I Love Ballet – Highlights from various
world famous ballet scores
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Swan Lake (1875-76),
The Nutcracker (1892), Sleeping Beauty (1888-89)
Léo DELIBES (1836-1891) Coppélia (1870), Sylvia
(1876)
William Turner WALTON (1902-1983) Façade (1922)
Sergey PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Romeo and Juliet (1835-36),
Cinderella (1940-44)
Adolphe ADAM (1803-1856) Giselle (1844)
Amilcare PONCHIELLI (1834-1886) La Gioconda (1876)
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849) Les Sylphides (1909)
Jacques OFFENBACH (1819-1880) Gaité Parisienne (1938)
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) The Dying Swan (1905)
John LANCHBERY (1923-2003) Tales of Beatrix Potter (1970)
Arthur SULLIVAN (1842-1900) Pineapple Poll
Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978) Gayaneh (1939-41)
Ferdinand HÉROLD (1791-1833) La fille mal gardée (1828)
Compilation 2009, DDD/ADD
Booklet notes in English, German and French
Full track listing at end of review
EMI CLASSICS 50999 9 67020 2 4 [76.24+77.55]
The immediate thing that struck me, as I unpacked this two-disc set, was the
obvious indication that ballet is for women! The excessive “girlie” package,
in different shades of pink, with a drawing of a ballerina in the middle of
white stars of various sizes, nearly put me in a foul mood! I do not like
stereotypes and I thought that in this our 21st century, people
actually understood that ballet is an art-form, which appeals and can be appreciated
by both sexes without discrimination. Judging by the packaging of the present
compilation, I was wrong! And now with that off my chest, I will actually
write about this anthology entitled “I Love Ballet”.
The important thing to bear in mind when one listens to this set, is that
it actually is completely irrelevant whether you love or hate ballet or whether
you are male or female. The absolute star is the music. There is no better
introduction to ballet music than Tchaikovsky’s marvellous score to Swan
Lake, which forms tracks one to four of the first CD. This is followed
by more Tchaikovsky with The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty.
What we have here are the ultimate highlights, the most inspiring and arguably
the best pieces ever composed for the ballet and these were all written by
Tchaikovsky. The extracts from the three ballet scores are beautifully performed
by the Philharmonia Orchestra under the illustrious baton of composer and
conductor, John Lanchery, who died in 2003. The music speaks for itself and
if one is not moved by its dramatic, emotional power or its witty, magical
moments, as for example the lovely Puss in Boots and the White Cat,
from Sleeping Beauty; then I fear one has a heart of stone! The Tchaikovsky
tracks represent the peak of this compilation, closely followed by the charming
highlights of Delibes’s Coppélia, two magnificent passages from Prokofiev’s
Romeo and Juliet and the most significant moments of Cinderella
by the same composer. Coppélia is beautifully delivered by the
Orchestre du Théàtre National de l’ Opéra de Paris, conducted by Jean-Baptiste
Mari in a recording from 1977. The various parts of both Prokofiev ballets
– Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella – are performed by the London
Symphony Orchestra led by André Previn. The first is a recording from 1973,
which I found a little dry, lacking sentimental intensity particularly in
the balcony scene, though the orchestra’s performance is technically excellent.
The second was recorded ten years later, in 1983, and is a very fine delivery
by both conductor and orchestra.
There are some other pleasant, very popular moments from a series of celebrated
pieces: Khachaturian’s famous Sabre Dance from Gayaneh; Saint-Saëns’
The Swan from Carnival of the Animals, choreographed, as The
Dying Swan, by Mikhail Fokine for the fabulous Anna Pavlova who premiered
it in 1905; and The Dance of the Hours, possibly known to most people
from the wonderful sequence with the ballet-dancing hippos, ostriches, alligators
and elephants in Walt Disney’s 1940 animated feature film Fantasia.
The music was composed by Ponchielli and is from his opera La Gioconda.
We are delivered here an excellent, energetic interpretation by Karajan with
the Philharmonia, in a recording from 1961.
The quality of the compilation is sadly not uniform throughout. The best CD
is the first with all the Tchaikovsky ballets, Delibes’s Coppélia and
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Besides Cinderella and the famous,
short pieces that I have mentioned above, CD 2 does not have many memorable
moments. The obligatory passages from Adam’s Giselle and Delibes’s
Sylvia are very fine indeed, particularly the latter where the excitement
of the huntresses is wonderfully captured by Sir Charles Mackerras with the
New Philharmonia Orchestra. However, I felt untouched and slightly let down
by the performance of Chopin’s music in Les Sylphides and I was unable
to relate to the Tales of Beatrix Potter and La fille mal gardée
without actually having the dancers moving in front of me.
Overall, the sound quality is excellent and although some of the earlier recordings
were remastered before, the whole compilation was digitally remastered once
again with the technology available in 2009, which to my mind considerably
increased the clarity of the music.
In spite of my initial disappointment with the exceedingly pink package, I
Love Ballet is overall an attractive compilation of some very good music
and other, slightly less good but pleasant enough. Above all, I think it is
an excellent introduction to classical ballet music for beginners of all ages
and at £8.50 for a two-CD set actually very good value for money.
Margarida Mota-Bull
Full track listing
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY
Swan Lake (1875-76) Act II: Scene [2.31], Dance of
the Little Swans [1.27]; Act III: Spanish Dance [2.33],
Neapolitan Dance [2.00]
Philharmonia Orchestra / John Lanchbery, rec. 1982
The Nutcracker (1892) Act I: March [2.24]; Act
II: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy [2.22], Trepak: Russian Dance
[1.09], Chocolate: Spanish Dance [1.10], Coffee: Arab Dance
[3.35], Tea: Chinese Dance [0.59], Dance of the Reed Flutes
[2.35], Waltz of the Flowers [7.26]
Philharmonia Orchestra / John Lanchbery, rec. 1982
Sleeping Beauty (1888-89) Act I: Rose Adagio [6.36];
Act III: Puss in Boots and the White Cat [2.15], The Bluebird
and Princess Florine (Pas de deux, Variation 1, Variation 2, Coda) [5.08],
Red Riding Hood and the Wolf [1.11]
Philharmonia Orchestra / John Lanchbery, rec. 1982
Léo DELIBES
Coppélia (1870) Act I: Waltz [2.42], Mazurka
[4.41]; Act II: Waltz of the Doll [2.16]; Act III:
Celebration Dance [1.36]
Orchestre du Théàtre National de l’ Opéra de Paris / Jean-Baptiste Mari, rec.
1977
Sylvia (1876) Act I: The Huntresses [3.44]; Act
III: Pizzicati [1.48]
New Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras, rec. 1970
William Turner WALTON
Façade (1922) Polka [1.23], Popular Song [2.24]
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Malcolm Sargent, rec. 1961
Sergey PROKOFIEV
Romeo and Juliet (1835-36) Act I: Dance of the Knights [5.39],
Balcony Scene [8.35]
London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn, rec. 1973
Cinderella (1940-44) Act I: Dance with the Shawl [3.30],
Spring Fairy 1.25], Summer Fairy [1.44], Grasshoppers and Dragonflies
[0.52], Autumn Fairy [1.30], Winter Fairy [1.15], Cinderella’s
departure for the ball [2.14]; Act II: Duet of the sisters with
their oranges [1.32], Pas de deux: The Prince and Cinderella [4.45]
London Symphony Orchestra / André Previn, rec. 1983
Adolphe ADAM
Giselle (1844) Act I: Waltz [3.54]; Act II: Pas
de deux [4.25]
Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Irving, rec. 1962
Amilcare PONCHIELLI
La Gioconda (1876) Act III: Dance of the Hours [9.50]
Philharmonia Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan, rec. 1961
Frédéric CHOPIN
Les Sylphides: Prelude in A Op. 28 No. 7 (1835-39) [3.18],
Grande Valse brillante in E flat Op. 18 (1831-32) [5.00]
Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Irving, rec. 1959
Jacques OFFENBACH
Gaité Parisienne (1938) Overture [2.17]
Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra / Manuel Rosenthal, rec. 1977
Camille SAINT-SAËNS
The Dying Swan: Carnival of the Animals (The Swan) (1886)
[2.33]
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Louis Frémaux, rec. 1975
John LANCHBERY
Tales of Beatrix Potter (1970) Mrs Tiggy-Winkle’s Laundry
[2.20], The Mouse Waltz [4.47]
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden / John Lanchbery, rec. 1971
in association with G. W. Films Ltd
Arthur SULLIVAN
Pineapple Poll: Opening Dance [3.43]
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras, rec. 1978
Aram KHACHATURIAN
Gayaneh (1939-41) Sabre Dance [2.20]
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Yuri Temirkanov, rec. 1986
Ferdinand HÉROLD
La fille mal gardée (1828) Act I: Dance of the Cock and Hens
[1.07], Widow Simone – Clog Dance [2.40]; Act II: Finale
[4.24]
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Barry Wordsworth, rec. 1988