Unsung Ballet Music

[saffron]

You can always rely on Respighi to throw everything at it - including the kitchen sink...

[M. Yaskovsky]

Well, Respighi's Belkis, I think complete: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ottorino-Respighi-Belkis-Queen-Premiere/dp/B00FW7PBCS/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=respighi+belkis&qid=1580289314&sr=8-19
With German narration.

[saffron]

Changing the subject slightly. Does anyone remember the excellent documentary shown by the BBC many years ago on Respighi? It was called  'Respighi - A Dream of Italy' - if memory serves me correct and was one of the Christopher Nupen composer documentaries (he did another on Sibelius). An excellent production and I must dig it out of my video library to watch again. The original was recorded on Betamax (remember that?) and I transferred it to DVD before the Betamax VCR expired...

[Mark Thomas]

Changing the subject slightly... too far. Back to unsung ballet, please.

[Alan Howe]

If members want to change the subject, they're always welcome to start a new thread...

[adriano]

M. Yaskovsky
This is the (DVD) live recording from Stuttgart I was writing about yesterday... In a way "complete", but totally altered because of the narration, which includes also texts from the score, which were merely intended as staging directives. This version is silly - even scanadalous: it makes of this powerful ballet a musical fairytale.

[giles.enders]

There are two 'unsung' ballets' whose music and scenes I can easily recall. Firstly there is La Bayadere by Ludwig Minkus,  dateing from 1877 and has one of the most haunting and memorable second acts, 'The Kingdom of the Shades' The music for this can sound slightly repetitive but that is the point as dancer after dancer enters.
My other choice is more modern but still within the remit.  It is Piege de Lumiere by Jean-Michel Damase dating from 1952.  The music in parts conveys tropical insects which were back lit in the productions that I have seen. 

[saffron]

Thank you Giles. I think I may have the Minkus item but it will mean searching through the vinyl library. I don't know the Damase one and will investigate...

[jerry.buszek]

I have checked my rather large collection and have found the following:

Manon - Besides the opera by Massenet there is a complete ballet with new music by Massenet recorded by Richard Bonynge on Decca.

Cydalise et le chevre-pied - The complete ballet was recorded by David Shallon and the Luxembourg Philharmonic on Timpani.

Esmeralda - This is a rare recording of Pugni's (1807-1870) ballet by the Odessa Symphony on an Adro Records cd.

Also, Oskar Nedbal (1874-1930) had excerpts of 4 of his ballets on 2 Supraphon discs with Miroslav Homolka and the Dvorak Chamber Orchestra: Princess Hyacinth/The Tale of Honza/From Tale to Tale/Andersen.

[TerraEpon]

Actually Manon Ballet is one of the many "ballet after" type deals that dot the 20th century. It uses other music by Massenet but it's not originally by him. I actually have quite a few of those, including Alice in Wonderland, Onegin (not 'Eugene') and The Queen of Spades (called the same, yes). This is in the same ilk as stuff like Gaite Parisienne (an absolute favorite), Cakewalk and Les Patineurs.

As for Cydalise et le chevre-pied, I do love it but it might be a bit impressionistic for the board.

I might have to look into that Pugni piece...

Now, some other recomendations....other Adolphe Adam ballets, such as La Filleule des Fees and Le Jole Fille de Gand, as well as Mingus's Don Quixote. And of course I shouldn't fail to mention Chamniade's Callirhoe.

[giles.enders]

In Rehihold Gliere's ballet, 'The Red Poppy' there is a very attractive waltz number called 'Boston'. It is quite haunting.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I'd forgotten about "The Red Poppy". It contains some lovely music. I would love to see it staged sometime, despite the propaganda story.

[TerraEpon]

In Rehihold Gliere's ballet, 'The Red Poppy' there is a very attractive waltz number called 'Boston'. It is quite haunting.

Actually a kind of dance -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_(dance)

[adriano]

The complete "Red Poppy" recording on Naxos is quite exciting. And there is the famous suite recorded by Scherchen - as a "filler" to his unsurpassable recording of "Ilya Murometz" :-) Also Edward Downes suite on Chandos is quite remarkable.

[giles.enders]

Alberto mentions Les Deux Pidgeons.  I have seen it on a number of occasions at Covent Garden, part of the fun was to see if the two live birds landed up where they were supposed to.  On one occasion one didn't and sat on the edge of a box and of course stole the show when at curtain call it returned to the stage.