Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Mark Ermler :: Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (excerpts)

The Best In Sound & Performance = The Best, PERIOD!!!!

Larry Cook | Leesburg, GA USA | 11/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My opinion: This is the best CD of Swan Lake excerpts you will EVER find. No, I don't own this particular CD. How do I know what I'm talking about? Simple, very simple. I own the COMPLETE ballet of this work by the same orchestra and conductor on the same label (3CD's)! It is, as far as I know, out of print. If you can, check around and see if you can find it used. It will be worth it. If you can't find it, then go with this just for the excerpts. Conductor Mark Ermler and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden puts out the best performances of Swan Lake I have ever heard! If you have a first class sound system in your home, this is a great showpiece. Ermler really has done a terrific job in keeping this 85-piece orchestra in check. The brass is razor-sharp and the woodwinds are easily to the task. The cymbal transients are superiorally recorded--hats off to Conifer!Conifer-RPO released all three of Tchaikovsky's ballets (complete) (The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty) in 1990 with the same conductor and orchestra. When I read the CD reviews of these three recordings at one sitting out of the now defunct "Stereo Review" magazine, I immediately got on the phone to Tower Records to order all three. Althought I had to wait nearly six weeks, since these had to be special ordered from overseas, IT WAS WELL WORTH IT!!!!!! Actually, what I have said about this CD I'm reviewing now CAN be applied to the other two ballets as well! They're all the SAME quality and SOUND and PERFORMANCE!!!! However, the "Sleeping Beauty" (complete) is also out of print, as far as I know. The "Nutcracker" (complete) is still available here at amazon.com. So are the excerpts.
A word of warning though: Stay away from the new Naxos release of "Swan Lake" (complete) Yablonsky/Russian State Symphony Orchestra. It seems as if this recording has been under the so-called "butcher-block" adaptation. Not all the repeats are recognized. Listen a minute or so before the ending of the Valse and you'll notice that some of the original bars are omitted. "Dance of the Goblets" half done---you name it! This recording reminds me of Ansermet/L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande version.
Anyway, the ball is in your court; you decide. If anything, get all three of these ballets complete; if you can't, get the excerpts. If you're not impressed by the performances, then you'll have something to show off your high-definition sound system!"