Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Dmitry Yablonsky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra :: Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake [Hybrid SACD]

The first DSD-SACD of virtually the complete Swan Lake

Bryan Leech | Melbourne, VIC, Australia | 12/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The music for this ballet is so well-known that for many people, myself included, it has become 'old hat'. But not with this performance or recording. Without making any radical changes in approach to the music, Yablonsky and his orchestra bring totally new life to the score - it is like listening to a new work. The brass can blaze out over the full orchestra in the rich climaxes, yet the beauty of melodic fragments jumping from one woodwind to another are all handled with due delicacy. Although Yablonsky never lets the tempi drag one iota, they are still right for dancers to do full justice to the choreography.

And then we come to the full, clear sound of this demonstration-class SACD. If you want to show off your system, this is the recording to use. Solo instruments (especially the solo violin in the section that I regard as a 'mini violin concerto') are heard in a 'you-are-there' purity that even Mercury Living Presence would envy. And the orchestra at full power is handled with ease: a great sense of power is accompanied by a perfect balance of individual clarity and ensemble blend. And the producer has chosen not to exploit the directional potential of the 5.0 sound. The orchestra is firmly in front of you, but with more width and depth than a CD can provide. The surround channels are used primarily for ambience.

As a near-perfect performance of Tchaikovsky in the musical genre at which he was most at home, coupled with unsurpassed engineering, this release is a must! Naxos will be doing the music listening world an injustice if they do not release a matching recording of The Sleeping Beauty."

A Superb 'Swan Lake' in hybrid SACD format

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 05/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chances are you will never have heard the complete 'Swan Lake' ballet score in the concert hall. And unless you live in one of the major music and dance centers of the world, you won't see it danced, either. My very good regional ballet company has not, to my knowledge, ever presented this evening-long ballet. Of course, in the concert hall we occasionally get a suite from the ballet, but when one considers the beauty of this score, that merely whets one's appetite. Fortunately there have been fine recordings of the complete, or almost complete, score. At the top of the list is that of Charles Dutoit and his Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, recorded in the warm and clear acoustic of the St. Eustache Church. Other fine recordings have been led by André Previn, John Lanchbery and, way back, Anatol Fistoulari. The ten-year-old recording by Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra has been newly remastered, I'm told, but has not been released as of this writing; I did not hear it at the time of its original issue and cannot comment on it. This performance by Dmitry Yablonsky and the fine Russian State Symphony was issued about eighteen months ago on regular CD; I have not heard that version. This issue is in the hybrid SACD format, which means it can be played on a regular CD player but also with surround-sound equipment. I listened to this issue on a regular CD player, not having yet made the investment in the more elaborate set-up. That said, I must say that the sound here is spectacular. And in that it matches the spectacular playing of the orchestra. I wish the booklet had given the names of the solo violinist and cellist heard in the Siegfried/Odile pas de deux (and the violinist again in the Russian Dance): they were outstanding!I've been impressed by Dmitry Yablonsky and the Russian State Symphony before; they made a wonderful recording of Shostakovich's Jazz Suites, The Bolt Suite, and the Tahiti Trot (that delicious arrangement of 'Tea for Two'). And they are no less impressive here. Yablonsky started out as a cellist, but he has certainly made a successful switch to conducting. The music is presented is virtually the full ballet score, with only a few minor nips and tucks to allow the music to fit on two CDs. The Pas de deux, No. 5, has been restored to its rightful place in Act I. Acts I and II are on CD1, III & IV on CD2, so that unlike on some other sets there is no break in the middle of an act. Tempi are appropriate, the playing of the orchestra is alert, rich, rhythmically alive. The principal players are world-class. There is something about ballet scores that makes them attractive to the most casual listener, even when they're not Tchaikovsky - but of course he's the champ, perhaps along with Prokofiev - probably because they consist of short pieces of widely varying character, are impelled by clear rhythmic impulses, and are invariably tuneful. I cannot imagine anyone disliking this score and either this or the regular CD version of this performance is right up there with the best. And particularly if you have SACD equipment this is definitely the one to have.Heartily recommended.TT=148:38Scott Morrison"