ballet Archive
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe – Rotterdam Philharmonic Orch. /Yannick Nezet-Seguin – BIS
A fresh Daphnis and Chloe well recorded and played.
IBERT: Le Chavalier errant; Les Amours de Jupiter – Orch. Nat. de Lorraine/ Jacques Mercier – Timpani
Two delightful and little-known Ibert ballet scores.
DUKAS: L’apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice); La Péri: Fanfare; La Péri: Poème dansé; Symphony in C Major – RTÉ National Sym. Orch./ Jean-Luc Tingaud – Naxos
Tingaud has his Irish band sounding verrry French, and Naxos’ crystalline sonics are some of the best from this source.
STRAVINSKY & GLAZUNOV conduct = STRAVINSKY: Petrushka – Ballet Suite; Pulcinella – Ballet Suite; GLAZUNOV: The Seasons – Ballet – Symphony Orch./ Walther Straram Concerts Orch. (Pulcinella)/ Igor Stravinsky/ Alexander Glazunov – Pristine Audio
Two Russian masters conduct their own works in excellent restorations from American and French sources.
STRAVINSKY: L’histoire du soldat Ballet, Blu-ray (1988/2014)
A modern ballet version of Stravinsky’s chamber-size folk drama.
Editorial for November 2014
This month our drawing/giveaway is for two 45-CD boxed sets of The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon by famed conductor Ferenc Fricsay. It includes his probing recordings of such works at the Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 & 9 plus the Piano Concerto No. 3; Bartok’s three Piano Concertos, Concerto for Orchestra, […]
“Miraculous Metamorphoses” = HINDEMITH: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber; PROKOFIEFF: The Love for Three Oranges Suite; BARTOK: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite – Kansas City Sym./ Michael Stern – Reference Recordings
Another fine SACD from a fine American symphony orchestra.
PROKOFIEFF: Romeo & Juliet ballet, Blu-ray (2014)
Better image and sound than the MacMillan Royal Ballet production.
VERDI: I Vespri Siciliani (complete opera), Blu-ray (2012)
Far better than most, with terrific sound and fine video, this Vespri is well worth the effort.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Eugene Onegin (complete opera), Blu-ray (2014)
A fine new production from the Met Live in HD, a little silliness aside.
Notre-Dame De Paris – ballet, Blu-ray (2014)
An old story in a modern ballet setting.
RESPIGHI: Brazilian Impressions – Orch. Philharmonique Royal De Liegè/ John Neschling – BIS
Respighi well-played and well-recorded.
RESPIGHI: Belkis, Queen of Sheba Suite; The Pines of Rome [TrackList follows] – Minnesota Orch./ Oue – Reference Recordings Mastercuts vinyl
A Respighi chestnut and a Respighi sort-of premiere, both on an audiophile vinyl pressing.
Alexandre Tharaud – Autograph = Works of BACH, RACHMANINOV, FAURE, SIBELIUS, GRIEG, SCRIABIN, CHOPIN, CHABRIER, BIZET, POULENC, SATIE & Others – Erato
Tharaud’s “In Celebration of the Encore” enchants us with a garden of gentle but brilliantly played delights.
Chaplin – Ballet by Mario Schröder, Blu-ray (2014)
An interesting treatment of Chaplin’s life and creations via ballet.
RAVEL: “Orchestral Works 2” = Valses nobles et sentimentales; Gaspard de la nuit; The Tomb of Couperin; La Valse – Orch. Nat. de Lyon/ Leonard Slatkin – Naxos audio-only Blu-ray
The second volume on audio-only Blu-ray of Ravel’s orchestral works is a winner.
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances; STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring – Toronto Sym. Orch./ Peter Oundjian – TSO Live
Enjoyable Russian dances performed by a Canadian orchestra.
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker Suite; ELLINGTON-STRAYHORN-TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker Suite (1960) – Harmonie Ensemble/New York/ Steven Richman; with Lew Tabackin, tenor sax/Lew Soloff, trumpet/ Bill Easley, clar./ Victor Lewis, drums/ George Cables, piano – Harmonia mundi
A pair of terrific Christmas-season classical/jazz discs.
Vadym Kholodenko: Gold Medalist = STRAVINSKY: Trois mouvements de Petrouchka; LISZT: 12 Transcendental Etudes – Vadym Kholodenko, piano – Harmonia mundi
Vadym Kholodenko spins pure gold from his performances at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition XIV, his Liszt and Stravinsky poetically mesmerizing.
PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet ballet, Blu-ray (2013)
A glorious Blu-ray version of the best production of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Rare Transcriptions and Paraphrases, Vol. 2 = PABST: Concert Paraphrase on The Sleeping Beauty; SILOTI: The Sleeping Beauty, Act III; GRAINGER: Paraphrase on Waltz of the Flowers; KASHKIN: Swan Lake: Pas de trios – Anthony Goldstone, p. – Divine Art
In Volume 2 of his series of Tchaikovsky transcriptions, Anthony Goldstone brings a consummate keyboard mastery to the fore, performing balletic arrangements by Tchaikovsky acolytes.
R. STRAUSS: Josephslegende (complete ballet); Love Scene from “Feuersnot;” Festmarsch – Royal Scottish Nat. Orch./ Neeme Järvi – Chandos
The second SACD release of this enjoyable R. Strauss ballet.