It's that time of year again and the Tchaikovsky is in the air--or these days it may be more accurate to say in the bits. My 18 year old Niece just capped off years of ballet study with some impressive solos (as opposed to being the perennial village girl) in the Spanish Dance and Waltz of the Flowers. Warhorse that it may be, I just never tire of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece.
The Dorati Concertgebouw recording on Phillips was my first encounter wit the complete ballet, as opposed to the Suite, and it bowled me over when it appeared in the mid 1970s. The immaculate lp, the music simply bursting from the speakers larger than life, the horns in the Waltz of the Flowers, and the crushing climax of the Pas de Deux....for years I couldn't be tempted to listen to any other version. This past week, since the triumph of my Niece, I have pulled out the first of the big Mercury Reissue boxes, and lo and behold there are two previous Dorati/Minneapolis recordings, one each for stereo and mono. They are much faster than the Phillips version--the stereo set in particular would have broken a few dancers ankles--but great fun.
Favorites?
The Dorati Concertgebouw recording on Phillips was my first encounter wit the complete ballet, as opposed to the Suite, and it bowled me over when it appeared in the mid 1970s. The immaculate lp, the music simply bursting from the speakers larger than life, the horns in the Waltz of the Flowers, and the crushing climax of the Pas de Deux....for years I couldn't be tempted to listen to any other version. This past week, since the triumph of my Niece, I have pulled out the first of the big Mercury Reissue boxes, and lo and behold there are two previous Dorati/Minneapolis recordings, one each for stereo and mono. They are much faster than the Phillips version--the stereo set in particular would have broken a few dancers ankles--but great fun.
Favorites?
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