This celebrated recording of the almost-complete Gayne finally makes it to CD, and it’s as fresh and exciting as you may remember. About 75 percent of the total score is here, as much as anyone really needs, arranged in optimal sequence for home listening. This makes perfect sense in a ballet whose plot hinges on the heroine ratting out her drunkard husband for sabotage of the collective farming effort (as if it needed any help to fail). There’s also a thrilling sub-plot about a blind hunter who miraculously regains his sight in time to participate once again in the creation of the people’s utopia.
Of course, the nicest thing about Khachaturian’s music is that none of it pays the slightest heed to the above scenario: it’s straight Romantic nationalism, and all of your favorite numbers, including the Saber Dance and the Lezghinka, come off brilliantly in impactful but somewhat glassy sonics. Loris Tjeknavorian and the National Philharmonic pick-up orchestra clearly are having a terrific time. The excerpts from Spartacus (Danse with Crotales, Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia, Bacchanale, Spartacus’ Victory) and the Masquerade Suite have just as much oomph, and are even better engineered. Major league fun! [4/23/2005]
