Orchestra: Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava)
Conductor: Ondrej Lenard
Composer: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 2
Format: APE (image+cue)
Label: Naxos
Size: 555 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no
CD 01
01. Introduction
02. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Scene
03. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Waltz – Entance Of The Guests
04. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Scene – Entrance Of The Prince’s Mother
05. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Pas de trois
06. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Pas de deux
07. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Pas d’action, Dance of the Drunken Courtier Wolfgang
08. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Sujet – Dance Of The Goblets
09. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Peasant Dance
10. Act I. The Terrace In Front Of The Palace Of Prince Siegfried: Finale – The Flight Of Swans
11. Act II. By A Lake: Scene – The Swans Swim On The Lake
12. Act II By A Lake: Scene – Entrance Of Prince Siegfried – Odette Appears
13. Act II By A Lake: Scene – A Group Of Swans Swim Near – Prince Siegfried Invites Odette To His Palace
14. Act II By A Lake: Dance Of The Swans – I. Tempo Di Valse – II. Solo Of Odette – III. Dance Of The Swans
CD 02
01. Scene – Odette And The Swans Return To The Lake
02. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – A Ball At The Castle – I. Allegro giusto
03. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – A Ball At The Castle – II. Dance of Corps de Ballet & Dwarves
04. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Scene – Entrance Of The Guests & Waltz
05. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Scene – The Choice Of A Bride By Prince Siegfried.
06. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Pas de six – Six Noblewomen
07. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Hungarian Dance – Czardas
08. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Spanish Dance
09. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Neapolitan Dance
10. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Mazurka
11. Act III. In The Castle of Prince Siegfried – Scene – Siegfried’s Mother Expresses Joy at her son’s choice of Odile. Siegfried and Odile dance. Rotbart and Odile leave the ball.
12. Act IV. By The Lake – Entr’acte – Prince Siegfried At The Lakeside
13. Act IV. By The Lake – Scene – The Swans Await Odette
14. Act IV. By The Lake – Dance Of The Cygnets
15. Act IV. By The Lake – Scene – Odette Is Offended By Siegfried’s Behaviour
16. Act IV. By The Lake – Finale – Prince Siegfried Begs Odette’s Forgiveness, Breaks Rotbart’s Spell And is United with Odette.
The first DSD-SACD of virtually the complete Swan Lake
The music for this ballet is so well-known that for many people, myself included, it has become ‘old hat’. But not with this performance or recording. Without making any radical changes in approach to the music, Yablonsky and his orchestra bring totally new life to the score – it is like listening to a new work. The brass can blaze out over the full orchestra in the rich climaxes, yet the beauty of melodic fragments jumping from one woodwind to another are all handled with due delicacy. Although Yablonsky never lets the tempi drag one iota, they are still right for dancers to do full justice to the choreography.
And then we come to the full, clear sound of this demonstration-class SACD. If you want to show off your system, this is the recording to use. Solo instruments (especially the solo violin in the section that I regard as a ‘mini violin concerto’) are heard in a ‘you-are-there’ purity that even Mercury Living Presence would envy. And the orchestra at full power is handled with ease: a great sense of power is accompanied by a perfect balance of individual clarity and ensemble blend. And the producer has chosen not to exploit the directional potential of the 5.0 sound. The orchestra is firmly in front of you, but with more width and depth than a CD can provide. The surround channels are used primarily for ambience.
As a near-perfect performance of Tchaikovsky in the musical genre at which he was most at home, coupled with unsurpassed engineering, this release is a must! Naxos will be doing the music listening world an injustice if they do not release a matching recording of The Sleeping Beauty.