[1] Albert Carré (director of the Opéra-Comique and producer of the first staging) persuaded the composer to drop a prologue introducing the characters, but a brief epilogue survives.

[2] Another writer comments that Massenet's perfectly proportioned score moves from a scene worthy of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Armide (in Cendrillon's monologue), through Rossinian vocalises and archaic orchestrations to ballet movements on a par with Tchaikovsky.

The autograph score is dedicated to "Mademoiselle Julie Guiraudon [fr]", who created the title role and subsequently married Henri Caïn.

19th century As one of the first operas to be produced at the newly rebuilt Salle Favart (the third theatre of that name and the home of the Opéra-Comique), it enjoyed the modern facilities provided during the refurbishment, including special effects on stage and electricity throughout the theater.

[4] 20th century and beyond An immediate success, with fifty performances in its first season, it was revived at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris in 1909 with Geneviève Vix as the Prince and Rose Heilbronner in the title role.

[2] In the post-World War II years, the opera has been seen in Brussels and Liege in 1982 (with Frederica von Stade, Ann Murray and Jules Bastin), and in 1993 Patrick Fournillier conducted a production by Robert Carsen for Welsh National Opera with Rebecca Evans in the title role, Lillian Watson as the Fairy Godmother, Pamela Helen Stephen as the Prince, Felicity Palmer as Madame de la Haltière and Donald Maxwell as Pandolfe.

Having been produced at the Châtelet in 1984, in a staging borrowed from New York City Opera (with Maureen Forrester as Madame de la Haltière)[11] Cendrillon was mounted in Paris at the Opéra-Comique in March 2011 conducted by Marc Minkowski.

In July 2011 the Royal Opera House, London used Pelly's production, with the conductor Bertrand de Billy (later issued as a DVD), and Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu did likewise in December 2013.

[12] A prologue in front of the curtain, suppressed before the premiere, introduced the characters and invited the audience to enjoy the fairy-tale "to escape from dark realities (pour échapper à des réalités sombres) and to believe in the "fabulous" (fabuleux).

The Fairy Godmother and her attendants come in, transform Cendrillon into magnificent clothes for the ball, but warn the girl that their spell will only last until midnight, and that the glass slippers will protect her from being recognized by her family.

After five ballet entrées where the eligible princesses present themselves to the prince, a heavenly unknown beauty (Cendrillon) enters and enchants everyone—except for Madame de la Haltière and the two step-sisters.

The 18th-century is echoed in witty pastiche of galant music, such as the trio of harp, viola d'amore, and flute that fails to rouse the melancholy and silent prince at the opening of act 2.