Sorry, but Part 2 of last week's "Chain of associations" post ("Retracing how 'Excerpt I' came into my head + the odd path to 'Excerpt II' + a stab at explaining how it mattered") isn't quite ready. I'm aiming for tomorrow.
In the meantime --
WE HAVE MUSIC RELEVANT TO THE WORK-IN-PROGRESS
Set design by Konstantin Ivanov for Ballet No. 1's first performance, 1892
The start of Ballet No. 1
[2:56] Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Command, recorded in Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Apr. 29, 1964
The start of Ballet No. 2
[2:25] New Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond. Decca 'Phase 4', recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, September 1965
The start of Ballet No. 3
[2:29] Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, cond. Decca, recorded in Victoria Hall, Geneva, November 1958
by Ken
Again, these are the openings of three really well-known ballets. I'll be surprised if you don't recognize all of them. In a moment -- well, right after the click-through -- we're going to hear them again, properly identified, and with additional performances of each of our ballets. Plus, as a bonus, we're going to hear how one of them continues on a bit once the stage action begins.
HERE ARE OUR THREE BALLETS PROPERLY IDENTIFIED
(And now with an interesting assortment of performances)
You'll note from the opus numbers that I've arranged the three ballets in reverse chronological order. That's in part because the one that pertains to our work project is the one for which Tchaikovsky -- at this early stage of his career (he was 35 when he began composing the "early" work and 36 when he finished it) -- devised what is for me that startlingly and rivetingly intimate opening, Swan Lake. Which is the other reason for the reverse-chronological sequencing. I really wanted to open with the Swan Lake opening theme.
Not to take anything away from the dazzling Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker openers. They're exactly the openers those very different creations need. And of course even the Swan Lake Introduction pretty quickly builds up quite a head of steam, but to begin such an enormous work in such a stunning hush, with just the statement of a theme that in its various forms is going to get quite a workout by evening's end -- that's something!
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker, Op. 70: Overture
[2:56] Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Command, recorded in Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Apr. 29, 1964
[3;02] Philharmonia Orchestra, John Lanchbery, cond. EMI, recorded in Abbey Road Studio No. 1, Mar.-July 1981 (all three Tchaikovsky ballets)
[3:24] Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, cond. Decca, recorded in the Église de St. Eustache, October 1985
PERFORMANCE NOTES: I love the vigor and point and polish of the Steinberg performance of what is often billed as a "Miniature Overture." But I also appreciate the cooler, maybe less "jokey" approach of Lanchbery (if you scroll up to the top of the post you'll note that this opening is marked pp), such a skilled hand at dance music. Dutoit approaches the Overture even more spaciously, and as usual the Montreal Symphony responds with some notably sonorous and buoyant playing.
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66: Introduction
[2:25] New Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond. Decca 'Phase 4', recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, September 1965
[2:56] BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, cond. BBC, recorded in the Royal Festival Hall, London, Oct. 10, 1979
[3:10] USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, cond. Melodiya, recorded in Moscow, 1980
PERFORMANCE NOTES: The Rozhdestvensky and Svetlanov clips, being from complete recordings of the ballet rather than "concert"-style performances, include the lead-in to the wonderful March that opens the Prologue proper. I really hated to stop here.
Performance-wise, note too about R. and S. that they begin in faster-than-a-speeding-bullet mode. Yes, the tempo marking is Allegro vivo, but does the Stoky performance sound in any way deficient in "fastness"? Stoky also makes a less pronounced slowdown for the Andantino section (hey, it's only marked "andantino," not largo or even andante), and yet I can hardly imagine the contrast in movement between the two sections being more effectively realized. In 2½ minutes, we get an object lesson in things a master conductor can do.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake, Op. 20: Introduction
[2:29] Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, cond. Decca, recorded in Victoria Hall, Geneva, November 1958
[2:47] New Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond. Decca 'Phase 4', recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, September 1965
[2:57] National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, cond. Decca, recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, August 1975
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Not much to say here. In case you hadn't gathered, I love this little piece, and all of these performances do it proud -- in winningly different ways. Ansermet doesn't dawdle, yet doesn't sound rushed, and builds to a humdinger of a climax. Stoky makes it sound easy, and it isn't. I love the songful sensibility of Bonynge's performance, which doesn't lack for power either. (Both Ansermet and Bonynge recorded all three Tchaikovsky ballets, and though Ansermet's Swan Lake is less complete than I'd like, they're really outstanding achievements on both conductors' parts.)
YOU RECALL I SAID WE WERE GOING TO HEAR WHAT
COMES AFTER THAT REMARKABLE INTRODUCTION
And to accompany the audio clips, I asked Google Gemini to provide plot cues for these first three musical numbers. I think it did a heckuva job!
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake, Op. 20: opening scene, through No. 3
Introduction, leading directly into --
Act I
No. 1, Scène (Allegro giusto)
[14:51; No. 1 at 2:51; No. 2 at 5:50; No. 3 at 11:07] Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati, cond. Mercury, recorded in Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, Dec. 14-15, 1954 (mono)
[16:43; No. 1 at 2:46; No. 2 at 5:43; No. 3 at 13:01] London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn, cond. EMI, recorded in Kingsway Hall, May 26-28 & June 8-10, 1976
[17:13; No. 1 at 2:41; No. 2 at 5:35; No. 3 at 13:20] Philharmonia Orchestra, John Lanchbery cond. EMI, recorded in Abbey Road Studio No. 1, Mar.-July 1981 (all three Tchaikovsky ballets)
[16:15; No. 1 at 2:50; No. 2 at 5:48; No. 3 at 12:31] Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, cond. Melodiya, recorded in Moscow, 1969
NOTES: The Dorati-Minneapolis Swan Lake, beyond being a terrific performance, remains a landmark as a "complete recording of Tchaikovsky's original score." Happily, it's also a terrific performance. And despite being in mono, it sounds fine (honestly, no pun intended on the name of legendary Mercury engineer C. Robert Fine and his wife Wilma Cozart Fine, who oversaw the Mercury Living Presnce recordings), thanks to the work of the original Mercury Living Presence recording team and to (at the time) Philips's good sense in entrusting the Mercury CD reissues, including Dorati's Tchaikovsky ballets, to Wilma, who knew those recordings intimately and was determined to do everything she could to have them sound the way she knew they should. (Her credit in the Swan Lake booklet is "Produced, musically supervised, and mastered for Compact Disc by --.")
This may not be the right time or place for it. Nevertheless, I think it's worth a look at Antal Dorati's booklet note:
I think the Previn and Lanchbery performances speak for themselves. Again, these are Tchaikovsky-ballet three-peaters, and I love returning to both series -- not only is it always a pleasure, but I learn things every time. Previn's remarkable feel for drama in music is unfailing, and the LSO plays so beautifully for him. And it was an inspired idea to unleash Lanchbery, with all his ballet knowhow, on these three scores with an orchestra of the caliber of the Philharmonia.
As for the late-added Rozhdestvensky performance, also from a complete Swan Lake, it's a classic: energetic and intense. If it's not as beautifully played as many of the Western performances, I'm glad to get a Russian one in -- the musicians just feel the music differently.
AI POSTSCRIPT
As you may have observed, I've started to play around with AI -- for my peculiar purposes. Tonight I had easy questions. First, I needed a "striking" (that's how I put it in my query) image from one of the three ballets, with Nutcracker seemingly most likely. The app's first suggestion could have worked, except that the image had a company watermark. I pointed this out to GG, which apologized, and noted ruefully (yes, AI can appear "rueful"!) that it can't wash out the watermark, but then came back with a certifiably PD option, the one that -- with a bit of cropping -- sits atop this post!
Btw, in responding to my first question, asking for an image, since I explained what the post that was to follow was going to be about, providin as much factual detail -- facts only, about the format of the planned post, not commentary or opinions -- as I could (ne thing I'm loving about AI is that the more information you feed it, the more detailed and targeted its answers may be), darned if GG went ahead and wrote its own version of an introduction. I think it's worth reproducing.
COMING SOON: THE CONTINUATION OF LAST WEEK'S POST
You know the opening of Swan Lake is going to figure in it.
In the meantime --
WE HAVE MUSIC RELEVANT TO THE WORK-IN-PROGRESS
The start of Ballet No. 1
[2:56] Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Command, recorded in Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Apr. 29, 1964
The start of Ballet No. 2
[2:25] New Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond. Decca 'Phase 4', recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, September 1965
The start of Ballet No. 3
[2:29] Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, cond. Decca, recorded in Victoria Hall, Geneva, November 1958
by Ken
Again, these are the openings of three really well-known ballets. I'll be surprised if you don't recognize all of them. In a moment -- well, right after the click-through -- we're going to hear them again, properly identified, and with additional performances of each of our ballets. Plus, as a bonus, we're going to hear how one of them continues on a bit once the stage action begins.
HERE ARE OUR THREE BALLETS PROPERLY IDENTIFIED
(And now with an interesting assortment of performances)
You'll note from the opus numbers that I've arranged the three ballets in reverse chronological order. That's in part because the one that pertains to our work project is the one for which Tchaikovsky -- at this early stage of his career (he was 35 when he began composing the "early" work and 36 when he finished it) -- devised what is for me that startlingly and rivetingly intimate opening, Swan Lake. Which is the other reason for the reverse-chronological sequencing. I really wanted to open with the Swan Lake opening theme.
Not to take anything away from the dazzling Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker openers. They're exactly the openers those very different creations need. And of course even the Swan Lake Introduction pretty quickly builds up quite a head of steam, but to begin such an enormous work in such a stunning hush, with just the statement of a theme that in its various forms is going to get quite a workout by evening's end -- that's something!
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker, Op. 70: Overture
[2:56] Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Command, recorded in Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Apr. 29, 1964
[3;02] Philharmonia Orchestra, John Lanchbery, cond. EMI, recorded in Abbey Road Studio No. 1, Mar.-July 1981 (all three Tchaikovsky ballets)
[3:24] Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, cond. Decca, recorded in the Église de St. Eustache, October 1985
PERFORMANCE NOTES: I love the vigor and point and polish of the Steinberg performance of what is often billed as a "Miniature Overture." But I also appreciate the cooler, maybe less "jokey" approach of Lanchbery (if you scroll up to the top of the post you'll note that this opening is marked pp), such a skilled hand at dance music. Dutoit approaches the Overture even more spaciously, and as usual the Montreal Symphony responds with some notably sonorous and buoyant playing.
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66: Introduction
[2:25] New Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond. Decca 'Phase 4', recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, September 1965
[2:56] BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, cond. BBC, recorded in the Royal Festival Hall, London, Oct. 10, 1979
[3:10] USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, cond. Melodiya, recorded in Moscow, 1980
PERFORMANCE NOTES: The Rozhdestvensky and Svetlanov clips, being from complete recordings of the ballet rather than "concert"-style performances, include the lead-in to the wonderful March that opens the Prologue proper. I really hated to stop here.
Performance-wise, note too about R. and S. that they begin in faster-than-a-speeding-bullet mode. Yes, the tempo marking is Allegro vivo, but does the Stoky performance sound in any way deficient in "fastness"? Stoky also makes a less pronounced slowdown for the Andantino section (hey, it's only marked "andantino," not largo or even andante), and yet I can hardly imagine the contrast in movement between the two sections being more effectively realized. In 2½ minutes, we get an object lesson in things a master conductor can do.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake, Op. 20: Introduction
[2:29] Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, cond. Decca, recorded in Victoria Hall, Geneva, November 1958
[2:47] New Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond. Decca 'Phase 4', recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, September 1965
[2:57] National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, cond. Decca, recorded in Kingsway Hall, London, August 1975
PERFORMANCE NOTES: Not much to say here. In case you hadn't gathered, I love this little piece, and all of these performances do it proud -- in winningly different ways. Ansermet doesn't dawdle, yet doesn't sound rushed, and builds to a humdinger of a climax. Stoky makes it sound easy, and it isn't. I love the songful sensibility of Bonynge's performance, which doesn't lack for power either. (Both Ansermet and Bonynge recorded all three Tchaikovsky ballets, and though Ansermet's Swan Lake is less complete than I'd like, they're really outstanding achievements on both conductors' parts.)
YOU RECALL I SAID WE WERE GOING TO HEAR WHAT
COMES AFTER THAT REMARKABLE INTRODUCTION
And to accompany the audio clips, I asked Google Gemini to provide plot cues for these first three musical numbers. I think it did a heckuva job!
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake, Op. 20: opening scene, through No. 3
Introduction, leading directly into --
Act I
No. 1, Scène (Allegro giusto)
The Celebration Begins: The curtain rises on the park outside Prince Siegfried's castle. It is his 21st birthday. He is celebrating with his friends, his tutor Wolfgang, and a group of local peasants and well-wishers. This opening number sets a joyful, festive, and slightly boisterous mood for the day's party.No. 2, Valse-Intrada (Tempo di valse)
The Grand Waltz: A beautiful and famous waltz. The villagers and the Prince's friends dance in a lively and celebratory manner, showcasing the carefree enjoyment of the day before any royal duties intervene.No. 3, Scène (Allegro moderato)
The Queen's Command: The festive atmosphere is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of The Queen Mother (Siegfried's mother). She presents her son with a magnificent crossbow (a symbol of his adulthood) but then sternly reminds him that he must soon take on his royal responsibilities and select a bride at the grand ball to be held the following evening. This number introduces the central conflict between Siegfried's desire for freedom and his princely duty.
[14:51; No. 1 at 2:51; No. 2 at 5:50; No. 3 at 11:07] Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati, cond. Mercury, recorded in Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, Dec. 14-15, 1954 (mono)
[16:43; No. 1 at 2:46; No. 2 at 5:43; No. 3 at 13:01] London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn, cond. EMI, recorded in Kingsway Hall, May 26-28 & June 8-10, 1976
[17:13; No. 1 at 2:41; No. 2 at 5:35; No. 3 at 13:20] Philharmonia Orchestra, John Lanchbery cond. EMI, recorded in Abbey Road Studio No. 1, Mar.-July 1981 (all three Tchaikovsky ballets)
[16:15; No. 1 at 2:50; No. 2 at 5:48; No. 3 at 12:31] Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, cond. Melodiya, recorded in Moscow, 1969
NOTES: The Dorati-Minneapolis Swan Lake, beyond being a terrific performance, remains a landmark as a "complete recording of Tchaikovsky's original score." Happily, it's also a terrific performance. And despite being in mono, it sounds fine (honestly, no pun intended on the name of legendary Mercury engineer C. Robert Fine and his wife Wilma Cozart Fine, who oversaw the Mercury Living Presnce recordings), thanks to the work of the original Mercury Living Presence recording team and to (at the time) Philips's good sense in entrusting the Mercury CD reissues, including Dorati's Tchaikovsky ballets, to Wilma, who knew those recordings intimately and was determined to do everything she could to have them sound the way she knew they should. (Her credit in the Swan Lake booklet is "Produced, musically supervised, and mastered for Compact Disc by --.")
This may not be the right time or place for it. Nevertheless, I think it's worth a look at Antal Dorati's booklet note:
Bear in mind that this was 70 years ago, and in that time Swan Lake has come to be treated more respectfully. Still, I think the spirit of the mission that Dorati and the Mercury team were undertaking infuses the performance. (I should mention that the original Mercury team also had the sense to have Dorati remake Nutcracker in stereo (with the LSO, and with a Dorati-Philharmonia Hungarica Tchaikovsky Serendade for Strings thrown in) -- as satisfying a Nutcracker as I knowIt rarely happens that the original score of a world-famous musical work remains unknown. But it did happen so in the case of Tchaikovsky's SWAN LAKE.
The makers of the present recording believe that they present her for the first time ever the entire score of the ballet SWAN LAKE, as Tchaikovsky wrote it and intended it to be performed. It is indeed strange that there is no earlier trace of any performance of this original score, unaltered, either for the stage or for concert purposes. Therefore, it is especially fitting that this music by a master such as Tchaikovsky should be documented here in its entirety in the original form in which the composer wrote it.
The justification of or the need for the many other "versions" of this score are not to be discussed here; but the fact that this recording presents a curious kind of "world premiere" merits mentioning.
I think the Previn and Lanchbery performances speak for themselves. Again, these are Tchaikovsky-ballet three-peaters, and I love returning to both series -- not only is it always a pleasure, but I learn things every time. Previn's remarkable feel for drama in music is unfailing, and the LSO plays so beautifully for him. And it was an inspired idea to unleash Lanchbery, with all his ballet knowhow, on these three scores with an orchestra of the caliber of the Philharmonia.
As for the late-added Rozhdestvensky performance, also from a complete Swan Lake, it's a classic: energetic and intense. If it's not as beautifully played as many of the Western performances, I'm glad to get a Russian one in -- the musicians just feel the music differently.
AI POSTSCRIPT
As you may have observed, I've started to play around with AI -- for my peculiar purposes. Tonight I had easy questions. First, I needed a "striking" (that's how I put it in my query) image from one of the three ballets, with Nutcracker seemingly most likely. The app's first suggestion could have worked, except that the image had a company watermark. I pointed this out to GG, which apologized, and noted ruefully (yes, AI can appear "rueful"!) that it can't wash out the watermark, but then came back with a certifiably PD option, the one that -- with a bit of cropping -- sits atop this post!
Btw, in responding to my first question, asking for an image, since I explained what the post that was to follow was going to be about, providin as much factual detail -- facts only, about the format of the planned post, not commentary or opinions -- as I could (ne thing I'm loving about AI is that the more information you feed it, the more detailed and targeted its answers may be), darned if GG went ahead and wrote its own version of an introduction. I think it's worth reproducing.
Suggested Blog Post Intro TextFor the record, the only editing I did was the plodding job of formatting -- notably the boldfacing, which was in the AI text but didn't import into Blogger, and the ital for the ballet titles, which I think was my add.)
The Triple Crown: The Unmistakable Magic of Tchaikovsky’s Ballets
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky holds a permanent and beloved place in the world of classical music, largely due to the exquisite scores he composed for the ballet. More than just accompaniment, his music -- particularly for Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker -- elevated the art form, creating a triple crown of masterpieces that remain essential to the global repertoire.
Each of these three ballets opens with a distinct and unforgettable atmosphere, from the dramatic tension of Swan Lake to the regal elegance of Sleeping Beauty and the festive, enchanted world of The Nutcracker.
We invite you to step behind the curtain and listen to the very first moments of these three iconic ballets. Get ready to be swept away by the magic!
COMING SOON: THE CONTINUATION OF LAST WEEK'S POST
You know the opening of Swan Lake is going to figure in it.
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