Customer Reviews

Delibes: Coppélia; Massenet: Le Carillon

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Le Carillon was written in the same year as Werther. The villains of the story who try to destroy the bells of the title are punished by being miraculously transformed into bronze jaquemarts, fated to continue striking them for ever. The music of this one-Act ballet makes a delightful offering-not always as lightweight as one would expect. With his keen rhythmic sense and feeling for color, Bonynge is outstanding in this repertory, and the 1984 Decca recording is brilliant and colorful. A fine bonus (37 minutes) for a desirable version of Delibes' Coppelia, at the cheapest possible price.

Coppelia is a lively and very tuneful ballet which is given a fine performance by master ballet conductor Richard Bonynge on this two CD set. Massenet's short ballet Le Carillon is a delightful filler. Please do yourself a favor and get this outstanding set while it is still available.

As opposed to most ballet scores from the romantic era Coppelia is so crammed with good ideas and infectious tunes that it is indeed worth having complete as a pure listening experience - perhaps listening to it straight through is a little too much (unless it is treated as background music for some other activity - to which it is eminently suitable), but even people who don't count themselves as ballet enthusiasts ought to have the whole thing. And no one does music like this better than Richard Bonynge. Under his direction the Suisse Romande Orchestra provides performances full of glitter, sparkle and color; the music is stylishly shaped, rhythmically alive, lively and fresh, and the recorded sound is full and rich. If I were to look with a flashlight for weak links I suppose that some numbers may be a little too over-sugared and lacking in the necessary dramatic punch, but such moments are rare and far between (and even those numbers come across as thoroughly endearing).

As a coupling we get a wonderful performance of Massenet's Le Carillon, a masterly, melodic and atmospheric score written when Massenet was at the height of his powers (it was premiered just five days after Werther). Despite my favorable view of Coppelia I would actually suggest - and this may be something as a heresy - that Le Carillon is even more rewarding. Massenet's score might lack Coppelia's richness of hummable tunes, but Massenet was the superior composer, and his gorgeous orchestral textures and ability to create colors, light and shade and, not the least, stirring atmospheres as well as the lilting grace and elegance of the score make up for that many times over. The performances are again superb, and regardless of how you would compare the two works this set is enthusiastically recommended.