Two American Ballets

A 'tour de force' of thrilling orchestral playing and brilliant audio engineering, Antal Dorati's mono recordings are collected for the first time. Newly remastered, this collection comprehensively documents a golden era in American classical recording and most of these vividly-characterized recordings appear on CD for the first time."has to be heard to be believed … is it possible to exceed this in the art of reproduced sound?" The New Records.

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.

Paavo Järvi’s outstanding reputation makes him one of the most sought-after conductors on the international stage. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, he studied percussion and conducting at the Tallinn School of Music before moving to the USA in 1980, where he continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute with Leonard Bernstein.

The Second Volume of Leonard Bernsteins complete recorded legacy on Deutsche Grammophon: an original jackets collection in an LP-size box with deluxe book, taking in some of his most famous and celebrated recordings. The set comprises Bernsteins complete recordings of composers from Mahler (19 CDs) to Wagner. Includes all of Bernsteins recordings of Mendelssohn, Mozart, Puccini, Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Strauss, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.

John Cranko’s mastery of the art of the pas de deux finds its climax in Onegin, one of the most successful full length ballets of the 20th century. Set to sweeping music by Tchaikovsky, it tells Alexander Pushkin’s tragic love story of the world-weary aristocrat Onegin and the naïve country girl Tatiana in a superbly nuanced way. Featuring world stars Friedemann Vogel and Alicia Amatriain, this production is a must for all lovers of dramatic – and romantic – ballets. With Onegin, John Cranko secured his place in the pantheon of great 20th century choreographers. He created the three act work for the Stuttgart Ballet – of which he was Director – in 1965 and revised the ballet two years later.

Fred Ho & The Afro Asian Music Ensemble - Big Red! (2011) {Innova 794}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 430 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 173 Mb
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© 2011 Innova / Big Red Media | 794
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Modern Small Band / Baritone Saxophone

It’s not every day that you run into a musician who joins a protean range of talents—as a composer, saxophonist, writer and bandleader–-with a commitment to Marxist ideology….For twenty years now Fred Ho and his Afro Asian Music Ensemble have been defending the turf where the personal and the political slam into the maelstrom of new jazz…a fiercely imaginative baritone saxophonist and composer.