Volume 27 Issue 5 | March 4 - April 15, 2022

Old Wine, New Bottles
Fine Old Recordings Re-Released
BRUCE SURTEES
At a time when we are not able to go out and
see live ballet and indeed ballet companies
are shuttered, I was fortunate enough
to be asked to review The Royal Ballet
Collection (Opus Arte opusarte.com/details/
OABD7210BD). This is truly an incomparable
collection of both best-loved and several
sensational new productions.
I shared this experience with my granddaughters
and if not quite like going to the
ballet, it is in some ways better. While there
is nothing quite like actually being at a live
performance, the brilliant camera direction
adds an element that is simply not available
at the live event. The director chooses where to focus our attention at
any given moment and this undoubtedly increases our appreciation
ten-fold. The Royal Ballet has engaged experienced directors for each
and every one of these productions.
Simply called The Collection this is a compilation of 22 ballets on
15 Blu-ray discs. Many of the ballets include select scenes and bonus
features after the ballet is over.
Included is a beautiful book of notes and full plot synopses as well
as pictures from each of the ballets. Whether you are a fan of the
ballet, new to it, or interested in a brand-new experience, this box is
the answer.
As a music reviewer, the most important component for me is
the musical performance. I listened with and without the video and
found the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House’s contribution to be
at all times engaging, animated, musical and frankly breathtaking in
parts. Ballet is an example of one of the most perfect combinations of
the visual and the audible. The Royal Ballet’s new box set is just that,
the perfect combination. In truth, in many cases, the marriage of the
visuals and the power of the orchestra are literally overwhelming
Of course, this box includes classic 19th-century ballets with
three Tchaikovsky favourites, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and
Swan Lake, as well as Giselle, La Bayadère and Don Quixote. This
collection also includes 21st-century ballets with the unique Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon,
music by Joby Talbot and danced by the stunning Lauren Cuthbertson
as Alice. Barry Wordsworth conducted this highly original work.
Wheeldon also contributed the equally magical The Winter’s Tale,
music also by Joby Talbot and danced by Edward Watson and
Cuthbertson as Leontes and Hermione respectively.
Chroma, music by Joby Talbot and Jack White III, Infra, music by
Max Richter and Limen, music by Kaija Saariaho, all choreographed
by Wayne McGregor, are completely new to me and a real revelation.
These are minimalist works, both visually and musically.
Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton’s ballets, nine in all, are well
represented with Sylvia, The Two Pigeons, La Valse and Monotones
I and II among others, composed by Leo Delibes, André Messager,
Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie. I have to admit that my favourite is
Marguerite and Armand, with music by Franz Liszt. I’m not sure if
it’s because of the orchestral setting of Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor or
Ashton’s beautifully romantic visualization, but I suspect it is the
perfect combination of the two.
Often considered Kenneth MacMillan’s finest work, Mayerling is
included, along with his incomparable Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet.
Liszt’s Faust Symphony was chosen for the dark and compelling
Mayerling, and with Barry Wordsworth on the podium it is a must see
and hear!
The experience of reviewing these discs afforded the opportunity to
view and listen to performances I would otherwise never have had.
Karajan (C-major Entertainment, naxosdirect.com/search/759704),
is an
unexpected but most welcome new Blu-ray
video of two live concerts conducted by
Herbert von Karajan, with soloists, from
concerts in Berlin and Vienna.
From the Philharmonie in Berlin we
witness The 1988 New Year’s Eve Concert
with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
and pianist Evgeny Kissin playing the
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat
Major. The opening work from this concert
is Prokofiev’s Symphony Op.25, aka The Classical Symphony.
Prokofiev wrote this work in the style of music written in the time
of Haydn and Mozart. It is in four movements which sound, under
Karajan’s baton, as exactly that, except for the timbre of the modern
instruments. Nevertheless, it is Prokofiev. In the Tchaikovsky we
see and hear a 17-year-old wunderkind play. When the LP of this
performance was originally issued by Deutsche Grammophon, the
critics and the classical audience were mixed in their reviews. One of
the features of this performance is the second movement, Andantino
semplice – Prestissimo which critics felt Kissin played too slowly.
After all, this is a romantic concerto and Kissin felt that playing more
slowly was more suitable. (Karajan also recorded this concerto with
Weissenberg and Richter with the usual tempo.) One has to wonder
whether Karajan was indulging the young pianist or did he feel this
slower tempo served the composer well? There is no doubt when you
watch the performance that they are definitely of one mind.
The New Year’s Day concert of 1987, with the Vienna Philharmonic
conducted by Karajan, featured the music of the two Johann Strausses,
father and son, and Josef Strauss. The concert of 15 pieces, including
waltzes, polkas and overtures, was broadcast as usual from Vienna and
was heard and seen around the world. The concert opened with the
rousing Gypsy Baron Overture and ended as usual, with the Beautiful
Blue Danube followed by the Radetzky March involving the audience
clapping to the tempo at Karajan’s direction. After the opening bars of
the Beloved Anna Polka the broadcast audience is treated to a special
performance from the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. Also featured
especially for the broadcast audience is the Ballet of the Vienna State
Opera dancing to the majestic Emperor Waltz in the Schönbrunn
Palace. Kathleen Battle in her prime sings the Voice of Spring.
Little did we know at this joyous time, that Karajan was to pass
away at his home in Anef a brief seven months later. We are so lucky
to have this recording of Karajan at his best. We experience him as a
happy and enthusiastic conductor showing his abiding love and affection
for the music and the orchestra.
The Royal Ballet Collection and Karajan are both available on
Blu-ray Disc only.
60 | March 4 – April 15, 2022 thewholenote.com