Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra :: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71 (Complete Ballet) [Hybrid SACD]

A Delightful Performance and Recording

J. Poss | Pahrump, Nevada | 12/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is s delightfully delicious performance and recording of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. Dorati's conducting reveals subtle nuances in the score. He is delicate when needed like in the Overture, Dance of the Toy Flutes and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and bold and vivacious when needed like during the Battle scene. The recording is extremely detailed and sounds incredibly natural in SACD multi-channel sound (3 channels [Front Left-Center-Front Right] in this case). It's as if I was seated at the conductor's podium. If I had to say something negative about it, I would have to say there could be just a little more hall ambiance (reverberation). The serenade is a perfect companion piece as well."

I Must Agree With Others: Too. Darn. FAST!!!

Erik Morton | Carmel, CA United States | 03/12/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm no classical scholar or Tchaikovsky nut, but I have grown up seeing "The Nutcracker" every Christmas (give or take a year or two), so I know how the music sounds and I know what I like. I don't go so far as to say, "This is not how The Nutcracker is intended to be heard!" because, again, I'm in on position to make such a claim.



But for my money, this particular recording (despite its historical value) is too darn fast. I have nothing to say against the strength of the orchestra or anything like that, and I understand why they play it like they do: in order to get the entire ballet onto an album , it needed to be played at that speed to fit everything. But listening to it now, the speed nearly kills it.



I wholeheartedly recommend the other Antal Dorati recording available on CD (recorded twenty years later and performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), or better yet the "soundtrack" version with the Maurice Sendak drawing on the cover. True, they're not SACDs like this one, but the strength of the recordings make them the better buy(s); they also contain the entire ballet, but the increased time lets them breathe more and flow more smoothly, to make for more satisfying listening experiences. (The ONE exception I would make is for "Pas de Deaux", which in my opinion is stronger on this earlier recording than on the later Dorati version.)"