silvy Posted November 28, 2003 Share Posted November 28, 2003 Hi I would like to get me a complete Don Q on cd. Of the verions you have heard, which one would you most recommend? silvy Link to comment
Marc Haegeman Posted November 28, 2003 Share Posted November 28, 2003 Silvy, it's not that hard to choose, there is just one complete Don Q on CD as far as I know. It's the double CD from the Sofia National Opera Orchestra conducted by Boris Spassov, released by Capriccio sometime in the mid nineties. I wouldn't recommend it (the playing is about as dull as the recording) if it wasn't the only full length version around (I suppose it still is available?). If you want to have a better Don Q, try to copy the soundtrack of one of the Don Q videos. The Kirov version with Terekhova, Ruzimatov comes to mind. Spassov and his orchestra also cut a disc with fragments from Minkus' Paquita and Bayadère. Link to comment
silvy Posted November 28, 2003 Author Share Posted November 28, 2003 Thanks Marc- in fact, copying from videos is what I do when I have to dance excerpts from some ballets, but there is the danger of applause or background noise. For instance, when I dance Corsaire as a solo variation I do it to a music I have recorded from Kiev's Don Q (Medora's variation as Queen of Dryads). The speed is perfect for my tiny legs.... Silvy Link to comment
Ari Posted November 28, 2003 Share Posted November 28, 2003 Silvy, it's not that hard to choose, there is just one complete Don Q on CD as far as I know. It's the double CD from the Sofia National Opera Orchestra conducted by Boris Spassov, released by Capriccio sometime in the mid nineties. I wouldn't recommend it (the playing is about as dull as the recording) if it wasn't the only full length version around (I suppose it still is available?). Dance Books, in England, just notified those on its mailing list that it is selling the a two-CD recording by the Sofia National Opera under Nayden Todorov for £9.99, plus shipping. See their web site for details. Link to comment
Marc Haegeman Posted November 28, 2003 Share Posted November 28, 2003 Thanks for the link, Ari. Exactly the same orchestra again but with a different conductor - I guess it would be way too optimistic to expect a release from the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky? Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted November 28, 2003 Share Posted November 28, 2003 If this conductor just adds the Grand Pauses for the one-arm lifts, I'd be happy. Link to comment
silvy Posted December 8, 2003 Author Share Posted December 8, 2003 Hi I have come across that new recording of Don Q - I rather like it. I was surprised to listen in the "Dryads" scene that there is a music for the Queen of Dryads that is not danced in the video versions I have seen -it is a sort of grand valse which comes before the Amour variation. Anyone knows why is that music not danced? It is wonderful - I would love to know the steps... After Amour, the recording has the "souvenir du bal" variation, which is the music that Fonteyn dances as Medora with Rudi. silvy Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 Is this the Sofia/Todorov version, or something else? Do tell! Do tell! :huepfen: :huepfen: Link to comment
silvy Posted December 8, 2003 Author Share Posted December 8, 2003 Yeah- the Sofia / Todorov version Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 I gotta get it! I gotta get it! :hyper: Thanks, silvy! Link to comment
silvy Posted December 12, 2003 Author Share Posted December 12, 2003 Mel. hope that by now you have gotten the recording... If you have not, I must tell you that the conductor did NOT add the grand pauses for the one-arm lifts in the 1st act. Also I would have welcome more "force" in the orchestra in some passages. Otherwise the recording is a fine one, at least for me. Silvy Link to comment
Marc Haegeman Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 I also purchased that new recording with the Sofia National Opera Orchestra under Nayden Todorov and found it an extremely boring experience to sit through. Already after a few minutes maestro Todorov finishes off the score with his slow, inane tempi and some of the most unimaginative conducting I heard in ages (no need to look for anything as "daring" as long pauses, Mel, when you're on automatic pilot ). The non-dancing passages suffer the most, as if he has no idea what he is conducting. Really not the best way to introduce/present poor old Minkus (who is already not the most appreciated composer around) on CD. He deserves a lot better. The liner notes are sloppily written, fail to point out the non-Minkus sections and even the numbers are sometimes wrongly identified. The recording is about as pale and uninteresting as all the rest. To my mind a very disappointing issue adding nothing of value to the ballet music catalogue on disc. Link to comment
Solor Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 There is another recordding, by the Orch Victoria of nureyevs version, with the Lanchbery arrangments. You can only get it from them. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Who are "them"? I recall that recording from vinyl, and that's a "highlights" version, not complete. Link to comment
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