17 replies to this topic

[BallettomanefromCanada]

A while back, I asked this question. Someone gave me an answer that John Neumeier's version entitled "The Illusions of Swan Lake" contained most of the music. I finally found a copy of this version. Here are the music sequences of Tchaikovsky;s music in the order that they were performed by the Hamburg Ballet Company in 2001.
SWAN LAKE (Illusions of “Swan Lake”) Anna Polikarpova & Jirí Bubenicek
Hamburg Ballet / Choreography by John Neumeier / Alexandra Danilova (Act II)
  No. 29. Scène finale (Andante - Allegro agitato - Alla breve - Moderato maestoso) (Partial) (Title Music)
  Introduction (Moderato assai)
  No.  1. Scène (Allegro giusto)
  No. 19. Pas de six: c. Variation 1(Allegro)
  No.  2. Valse
  No.  3. Scène (Allegro moderato)
  No.  4. Pas de trois: I. Intrada (Allegro)
  No.  4. Pas de trois: III. Allegro simplice - Presto
  No.  4. Pas de trois: IV. Moderato
  ***  Danse des cygnes (Valse bluette) (Opus 72/No.11, orchestrated by Drigo)
  No.  4. Pas de trois:  VI. Coda (Allegro vivace)
  No.  4. Pas de trois: II. Andante sostenuto
  ***  Scene (Un poco di Chopin) (Opus 72/No. 15, orchestrated by Drigo)
  ***  Numéro supplémentaire: NOTE: Inserted for Sobeshchanskaya - 1877:
   Pas de deux: a. Introduction; b. Moderato - Andante
  No.  7. Sujet
  No.  8. Danse des coupes (Tempo di polacca)
  Souvenir d'un lieu cher No. 1 (Méditation), Op. 42
ACT II:
  No. 10. Scène (Moderato)
  No. 11. Scène (Allegro moderato - Allegro vivo)
  No. 12. Scène (Allegro)
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: a. Tempo di valse
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: e. Pas d’action (Andante - Andante non troppo - Allegro)
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: d. Allegro moderato
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: f. Tempo di valse
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: b. Moderato assai - Molto più mosso
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: g. Coda (Allegro vivo)
  No. 14. Scène (Moderato)   
ACT III:
  No. 15. Allegro giusto
  No. 17. Scène (la sortie des invités et la valse) (Minus the Intro)
  No. 16. Danses du corps de ballet et des nains
  No. 20. Danse hongroise - Czardas
  No. 21. Danse espagnole
  No. 22. Danse napolitaine
  *** Numéro supplémentaire: Danse russe (NOTE: Written for Karpakova - 1877)
  No.  5. Pas de deux: I. Tempo di valse
  No.  5. Pas de deux: II. Andante - Allegro - Molto più mosso
  Pas de deux: Variation II: Odile (from Opus 72 for piano - No. 12 L’Espiègle) (orchestrated by Drigo)
  No.  5. Pas de deux: IV. Coda (Allegro vivace)
  No. 24. Scène (Allegro - Valse - Allegro vivo)
ACT IV:
   No. 25. Entr’acte (Moderato)
   Hamlet, Entr'acte (Elégie). Andante non troppo (Op. 67a/No.9)
   No. 29. Scène finale (Andante - Allegro agitato - Alla breve - Moderato maestoso)
Musical numbers missing:
  No.  4. Pas de trois: V. Allegro
  No.  5. Pas de deux: III. Tempo di valse
  No.  6. Pas d’action (Andantino quasi moderato - Allegro)
  No.  9. Finale (Andante)
  No. 13. Danses des cygnes: c. Danse des cygnes (Tempo di valse)
  No. 18. Scène (Allegro - Allegro giusto)
  No. 19. Pas de six: a. Intrada;  b. Moderato assai; d. Variation 2 (Andante con moto); e. Variation 3 (Moderato);
f. Variation 4 (Allegro); g.Variation 5 (Moderato - Allegro simplice); h.Coda (Allegro molto vivace)
  No. 23. Mazurka
  No. 26. Scène (Allegro non troppo)
  No. 27. Danse des petits cygnes
  No. 28. Scène (Allegro agitato)
  Pas de deux: c. Variation 1 (Allegro moderato); d. Variation 2 (Allegro) e.Coda (Allegro molto vivace)
(*** Numéro supplémentaire: NOTE: Inserted for Sobeshchanskaya - 1877)   

Sadly, as you can see, there are quite a few musical numbers not used in this version. I guess that the quest is still on for that illusive version of ALL of Tchaikovsky's music.

[cubanmiamiboy]

The only recording I know of collectig all of the original score-(1877)-is the Dutoit, which is the only one  I own.  I never liked Drigo's orchestrations for the 4th Act anyway-("Un poco di Chopin" and "Valse Bluette").  The Fourth Act looks much nicer and comprised in its original '77 musical scheme.

[Cygnet]

cubanmiamiboy, on 12 November 2011 - 07:28 AM, said:

The only recording I know of collectig all of the original score-(1877)-is the Dutoit, which is the only one  I own.  I never liked Drigo's orchestrations for the 4th Act anyway-("Un poco di Chopin" and "Valse Bluette").  The Fourth Act looks much nicer and comprised in its original '77 musical scheme.

I'm ITA with you that the Dutoit is a very good version and that the music demands the tragic ending that the composer envisioned.  The tragic ending is right there in the overture.  There are other good recordings such as Andre Previn's London Symphony Orchestra recording from the early 1970s on EMI, and John Lanchbery's Philharmonia Orchestra recording from the early 1980s (1982 - ?), which were both very fine.  Lanchbery's tempi was superior to Previn's as he conducted as if her were putting the music under the feet of dancers.  I don't think these are available anymore.  Ermler's treatment with the Royal Opera House Orchestra is also quite good but doesn't employ every last repeat (as Previn's did).  I recall that Previn's Act 3 waltz for the six princesses ran close to 10 minutes, because there were six fanfares plus the main theme's repeats, not just the one in most productions and recordings. There were no cuts in Previn's early 70s recording.

Nureyev's version for the Paris Opera Ballet uses most of the score, as does the Stanislavsky (Bourmeister), the Bolshoi, and the Mikhailovsky (Messerer).  For example, at Le Garnier, the Act 1 waltz is totally complete as is the 4th act.  They omit the Russian dance in Act 3 except for the Drigo scoring for the Odile pdd, and Odile's variation.  The Bolshoi omits the bulk of the Act 3 Pas de Six, but uses the oboe solo for Odile's variation, and as a previous poster has noted the Stan uses it as well.  The Stan uses the coda for the pas de six for the Odile pdd coda.  At the Paris Opera Ballet and the Bolshoi the variation before that is used for Rothbart's dance at the ball.  Tchaikovsky wrote so much music for his first ballet score, (without guidance from the original choreographer), it seems that he wrote it by the yard.  As a result this masterpiece remains a treasure trove for Artistic Directors and choreographers to choose from, whether they opt for the traditional staging (Petipa/Ivanov), or non-traditional staging.

The Russian State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dmitri Yablonsky on Naxos is a very good performance, but not as dramatic as Lanchbery's older treatment.  Of these two, the Bolshoi's Svetlanov, also with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra IMO is the platinum standard recording if you want the entire score. The Drigo 1895 edition, or "the performance score" on cd has only two interpretations out there; Victor Fedotov and Valery Gergiev's both with the Mariinsky Orchestra.  The latter was the soundtrack for the company's most recent "Swan Lake" dvd (2006) and is IMO, inferior to Fedotov's interpretation (on JVC), especially the final pdd ('Un poco di Chopin'). Fedotov's interpretation is the 5 star performance of the 1895 version.  It also includes the Russian Dance from Act 3 and the original Dance of the Swans (as a supplement to the Valse Bluette).  Unfortunately, Fedotov didn't insert the penultimate final bars from the 1877 score in the finale.  Had he done so it would have been the master-stroke on an already superlative performance.