Bob’s World of J. Massenet Cendrillon


	Bob’s World of

endrillon

Conte de fée en 4 actes

Libretto by Henri Cain, after Charles Perrault

Music by Jules Massenet

First Performance: Opéra-Comique, Paris, May 24, 1899

First Cast:

Cendrillon, mezzo-soprano	Julie Guiraudon
Mme. de la Haltière, contralto	Blanche Deschamps-Jehin
Prince Charmant, mezzo-soprano	Mlle. Emelen
La Fée, soprano	Georgette Bréjean-Gravière
Noémie, soprano	Jeanne Tiphaine
Dorothée, soprano	Marie de Lisle
Pandolphe, baritone	Lucien Fugère
Le Roi, bass	M. Dubois
Dean of the Faculty	M. Gourdon
Master of Ceremonies	M. Troy
Prime Minister	Gustave Huberdeau
Conductor	Alexandre Luigini

Perrault’s Cinderella

     Act I. In a room in the house of Mme. de la Haltière, Pandolfe, her second husband, complains about his situation. He wishes to rid himself of the trio of selfish women he married into and return to the calm life of a widow with a loving daughter. Unable to follow through, he takes flight at the approach of his wife. Mme. de la Haltière and her daughters, Noémie and Dorothée, prepare for the ball, where the Prince must choose a wife. Pandolfe returns to accompany them to the palace. Cendrillon enters. She wishes she could have gone to the ball. She, however, tidies up the room and curls up under the warm chimney and falls asleep. The Fairy and her spirits enter and transform Cendrillon into a princess for the ball, but the spell only last until midnight. Cendrillon awakes and is wisked off to the palace.
     Act II. At the royal reception hall, all is in readiness except for the Prince who only stares into the distance. The King reminds the Prince that tonight he must choose a wife. The ball begins with a ballet during which the eligible prinesses present themselves to the Prince. Cendrillon arrives and her beauty enchants everyone except Mme. de la Haltière and her daughters. The Prince and Cendrillon are left alone to fall in love until the clock strikes midnight. Cendrillon runs off into the night leaving the Prince staring after her.
     Act III, Scene 1. Back at the house, Cendrillon arrives breathless. In her haste she has lost one of the glass slippers. Her gown has changed back inot a simple dress. She hears the returning carriage and retreats to her own room. Mme. de la Haltière and her daughters are furious. Cendrillon trembles and is about to faint, when her father order the complaining women from the room. Cendrillon, remembering her mother and her death, runs from the room.
     Scene 2. Under the magic oak tree of the enchanted forest, the Prince and Cendrillon are drawn. The spirits raise a large hedge of flowers, so that the lovers are unable to see each other. But they can hear each other's voice and the lovers pour their hearts. The Prince offers the Fairy his pure heart to see his beloved. The hedge lowers and the lovers are surrounded by the spirits who sing the lovers into a magic slumber.
     Act IV, Scene 1. Back in Cendrillon's home, Pandolfe satches over his sleeping daughter. Cendrillon awakes and her father relates how she spoke in her slumber about the Prince. She thinks it was all a dream. Mme. de la Haltière and her daughters appear with the notice of the King's command for all eligible princesses to return to the palace. The Prince will choose a wife; The one who lost the glass slipper at the ball. Cendrillon realizes her dream was real.
     Act IV, Scene 2. After an orchestral interlude, the scene changes back to the ballroom in the palace. The Prince recognizes Cendrillon among the princesses. the lovers are reunited and all present, even Mme. de la Haltière and her daughters praise the couple.