This is one of those delightful discs that will fill a useful gap in many collections. It’s actually rather amazing that a composer of such distinguished ballet music (arguably the 19th century’s greatest in the genre) has seen so few discs devoted to his dance and incidental music from his numerous operas. Yes, there’s the usual polonaise from Eugene Onegin (included here), but Tchaikovsky wrote a lot more that’s well worth hearing. These lively, brightly recorded performances were most recently available only in Philips’ big box of the complete orchestral works, so to have them issued separately at budget price, thus avoiding unnecessary repertoire duplication, is especially welcome. The numbers from The Maid of Orléans, The Sorceress, and Cherevichki are particularly charming and characteristic (Russian Dance, Dances of the Actors and Clowns, Cossack Dance, etc.). If you like the Nutcracker Suite and are looking for more of the same, here you go!
