Composer: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Performer: James Ehnes
Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Release: 2013
Size: 1.71 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Op. 20
01. Introduction
02. Act I The terrace in front of the palace of Prince Siegfried:
03. No. 1. Scene
04. No. 2. Valse
05. No. 3. Scene
06. No. 4. Pas de trois: I. Intrada
07. No. 4. Pas de trois: III. Allegro semplice – Presto
08. No. 4. Pas de trois: IV. Moderato
09. No. 4. Pas de trois: V. Allegro
10. No. 4. Pas de trois: VI. Coda: Allegro vivace
11. No. 5. Pas de deux: I. Tempo di valse ma non troppo vivo, quasi moderato
12. No. 5. Pas de deux: II. Andante – Allegro
13. No. 5. Pas de deux: III. Tempo di valse
14. No. 5. Pas de deux: IV. Coda: Allegro molto vivace
15. No. 6. Pas d’action
16. No. 7. Sujet
17. No. 8. Dance of the goblets: Tempo di polacca
18. No. 9. Finale: Andante: The flight of swans
Act II By a Lake:
19. No. 10. Scene: Moderato
20. No. 11. Scene
21. No. 12. Scene: Allegro
22. No. 13. Dances of the swans: I. Tempo di valse
23. No. 13. Dances of the swans: II. Moderato assai
24. No. 13. Dances of the swans: III. Tempo di valse
25. No. 13. Dances of the swans: IV. Allegro moderato
26. No. 13. Dances of the swans: V. Andante – Allegro
27. No. 13. Dances of the swans: VI. Tempo di valse
28. No. 13. Dances of the swans: VII. Coda: Allegro vivace
29. No. 14. Scene: Moderato
Act III In the Castle of Prince Siegfried: A Ball at the Castle:
30. No. 15. Allegro giusto
31. No. 16. Dance of the corps de ballet and dwarves: Moderato assai
32. No. 17. Arrival of the guests and waltz Allegro – Tempo di valse
33. No. 18. Scene: Allegro
34. No. 19. Pas de six: I. Intrada: Moderato assai
35. No. 19. Pas de six: II. Variation I: Allegro
36. No. 19. Pas de six: III. Variation II: Andante con moto
37. No. 19. Pas de six: IV. Variation III: Moderato
38. No. 19. Pas de six: V. Variation IV: Allegro
39. No. 19. Pas de six: VI. Variation V: Moderato – Allegro semplice
40. No. 19. Pas de six: VII. Coda: Allegro molto
41. Pas de deux: I. Introduction
42. Pas de deux: II. Variation I: Moderato – Andante
43. Pas de deux: III. Variation II: Allegro moderato
44. Pas de deux: IV. Coda
45. No. 20. Hungarian Dance: Moderato assai – Allegro moderato – Vivace
46. Russian Dance
47. No. 21. Spanish Dance: Allegro non troppo (Tempo di bolero)
48. No. 22. Neapolitan Dance: Allegro moderato – Andantino
49. No. 23. Mazurka: Tempo di mazurka
50. No. 24. Scene: Allegro
Act IV By the Lake:
51. No. 25. Entr’acte: Moderato
52. No. 26. Scene: Allegro non troppo
53. No. 27. Dance of the cygnets: Moderato
54. No. 28. Scene: Allegro agitato
55. No. 29. Finale: Andante – Allegro agitato – Moderato e maestoso – Moderato
Recorded: 18 June, 3-6 December 2012
Recording Venue: Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway
This is the second instalment in our series devoted to Tchaikovsky’s three great ballets. The first recording, of The Sleeping Beauty, was praised upon its release, described by a reviewer in American Record Guide as ‘one of the finest I’ve heard’. Here Neeme Järvi and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra present the complete version of Swan Lake, with the pre-eminent James Ehnes lending his magic to the violin solos. This was Tchaikovsky’s first full-length ballet, but its premiere in 1877, staged at Moscow’s Bolshoy Theatre, was by no means a resounding success. According to most accounts, the choreography was inept, the shabby sets and costumes were borrowed from other productions, and the orchestral playing was poor. Most ballet companies today base their productions on the 1895 revival by the distinguished choreographer Marius Petipa. Although this revival has been seen as more ‘danceable’, one may argue that the overall cuts and reordering ultimately destroyed Tchaikovsky’s ground plan of drama and tonality. Here we present Tchaikovsky’s original Bolshoy score of twenty-nine numbers across four acts, along with two supplementary numbers which Tchaikovsky provided not long after the premiere.