This extended selection from Prokofiev's Cinderella is well documented by Richard Freed who, besides providing an excellent background note on the music compared with other historical treatments of the Cinderella story, places each of the 20 items within the context of the 50 which form the complete ballet. (This information is also given on the insert card with the LP.) On CD the spectacular nature of the recording is even more striking than on LP, with the orchestra balanced naturally in its concert-hall ambience.
The sound is brightly lit, but I thought the CD slightly smoother than the LP, while the climaxes are even more expansive—the ''Midnight'' sequence, with its stereoscopic ticking clock, is riveting. Afterwards Slatkin manages the serene closing Amoroso tenderly. It is a pity that in the earlier part of the score the voltage is lower and the characterization less strong. But with such superb sound I fancy this CD will find it way into demonstration booths, for the last three bands played together certainly show modern digital techniques to dramatic and involving effect.'