Average user rating:  |
 Possibly the greatest ballet ever written. |
| Tchaikovsky was a great composer who wrote symphonies, concertos, and other works which are beloved by classical music lovers. But his greatest compositions almost certainly were his three ballets, and the most uniquely beautiful of Tchaikovsky's ballets is The Sleeping Beauty. In my opinion it is the most beautiful ballet -- and one of the most beautiful works in any genre -- ever written by any composer. My favorite (five star) performances of The Sleeping Beauty are those by Richard Bonynge and Andre Previn. But Andrew Mogrelia is a very fine ballet conductor and this complete 3-CD set is a wonderful bargain. |
 Just like you are there |
| Yes, this recording is for the person familiar with the ballet and wants to be transported back to the stage. The tempo is just right for your imagination to allow the performers to dance in your head. Other faster recordings may be more accessible to people not as familiar with the ballet, such as Dorati. My reason to listen to ballets, operas, soundtracks etc. is to go back to the performance and feel the emotion which makes the music all the more enjoyable and significant. You can listen to this CD in it's entirety (that's right entirety) at naxos.com and make a completely informed decision.... |
| Did you say "Two for the price of one?" |
| That there is more than one worthwhile recording of any composer's work should be understood at the outset. This particular version of The Sleeping Beauty is said by some (one, at least, in this crowd) to be slow. Well, yes, it is slow. But of the four complete Sleeping Beauties out there (actually, I can only speak to three of them--the Bonynge I've not heard) this is the only one that presents a true, three-dimensional stage upon which one can imagine a dance taking place. Both the Dorati and the Gergiev are symphonic pieces--and both are quite good in their own way--but ballet is a unique art, where physical gesture and music are equally articulate. This dynamic requires a lot of space, an opening through which both languages proceed, converse, accomodate, and finally resolve into one. Since the physical presence of dance is nonexistent on aural recordings we generally ignore it altogether and there's an end to it. This recording will not allow you to do that. Strictly, as "music," it is inferior to the Dorati and the Gergiev--curiously, since Gergiev conducts for the Kirov the difference should not be as apparent here--but as music for the ballet it is, in this company, without parallel. |
