Adolphe Adam: Giselle [Import]

Adolphe Adam (Composer), Richard Bonynge (Conductor), Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra Covent Garden (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra Covent Garden
• Conductor: Richard Bonynge
• Composer: Adolphe Adam
• Audio CD (September 9, 1996)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Decca Import
• ASIN: B00002423S
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,446 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Introduction

2. Les Vendangeurs

3. Entree De Loys

4. Entree De Giselle

5. Retour De La Vendange Et Valse

6. Chasse

7. Scene D'hilarion

8. Marche Des Vignerons

9. Pas Seul

10. Polacca

11. Andante

12. Pesante

13. Allegretto

14. E Allegretto Pesante

15. F. Valse

16. A. Andante

17. B. Moderato

18. C. Allegro Moderato

19. D. Allegro Un Peu Loure

20. Galop General

See all 34 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine CD version of this ever-popular ballet, March 8, 2004

By 

Marc Haegeman "Marc Haegeman" (Gent, Belgium) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adolphe Adam: Giselle (Audio CD)

Overall a fine CD version of this beloved ballet (created in Paris in 1841) by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under Richard Bonynge. Other conductors may have offered more characterised or atmospheric performances (Fistoulari, Karajan, Tilson-Thomas), yet this well-recorded double CD set from Decca gives us the complete score, including many repeats usually omitted in the current ballet performances.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great performance of a great ballet, May 11, 2005

By 

D. R. Schryer (Poquoson, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adolphe Adam: Giselle (Audio CD)

Giselle was the first great Romantic ballet and it has deservedly remained in the mainstream ballet repertoire since its premier both because most great ballerinas love to dance the title role and also because of the extraordinary beauty of its music. There have been several fine recordings of Giselle but many are abbreviated, whereas this recording is complete. Furthermore, I have never heard Giselle conducted as beautifully as Richard Bonyge conducts it on this recording. If you love great ballet music, or simply great music from the Romantic era, I beg you to acquire this version of Giselle while it is still available.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, June 27, 2008

By 

David Saemann - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adolphe Adam: Giselle (Audio CD)

Richard Bonynge elicits mixed feelings as a conductor. There have been many criticisms of his technique, not without justification. Nevertheless, he is a fine musician who knows his scores and how he wants them to sound. He achieves fine results when paired with an orchestra sympathetic to his aims. His many fine ballet recordings, of which this is one, have been great additions to the catalog. He has said that Adolphe Adam is his favorite composer, and this recording bespeaks great affection on Bonynge's part. It is uncut, the first time I have heard the score this way, plus with a few common interpolations by other composers. The orchestra plays with tenderness or gusto as required. The early digital 1986 sound engineering holds up pretty well, with good detail and dynamic range, and with only a touch of steeliness to the violins. Because of the Urtext attributes of this recording, it would be very hard to recommend another in its place. As good as some of the highlights recordings are of Giselle (and I once had a stupendous record by Jean Martinon), the full score really demands to be heard, especially in such a fine performance.