What a collection! As a natural adjunct to his exploration of the nether-regions of 19th century Romantic opera with his wife, Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge unearthed and recorded a richly varied selection of predominantly French and Russian ballet music. Granted, not all of it was great music, but the vast majority was tuneful, excellently crafted, and certainly easy on the ear. This superbly programmed 10-CD collection brings back into the catalog some familiar items, plus a number of rarities, all superbly played and conducted with a sure sense of style and no little degree of panache.
So what do you get? First, there are several popular collections, including The Art of the Prima Ballerina, Pas de deux (including Meyerbeer’s Les Patineurs), and the two-disc Homage to Pavlova (including Luigini’s sporadically popular Ballet égyptien). Next, there’s a disc of ballet arrangements and transcriptions, including the Britten/Rossini Matinées and Soirées Musicales, the Douglas/Chopin Les Sylphides, and Roger Desormière’s Strauss confection Le Beau Danube. A selection of ballets taken from operas includes William Tell, La Favorite, Les Troyens, and two more arrangements: The Good-humoured Ladies and Mam’zelle Angot. Bonynge’s abridged version of Offenbach’s Le Papillon comes coupled with a welcome rarity: Burgmüller’s complete La Péri. The disc devoted to Auber includes his Pas classique, and best of all a stunningly recorded rendition of the complete Marco Spada–terrific music given a smashing performance.
Ricardo Drigo, music director of the Imperial Theaters in Moscow in Tchaikovsky’s day, also gets a disc of his own, containing La Flûte magique (complete), along with excerpts from La Esmeralda, Le Corsaire, and Diane et Actéon. Finally, there’s Massenet: the ballet music from Le Cid, the March of the Princesses from Cendrillon, an intermezzo from Le Roi de Lahore, the Meditation from Thaïs, and two of his orchestral suites– Scènes alsaciennes and dramatiques. These last aren’t ballets, strictly speaking, but who’s counting? Superbly written booklet notes and generous disc timings (they average about 75 minutes each and two exceed 80) make this budget-priced collection a ballet lover’s dream. It’s also great listening for jogging, housework, long trips, or the daily commute. I can’t imagine a more economical, intelligent, or effective presentation of this always entertaining and frequently lovely music.
