versions of the story: Pavesi’s Agatina o la virtú premiata with a libretto by Fiorini (Milan 1814) and the far more famous Cenerentola by Rossini with a libretto by Ferreti (Rome 1817). However the Italian versions diminished or removed the supernatural elements of the story whereas the French counterparts, and Massenet’s opera in particular, submerged their operas in a magical, fairytale universe. Massenet composed Cendrillon using a wide ranging palette of contrasting styles. The ball and the Stepmother are evoked with solemn music, including references to the pastiche of the 18th century; Pandolfe, Cinderella’s father, is represented by pastoral tones which suggest the peaceful life he aspired to; whilst the music that accompanies Cinderella and her encounters with the Prince is characterised by flowing chromatic harmonies and a spirited orchestration… In Cendrillon, Massenet shows his brilliance at subtly combining elements of comedy and parody with passages of emotional depth and longing.

Short synopsis

In the opera, as in Perrault’s fairytale, Cinderella has a stepmother and two step-sisters and the Fairy Godmother helps her to go the palace ball. However, after midnight, the opera takes a different turn from the fairytale: upset by the hateful suggestions of her stepmother and step-sisters, Cinderella runs away from home. Feverish, she arrives in the Fairy Godmother’s magic forest and meets the Prince once more. He recognises the beautiful, mysterious girl from the ball and offers her his heart. Months later, when we catch up with Cinderella again, her father has convinced her that it was all a dream. But, when the Prince is travelling the length and breadth of the country to find the owner of the glass slipper, he recognises Cinderella and she returns his love.