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Editorial Reviews
A Perennial Best-seller In The Catalogue, And Much Beloved Of Balletomanes, These Vividly Recorded Ballet Masterpieces Are Restored To The Catalogue - And At Super-budget Price! Artists: Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / John Lanchbery [la Fille Mal Gard+ªe]. National Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Bonynge [mam'zelle Angot]
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hérold's score for "La Fille Mal Gardée" as adapted by Lanchbery / "Mam'zelle Angot" - a ballet adaptation of Lecocq's opera,
This review is from: Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee; Lecocq - Mam'zelle Angot (Audio CD)
This is the only complete recording of Ferdinand Hérold's score for "La Fille Mal Gardée" as adapted by John Lanchbery for Sir Frederick Ashton's 1960 revival for the Royal Ballet. This recording is in fact a re-release of Lanchbery's 1983 recording, originally issued on LP, and then released in 1991 onto CD with a recording of the ballet "Mam'zelle Angot" - Leonid Massine's ballet version of Charles Lecocq's opera "La fille de Madame Angot".The performance history of "La Fille Mal Gardée" is incrediblty rich and complex. The journey this ballet has taken from its original 1789 inception to Ashton's 1960 revival is quite a tale, and I shall not bore the reader with it. Should one be interested in it, however, see my article on wikipedia. In recent years Ashton's staging of "La Fille Mal Gardée" has become the premiere version that many ballet companies throughout the world have added to their repertories, but for many years nearly every production of "La Fille Mal Gardée" performed by ballet companies throughout the world was based on Alexander Gorsky's revival of the 1885 Petipa/Ivanov staging set to the music of Peter Ludwig Hertel. This version was itself a revival of Paul Taglioni's version staged in Berlin in 1864. It is from the Petipa/Ivanov staging that the so-called "La Fille Mal Gardée pas de deux" is derived (a staple of the modern-day gala and competiton circuit), the choreography being a Soviet-era rendition of Gorsky's version of it. "La Fille Mal Gardée", which was created in 1789 by the choregrapher Jean Dauberval for the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, was originally staged to a pastiche of 55 popular french airs compiled by an unknown hand. The ballet was revived for the ballerina Pauline Montessu at the Paris Opéra in 1828 by the Ballet Master Jean Pierre Aumer. For this revival Aumer employed the composer Ferdinand Hérold to create a "new" version of the score based on the 1789 pastiche, and it is this version of the music that served as a foundation for Lanchbery's adaptation recorded here. Aside from accessing the 1828 soucres of the music, Lanchbery and the ballet historian Ivor Guest utilized the original 1789 pastiche, long preserved in Bordeaux, as another piece in the foundation for the score. When Sir Frederick Ashton decided to stage a completely new version of "La Fille Mal Gardée" for the Royal Ballet in 1959, he originally intended to utilize the 1864 score of Hertel. Both he and Lanchbery found Hertel's score to be entirely to heavy-handed for thier intended production. Ashton was rather dissapointed that neither score contained suitable 'Classical Grand Pas' of any kind, but fortunately Ivor Guest accidently re-discovered the long lost 'Fanny Elssler Pas de Deux', which was preserved in a violin reduction, long ago tucked away in an old dusty box of music in teh archives of the Paris Opéra. All of this music proved to be far more suitable, fitting Ashton's itentions perfectly. The score is essentially a patchwork of airs from various operas, and it is interesting to note which parts are which. One find airs taken from Rossini's "La Cenerentola", "Elisabetta-Regina d'Inghilterra" and "The Barber of Seville". In the number 'Lise and the Ribbon' (no.3) (CD 1, Track 2) we have the 'Introduction, Pianissimo' taken from "The Barber of Seville". The 'Storm and Finale' (no.19) (CD 1, Track 19) is essentially a cut and paste from the storm music in "La Cenerentola", and from the aria 'Bell'alme Generose" from "Elisabetta-Regina d'Inghilterra" is fashioned 'When I'm Married' (no.25) and 'Pas de Deux' (no.29) (CD 2, Tracks 6 & 9). The famous 'Fanny Elssler Pas de Deux' (no.16) (CD 1, Track 15) is based on themes from Donizetti's opera "L'Elisir d'Amore". Also, from the 'Overture' of Jean-Paul Egide Martini's opera "Le Droit du Seigneur" the opening number of the ballet (no.1) (CD 1, Track 1). Lanchbery composed most of the ballet's mime scenes as well as the Act I pas de deux of Lise and Colas. There are a few sections that stem from the orignal score of 1789, such as 'Colas' (no.12) and 'Picnic' (no.13) (CD 1, Tracks 11 & 12 - these numbers contain themes from 'Pas des Moissoneurs' of the original score), as well as 'Spinning' (no.22) (CD 2, Track 3), and 'Tamborine Dance (aria con variazioni)' (no.23) (CD 2, Track 4). The solo for the clumsy character Alain is all Lanchbery, as well as the Rondo-style 'Finale' from the last scene. The Widow Simone's hilarious and highly entertaining 'Clog Dance' (no.17a) (CD 1, Track 17) is the only number in the Herold/Lanchbery score to be based on a theme from Peter-Ludwig Hertel's 1864 music, being the lietmotif for the character from that music (Ashton took Lanchbery to an English folk dance performance, which included Lancashire clog dancing, to inspire him). The music is true to the early 19th century tradition of ballet music composition - at that time scores were typically cobbled together from popular songs and operas. This was done for a number of reasons: to assist audiences in comprehending the libretto of a wordless artform, and also because ballets of the period were quickly produced and rarely lived long on the stage. One could go so far as to call the score a hack with its various 'borrowings', etc., but that is indeed an unfair verdict. Ballet music of the 19th century is often irresponsibly measured alongside the standards set by the "symphonists" of the world, when in fact it is an entirely different genre unto itself (it was written for the theatre, not the concert hall). Included along with "La Fille Mal Gardée" is the 1 act "Mam'zelle Angot", which was first produced for American Ballet Theatre (then called Ballet Theatre) in 1943 by the great dancer/choreographer Leonid Massine (1896-1979). Among Massine's most famous works include "La Boutique Fantasque" -1919, "Le Beau Danube" -1924, "Jeux d'Enfants" -1932, among many others. He also starred in the famous 1948 film "The Red Shoes" as Grischa Ljubov, the shoemaker. The music for the ballet was arranged from Charles Lecocq's (1832-1918) 1872 comic opera "La Fille de Madame Angot", from which the ballet was based. "Mam'zelle Angot" was later staged for the Royal Ballet in 1947 by Massine in what is now known as his definitive version of the ballet. For this staging Gordon Jacob arranged Lecocq's music further, as well as adding in themes from his other operas. The work has had a modest life on the ballet stages of the world, primarily with the Australian Ballet, for whom Massine mounted the work in 1971. For this recording we have Richard Bonynge conducting the National Philharmonic Orchstra. This is the only recording ever produced of the Lecocq score as arranged by Jacob for Massine's definitive 1947 staging. The music is beautifully tuneful and colorfully orchestrated, with many sweeping, danceable movements reminiscent of Drigo or Delibes. This recording of "Mam'zelle Angot" is also included on the 10 CD boxed-set "Fête du Ballet" (Decca 468 578-2) along with many other out-of-print releases of rare and obscure ballet music conducted by Bonynge.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
it pays to discover,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee; Lecocq - Mam'zelle Angot (Audio CD)
Double cd feature at super price is an added bonus to these works. Herold's work under Lanchbery baton comes out sparkling and live.Like in other french composers ballet music, what makes you like it, is the fresh approach without complications, just joyful cool music like when you listen to Dean Martin, nothing immortal apparently but so cool to listen to. Bonynge in the second work, does not need comment, he is the dean of ballet music, hats off.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amusing, Unknown Ballet,
By T. Schmalz (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee; Lecocq - Mam'zelle Angot (Audio CD)
To be honest, before I had purchased I had not heard of neither the ballet nor the composer. The Penguin Guide had highy recommended this recording, so I gave it a shot.The CD is fantastic. The ballet revolves around, as the title implies, a girl who is not carefully watched; a comic, light-hearted ballet based upon the average individual. The music is also light, but Lanchbery's arrangement adds some depth to the sound and the result is simply enjoyable. The recording is very good, the sound is full and well balanced. Having heard no other recording, I cannot say for myself, but as previously mentioned, the Penguin Guide considers this to be a "key" recording. The Bonynge bonus is also well performed and cannot disappoint. This recording is well worth your exploration.
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