Balanchine Ballets: Jewels, Serenade, Allegro
Brillante and Symphony in C
Emeralds Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924) Pelléas et Mélisande
(1898); Shylock incidental music (1889) [30:18]
Rubies Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Capriccio for
Piano and Orchestra (1926-29) [16:19]
Diamonds Peter Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Symphony
No. 3 in D Polish Op. 29 (1875) [30:10]; Serenade Serenade for
strings in C, Op. 48 (1880) [29:12]; Allegro Brillante Piano Concerto
No. 3 in E flat major Op. 75 (1893) [15:56]
Symphony in C George BIZET (1838-1875) Symphony in C
(1855) [27:44]
Emeralds: Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse/Michel Plasson
rec. 12-15 June 1979, Halle-aux-Grains, Toulouse
Rubies: Michel Béroff (piano) Orchestre du Paris/Seiji Ozawa
rec. October 1971, Salle Wagram, Paris
Diamonds: Philharmonia Orchestra/Riccardo Muti
rec. June/July 1977, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London
Serenade: City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hickox
rec. April 1989, June 1990, St Augustine’s Church, Kilburn, London
Allegro Brillante: Peter Donohoe (piano) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Rudolf
Barshal
rec. 24, 27 August 1987, Wessex Hall, Poole Arts Centre, Dorset.
Symphony in C: Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française/ Sir
Thomas Beecham
rec. 28 October, 1-2 November 1959, Salle Wagram, Paris
DDD/ADD
EMI CLASSICS 648625 2 [77:11 + 73:53]
This is a difficult CD to review. Let me explain. Ballet, as one of the visual
arts depends on the interaction of movement, music, scenery and plot (possibly
abstract). Like opera, any recording of a ballet score is always second, if
not third best. Ballets are self-contained: in other words they are complete
works of art. Although they can be arranged, transcribed and excerpted, they
stand or fall as a unity of sound and vision. However, the five works presented
here are by and large concert pieces. They have (or ought to have) a life
of their own. For example, there are five excellent recordings of Gabriel
Fauré's music for Shylock, some 27 editions of his Pelleas and Mellisande,
42 versions of Tchaikovsky’s Third ‘Polish’ Symphony and even more than twenty
recordings of that particular composer’s relatively little-known Third Piano
Concerto. Digging deeper, virtually all the pieces sampled on this set are
already available in the CD catalogues. What we have on this disc is a representative
collection of the vast amount of music that was used by the great choreographer,
George Balanchine.
It is not necessary to give a detailed biography of Balanchine in this review.
However, there are perhaps three key facts that need to be remembered. Firstly
he was born in St Petersburg in 1904 and died in New York in 1983. He therefore
spanned a large part of the twentieth century and was heavily influenced by
Diaghilev for whom he danced in Paris with the Ballets Russes. Secondly, he
was founder, chief choreographer and artistic director of the New York Ballet.
It was an opportunity to make use of a vast range of music covering all ages,
styles and genres. However, he was especially keen ‘to combine his deep knowledge
of classical forms and techniques with an imaginative talent for unconventional
movements to produce a unique style of modern dance.’ Finally, he pioneered
choreography for Broadway musicals and film music.
The present disc showcases the music of a number of his best-known balletic
creations. Perhaps the most important contribution is the complete music for
the large-scale ballet Jewels: this was the first full-length ‘abstract’
ballet. The story goes that it was inspired by a visit by Balanchine to the
New York jewellers Van Cleef and Arpel. Yet, he always insisted that it had
nothing to do with the ‘gems’ but reflected the fact that the dancers were
dressed like ‘jewels’. The idea behind this ballet was straightforward. There
was no plot or narrative: he simply intended the dancers to complement the
music. The scores of Fauré, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky make a satisfying ‘symphonic’
whole and actually reward being listened to in their entirety.
The Allegro Brillante, also using music by Tchaikovsky, has been described
by Maria Tallchief, the ballerina for whom Balanchine created the lead role,
as reflecting "an expansive Russian romanticism". Balanchine himself
said: "It contains everything I know about the classical ballet in 13
minutes." It makes use of the composer’s relatively unknown Third Piano
Concerto.
The final contribution from Tchaikovsky is the important Serenade -
based on the famous eponymous piece for string orchestra. This ballet has
been regarded as one of the most important events in American dance history.
It was, “the first original ballet Balanchine created in America and is one
of the signature works of New York City Ballet's repertory.” Serenade
has a large number of performers who are dressed in blue costumes and are
set against a blue background. Apparently it originated as a study of ‘stage
technique’. The story goes that when one student accidentally fell over, Balanchine
incorporated this in the ballet. Another performer turned up late: this, too,
was made a part of the ‘story’.
The ballet based on Bizet’s attractive Symphony in C is another ‘narrative-free’
creation. Each movement is choreographed for a separate cast of dancers. Once
again it is the interpretation of the music rather than an imagined story
that is the important thing. The final movement includes a ‘glorious climax’
with all the members of the cast on the stage. It was first danced by the
Paris Opera Ballet in 1947.
My only complaint about this set is that I wish EMI had been able to record
some of the lesser-known ballet scores, such as Ivesiana or the especially-composed
ballet score by Hershey Kay, Western Symphony. As it is, there is a
wee bit too much Tchaikovsky and as mentioned above all the music is easily
found in a myriad other versions.
But all in all this is a good, packed, double that includes much attractive
music: the listings of the performers make any comment on the quality of the
musical performance largely superfluous.
John France
A good, packed, double that includes much attractive music.