At the tender age of 20, Constant Lambert wrote his ballet Romeo and Juliet for the famous Ballets Russes. A short time thereafter he completed another ballet, Pomona, and the brief Overture also included on this disc. This is attractive light music written in a jazzy, neo-classical vein, with individual numbers (generically named for the most part after Baroque dances: Musette, Toccata, Passcaglia, Siciliana, Menuetto, etc.) seldom exceeding three minutes in length. The overture to The Bird Actors testifies to the composer’s short-windedness: it’s over just as it seems to get started. Charming, rhythmically perky, totally inconsequential, and very well scored, the music receives appropriately snappy performances from ballet specialist John Lanchbery and his well-trained theater orchestra. Toss in fine sonics, and the result is self-recommending if you enjoy say, Walton’s Façade Suite or Stravinsky’s Pulcinella (both of which admittedly have a bit more substance). It makes nice, peppy background music too. Try giving a copy to your doctor, dentist, or psychiatrist and tell them it will put a little pizzazz in their waiting rooms.
