While in the midst of his "war sonata" trilogy in the early 1940s, Prokofiev found the sparkling fairy tale world of 'Cinderella' easy to approach, and despite the difficulties of those years, with numerous relocations and a divorce, he completed the score in 1944. It was simply one of those cases where the magic worked, and while not as well known as his 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Cinderella' is, if anything, even more inspired, its brilliant melody and invention so vast that the action moves forward with virtually no reliance on repetition.
Michail Jurowski leads a robust performance of the complete ballet, getting just the right mixture of romantic sweetness and tart wit, with the West German Radio Orchestra sounding very fine indeed in a recording that admirably combines fullness and natural hall atmosphere.