Solor Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 HEY ALL............ I just got a recording of Sleeping B. by the Leningrad Philharmonic under maestro Viktor Fedotov (RIP). IT IS THE PERFORMANCE SCORE! It is conducted EXACTLY as it would be for the stage, and has the all the proper cuts, changes, etc! I was so excited when I got these CDs. I cannot put into words how great Tchaikovskys music sounds under the baton of ballet conductor Fedotov - He did such a magnificent job with this music. More likely than not if you have a film of the Kirov dancing they are dancing to the orchestra conducted by Fedotov. I know that many people have asked over time on this site about certain parts of Sleeping Beauty on CD - particulary Auroras Variations. The score used in this recording is the Sergeyev staging......I know this because in his version, Auroras Vision Scene solo is the one Tchaikovsky orignally composed, not the Gold Fairys solo as substituted by Petipa. And it is this version that is recorded here. Although I do think that that is the only big change made musically in his version (I would have rather heard the Petipa version, with the preceding number refashioned by Drigo, my one and only complaint about these CDs) All of the other 1892 Drigo changes are here though - little cuts, changes in expression to certain numbers, etc.........the music has a wonderful "ballet music-symphonic" cross to it if you get what i mean. The Rose Adagio, along with the vision scene pas, has the extended Harp arpeggios at the begining and is WONDERFULLY conducted by Fedotov. HE LETS THE MUSIC BREATHE! Auroras solo in Act 1 is at performance tempo and played with great feeling! It has all the right cuts. For those familiar with The Kirovs "older" version the last portion is cut and the variation ends with what I can only describe as a more "Minkus-like" finish. It is what is recorded here....I like it better myself. Auroras grand pas wedding solo in act III is the version we know as dancers, not the longer one Tchaikovsky originally composed. Many on this site have been in need of this version of the solo on cd. These are but a few of the treasures on these discs (its 2 CDs) GET THIS! You can get it on TowerRecords.com or Amazon.com....ITS IN PRINT! Snatch it up! Pjotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty. op/66 in Three acts Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra / conductor: Victor Fedotov Audiophile Classics apl 101.756 Qualiton Imports LTD. Link to comment
Herman Stevens Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 But Solor - all these wonderful things (the correct Vision scene music, the harp solo preluding the Rose Adagio etc etc) are in the Gergiev / Mariinsky on Philips and the Pletnev / Russia National ORch on DG, too. It's really not that exceptional. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 And Audiophile/Qualiton recordings tend to have strange acoustics, which makes things like oboes sound like kazoos! Link to comment
Thalictum Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 And I loathe the cuts! -- Above all to Aurora's Act 1 variation!! Link to comment
Solor Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 BUT IT IS EXCEPTIONAL..........ITS BY FEDOTOV!!!! I have both recordings. Fedotov lets the music dance, Gergiev lets the music be symphonic, which it can be. Of course I lke ballet music to sound like it should in the theater, not the concert hall. I think both recording are valuble, though fedotov was a far better conductor of ballet. Link to comment
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