Principal Guest Conductor Gavin Sutherland tells us about Prokofiev’s score for Cinderella, ahead of our performances of Christopher Wheeldon’s in-the-round production at the Royal Albert Hall in June.
Featured image: Alina Cojocaru and English National Ballet in Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella in-the-round © Laurent Liotardo.
When Sergei Prokofiev composed his most famous ballet score for Romeo & Juliet in 1935/6, it was viewed as ‘undanceable’. It wasn’t until it was first performed in 1940 that it proved to be an enormous success, and became one of the most recognisable pieces of ballet music today. Following on from this, Prokofiev was then commissioned for a new three-act ballet based on Perrault’s fairy tale Cinderella, which quickly became another classic.
The two scores were written at extremely challenging times in Prokofiev’s life, but Cinderella is just as passionate and romantic as Romeo & Juliet. It’s got an added element of magic though, and has far more characterisation in it: because it’s a bigger plot with more characters, the music had to reflect this.
Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernandez rehearsing Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella in-the-round © Laurent Liotardo
There are lot of musical themes that belong to different characters – some would call them leitmotifs. Cinderella has some, the Prince has some also, so you recognise the characters in the music. Prokofiev also links these leitmotifs to emotions as well as people.
For example, there is a beautiful, flowing, romantic melody that you hear at the beginning and the very end of the ballet. At the end, he calls it “Amoroso”. It is such a beautiful, rich, burgeoning, romantic tune; it conveys an outpouring of love and affection. Prokofiev wrote it in C Major; a very important key in the ballet music of Prokofiev, because it is a very warm, grounded key and every time you hear it, it conveys a gentle, happy emotion.
Another example is the very opening of the ballet: Cinderella’s sad theme, which is in E Minor – very gloomy and emotional: this is when Cinderella’s mother dies.
Prokofiev really is a master storyteller: he managed to get every emotion, every character, and every scenario across in the most understandable of terms with his music, some of which you can’t get out of your head. Some musical phrases are real ear worms! I go home I often end up sitting on the tube whistling away: people must think I’m nuts but I can’t help it! And I know I’m not alone with this!
In the original it’s known as “The Dance of the Sisters with the Oranges”: it’s just a really silly tune. I’d like to think Prokofiev at his most mischievous and immature. It’s this lolloping, hysterical, jokey piece, just out of character with the surrounding atmosphere of the ball.
The other thing I like is the main pas de deux in Act 2, between the Prince and Cinderella. It’s a very sinuous melody, buried in the middle of the texture, played by the cellos and bassoons. So, it’s rich, it’s romantic, and it’s opulent. And then there’s a huge explosion of passion in the middle of it. I think it’s a beautiful piece of music. It’s three pages of a score and in that, you get everything you want out of the meeting between Cinderella and the Prince.
Nowadays, people say that, if you’re watching a film and you hear the film score, it hasn’t done it’s job. It should just be “there”.
With ballet, it’s the opposite: if you don’t lock onto the score, or have an attentive reaction to it, then it’s failed. Because then you’re just listening with your eyes. Prokofiev’s Cinderella is a great score because it grabs the attention from the first note and it holds you until the end.
Christopher’s production is a real eye-opener, and he’s so faithful to the music. He knows every inch of the music and his steps and choices reflect that: I love that about him. The score has stood the test of time and, with great creativity, Christopher’s vision makes it come out really fresh. I would like to think that his Cinderella will be the only one everybody should ever see.
