The original cover art for this album said that
it came with
Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, the suite which has
become famous in concert-halls all over the globe, ending as it does
with Copland's most famous piece, the
Hoe Down. This is actually
the complete
Rodeo, meaning there's five minutes of bonus material,
including extra passages in the
Nocturne and
Hoe Down
and an entirely new dance (making five) called
Ranch House Party.
The original, misleading cover shipped to many stores, but Naxos rushed
in a corrected cover saying
Rodeo (Complete Ballet) on the internet.
The digital copy (I
downloaded
MP3s from ClassicsOnline for this review) still comes with an uncorrected
booklet. So If you see two CDs with different covers advertising the
Detroit Symphony and Leonard Slatkin playing
Rodeo, they are
in fact identical.
Confusion over the release of this CD shouldn't distract us from another,
happier truth: this is a fantastic complete
Rodeo. It's rare
enough to hear the full piece, and then add flawless conducting by Leonard
Slatkin - who's recorded the piece several times before - and inspired
solo work by the trombone, bassoons and even basses. The saloon-style
upright piano solo in
Ranch House Party, which sounds ripped
from
Blazing Saddles, is by itself worth the entire price of
the CD, the pianist's one rhythmic stutter forgivable in light of the
razzle-dazzle and stylistic oomph (s)he brings. I love how the cellos
and basses dig into the
Hoe Down. In fact, I love everything
about this performance and, having heard it numerous times now, feel
confident saying it's my first-choice
Rodeo … including
Copland's own recording.
That's not even the main course, which is the rarer ballet
Dance
Panels … or wait - since we were talking about the full
Rodeo
and not the suite, maybe it's not that much rarer after all.
Dance
Panels, almost a half-hour long, is vintage Copland, a full expression
of his mature style. I suspect its lack of popularity is because all
the faster, more exciting music is near the end. For much of the piece,
Dance Panels is more intimate and domestic, without the easy
populism of
Rodeo or the two works that follow on this programme,
Danzón Cubano and
El Salón Mexico. This
is, again, a performance that fully captures the composer's spirit.
The performances here seem live - there's a cough here and there - which
makes the achievement of the orchestra all the more noteworthy. It also
makes the sound quality's richness surprising. This would be a valuable
addition to a Copland collection even if it didn't have my first-choice
Rodeo, but since it does, it's mandatory.
Brian Reinhart
See also reviews by
Gwyn
Parry-Jones and
John
Whitmore
Reviews
of Copland on Naxos American Classics