Customer Reviews

Léon Minkus: Don Quijote

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This recording of DON QUIXOTE (the only relatively complete recording of the ballet) is a must for all lovers of ballet. While some of the orchesteral playing tends toward the insensitive oom-pah-pah side Leon Minkus's lilting score loses none of its charm or vivacity. This recording is also interesting in that it records much music which is rarely performed in American productions of the ballet. It is a delight to be able to hear the hauntingly beautiful vision scene whenever one wishes as the three variations (four if you count the recording of the original Dryad Queen's pas seul) are each masterpieces. The programme notes, unfortunately, are poorly translated and less complete than one would like. All in all I can not reccomend highly enough this fine recording of a neglected composer's work. One can only hope that other 19th century Russian ballets will be recorded. The reputations of Ceasare Pugni, Leon Minkus, and Riccardo Drigo as hack composers are completely undeserved.

I was pleased to find the full length recording of this ballet that is rarely seen in its entirety. I enjoyed the recording, however, I found the orchestra less than full-bodied, especially during the Grand Pas de Deux towards the end of the CD. It seemed a little tinny, a little too fragile during Kitri's variation, which does not suit her passionate, voluptuous nature. Aside from these drawbacks, I found the music very entertaining. I am still waiting for a full length version by a more robust orchestra, but in the meantime, this Don Quijote recording will do.

Usually, people who feel a strong predispotition for ballet music, have hard times in order to find on the commercial CD classical music, works by ballet music composers of the end of the last century. Minkus work has been negleted, but in the present version it is possible to listen to sensitive music which was predecesor of Tchaikovsky 's great ballet. I bougth this full length version at London city on 1995 and I know that in my country, Argentine, is quite hard to find Cappriccio CD version. I hope that Cappricio is keeping on with full length Ballet's version, hoping to listen a full length Version of L'Corsario as the production of Kirov Ballet and the Full length version of the Ballet La Source by Minkus-Delibes.

Although this recording by the Sofia National Opera Orchestra states that the score recorded here is "complete", it is not. Rather, it is a complete recording of whichever score the Sofia National Opera Orchestra was able to obtain. A complete recording of Ludwig Minkus's (1826-1917) full, un-cut score for Marius Petipa's "Don Quixote" has yet to be produced. When it comes to the music of the classical/Petipa/19th century repertory, there is an epidemic of misconceptions concerning history and authorship. The score of "Don Quixote" is a case in point, and the fact that the ballet was much revised during the first 50-70 years years of its stage life, and the fact the score was published in some rather negligent editions, has added to the mystery.

Marius Petipa's "Don Quixote" was originally produced for the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow in 4 acts and 8 tableaux. It was performed for the first time on December 26 [O.S. December 14] 1869. Petipa and Minkus then mounted the work for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg in an expanded edition of 5 acts and 11 tableaux. The premiere on November 21 [O.S. November 9] 1871 was very successful, and lead to a long collaboration between Petipa and Minkus that would last until 1886. It was Alexander Gorsky's new version of Petipa's "Don Quixote" that would serve as the basis for all modern productions. Gorsky originally staged his version for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the first performance taking place on December 19 [O.S. December 6] 1900. This version modified Petipa's scenario to 3 acts and 6 tableaux, and Minkus's score was trimmed and supplemented with new music by the composer Anton Simon. In 1902 the Director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theaters Vladimir Telyakovsky invited Gorsky to mount his production of "Don Quixote" for the Imperial Ballet of the Mariinsky. More changes were made, including new pieces lifted from some of Minkus's other works, and two new variations by composer Riccardo Drigo for Mathilde Kschessinskaya, who performed the role of Kitri. The premiere on February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1902 shocked the St. Petersburg balletomanes with its realistic crowd scenes and décor. Petipa was outraged by the production, which did not last long in the repertory of the Imperial Ballet.

Nevertheless Gorsky's version of "Don Quixote" was not forgotten, and it eventually reappeared in St. Petersburg throughout the 1910s, eventually finding a place in the permanent repertory. The ballet lived on in Russia well after the revolution of 1917, with Minkus's score going through a galaxy of alterations along the way. In 1923 Fydor Lopukhov staged a new version for the former Imperial Ballet in Leningrad that included a new "Fandango" by Eduard Nápravník. Rostislav Zakharov staged a new version of the ballet for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1940, which included new music by Vassily Soloviev-Sedoy. These additions eventually found their way into the Leningrad production. Pyotr Gusev staged another version at the Kirov Theatre in 1946, with the original libretto modified by Yuri Slonomsky, new dances by Nina Anisimova (for the tavern scene), and décor restored from the original 1902 designs prepared for Gorsky's Petersburg staging. This production is still retained in the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's repertory today.

The earliest published piano reductions of Minkus's score have added to much of the confusion surrounding this ballet's music. The score was first published in 1882 by the publisher Th. Stellowsky, and the same material was published again in 1892 by A. Gutheil. The version published by Stellowsky & Gutheil divides some of the tableaux into 5 seperate acts, in spite of the fact that a tableau may simply be one scene of a particluar act, rather than a whole act unto itself. To make matters worse, Stellowsky and Gutheil never realized that they had published some of the tableaux out of order. In 1902 Stellowsky brought out Minkus's score as revised for Gorsky's 3 act production. What boggles the mind is the fact that Stellowsky re-used the original 1882 score's frontispiece for the 1902 Gorsky score, which has lead many historians to believe incorrectly that the 1902 edition is in fact Minkus's original score. Both the 1882 and 1902 Stellowsky scores have been re-published in the west in several editions, such as Dance Book's 1979 reproduction of Stellowsky's 1882 score. Although the 1892 Gutheil edition has never been re-issued, it can be easily obtained through libraries and online via IMSLP.

The score offered here by Boris Spassov and the Sofia National Opera Orchestra refelects the century and a half of revisions Minkus's music has gone through. As with all modern-day Russian productions, the score omits much of the delightful music that Minkus wrote for the ballet, and yet it includes several pieces taken from some of his other works as well as the additional music from others. Over the years, many of these additional pieces by other composers have been erroneously credited to Minkus.

With Minkus's music, the manner in which it is conducted can either make the score shine brightly or turn it into very a dull affair. Spassov does a rather straight forward job overall. In my opinion, it is extreme dynamics that can make much of Minkus's music shine. Strangley enough, the Sofia National Opera Orchestra recorded the exact same material yet again with Nayden Todorov at the helm only a few years after this recording was issued for the label Naxos. It is a dissapointing recording in that it is not all that different from the one reviewed here with regard to conducting. Unfortunately modern-day dancers slow tempi down endlessly, and both recordings reflect this.

A truly complete recording of Minkus's score for Petipa's "Don Quixote" has yet to appear on disc (or in published form). The fact that some serious reconstructive work may have to go in to such a project makes it unlikely any time soon. It would seem that the Mariinsky Theatre's music library is the only place on earth where one could obtain the complete original orchestral parts of Petipa's 1871 staging, and they are not very keen on sharing their archives (in spite of the fact they so rarely utilize it themselves).

Minkus has been poorly represented on disc, and there are many other treasures of his waiting to be discovered. Recently, the pianist Igor Zapravdin recorded a triple-disc series of ballet class CDs that offer several rarely heard pieces from long-gone-from-the-stage works by Minkus and his contemporaries.

Recently, the Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra issued a far superior recording of "Don Quixote" to the one reviewed here. Though it offers much of the same material, it demonstrates just how much of a delight the score can be when conducted properly.


I have tried, to the best of my ability, to identify the origins of all the additional pieces found in this recording. The majority of them, particularly the Soviet-era additions, really clash with Minkus's score. The Soviet-era additions are almost all credited in the liner notes, but the Imperial-era additions are often given no information. I have listed these additional pieces below:

--CD 1 / Tracks 13-17: The "Grand pas des toréadors". I have read that this suite of dances, performed by 8 Bull-fighters and a street dancer named Mercedes, was actually extracted by Gorsky from Minkus's score for Petipa's 1881 ballet "Zoraïa, ou La Maure en Espagne" (a ballet also set in Spain), and that he included it in his 1902 staging of "Don Quixote" at the Mariinsky. The liner notes included with this recording also mention that this suite is taken from Petipa's "Zoraïa". Interestingly, the 1882 Stellowsky edition of Minkus's original score includes it. It is possible that Petipa may have produced a revival of "Don Quixote" not long after the premiere of "Zoraïa" and decided to interpolate the "Grand pas des toréadors" into the ballet. The 1882 Stellowsky score may have been published to commemorate such a revival. Another possibility is that the "Grand pas des toréadors" may have been originally composed for "Don Quixote", and then added by Petipa to "Zoraïa". Gorsky may have simply restored the suite to "Don Quixote" for his staging.

--CD 1 / Track 25: "Introduction". This introduction is obviously a Soviet-era addition tacked on to Track 26 ("Appearence of Kitri and Basilio" in the liner notes). It is likely by Anton Simon, who revised the score for Gorsky's 1900 revival at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

--CD 1 / Track 28: "Spanish Dance of Mercedes". Anton Simon is responsible for this addition, again for the Gosrky staging.

--CD 1 / Track 29: "Karmenciita". A piece by Vassily Soloviev-Sedoy that was likely composed for Zakharov's 1940 revival in Moscow. Strangely enough, the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's production of "Don Quixote" retains the introduction of this piece for a different number that accompanies an Oriental dance performed during the divertissement of the tavern scene.

--CD 1 / Track 30: "Dance of Espada". This is an orchestration of the Fandango from Eduard Nápravník's Op.51/no.2 "Spanish pieces for piano", apparently added to Lopukhov's 1923 revival at the Markiinsky.

--CD 1 / Track 31: "Sailor's Dance". Another addition by Vassily Soloviev-Sedoy likely composed for Zakharov's 1940 revival in Moscow.

--CD 2 / Track 7: "Dryad's Mistresses". An additional dance by Anton Simon for Gosrksy version, possibly for a group of coryphées and/or the corps de ballet. I have never seen any modern-day production of "Don Quixote" that retains this piece.

--CD 2 / Track 8: "Dryad's Mistresses ("Souvenir du Ball")". This is the variation traditionally associated with the so-called Dryad Queen in the famous dream scene of "Don Quixote", a character that was actually created by Gorsky. The music is by Anton Simon. It is likely that this music, a solo for violin, was originally composed by Simon as a salon piece, and was never intended for choreography (the original published piano reduction of this piece gives it the title of "Souvenir du Bal", with no clue as to its legacy in "Don Quixote"). When Rudolf Nureyev first staged the so-called "Le Corsaire pas de deux" in London in 1962, Margot Fonteyn performed this variation in place of the original. Ever since, many stagings of the pas de deux have retained the variation, which has added to the confusion about its origins.

--CD 2 / Track 9: "Amor". This variation is traditionally danced by the Cupid character in the famous dream scene of "Don Quixote". It also turns up in various stagings of the famous "Paquita Grand pas classique", particularly the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's staging. The conductor/composer Alexei Papkov is the actual author. Papkov served as principal conductor of ballet performances in St. Petersburg until he was succeeded by Riccardo Drigo in 1886. He was known to compose supplemental pieces for various ballets on occasion, and this variation is one piece to have survived. It seems it was added to the Imperial Ballet's production of the full-length "Paquita" for the ballerina Varvara Nikitina circa 1880-1885. This is quite suprising, considering how well the music serves its purpose in accompaying the dancing of Cupid.

--CD 2 / Track 10: "Variation: Dulcinea (Kiti)". This variation was composed by Riccardo Drigo for Mathilde Kschessinskaya, who danced the role of Kitri in Gorsky's St. Petersburg staging of "Don Quixote" in 1902. Unfortunatey, the orchestral parts used for this recording present a re-orchestration of Drigo's music. It seems that the Mariinsky Theatre is the only place where one can hear Drigo's original.

--CD 2 / Track 12: "March". Vladimir Vasiliev's production of "Don Quixote" credited this march as being the work of Yuli Gerber, a contemporary of Minkus who composed for ballets primarily in Moscow. The Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's recent reconstruction of "La Bayadère" fully restored Minkus's original score, which opened up passages usually edited out of the "Marche triomphale" at the start of the third tableau. What is very odd is that these passages are identicle to those found in the march in question from "Don Quixote". Considering how similar both marches are to one another, I'm pretty sure that the "Don Quixote" march is by Minkus.

--CD 2 / Track 15: "Classical Variation I". This variation is by Riccardo Drigo, a viennese style waltz. It was originally composed for Petipa's ballet "Le Réveil de Flore". The Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet's recent reconstruction of this ballet sadly did not include this variation, which was one of four extra variations Drigo wrote for "Le Réveil de Flore" at some point after the ballet's 1894 premiere. This variation also turns up in American Ballet Theatre's production of "Le Corsaire" during the scene "Le Jardin animé" as a solo for the character Medora.

--CD 2 / Track 16: "Classical Variation II". This variation was recently included in the Bolshoi Ballet's reconstruction of Petipa's "Paquita Grand pas classique". The theatre program credited this solo to Minkus, and as being taken from Jules Perrot's 1855 grand ballet "Armida". Since Cesare Pugni wrote the score for that work it is likely that this variation was written by Minkus ad hoc much later. Whatever the case, Perrot's "Armida" was a dismal failure & did not last long in the repertory of the Imperial Ballet, so it makes me wonder if they have credited this solo correctly. Interestingly, it has the exact same melodic structure as Solor's variation from "La Bayadère", a trick Minkus used quite often in order to dish out the vast catalogue of variations he was required to compose.

--CD 2 / Track 20: "Variation: Kitri". This delightful solo for harp, which is sometimes referred to as "The Fan" ("L'éventail"), is credited to Riccardo Drigo, and is the other variation he wrote for Kschessinskaya's performance as Kitri in Gorsky's 1902 staging of "Don Quixote". It is traditionally found in the famous Grand pas de deux. This music is very similar to the "Variation de la Reine du jour" from Minkus's score for Petipa's ballet "Nuit et Jour", a lavish piece d'occasion in one act produced for the coronation of Tsar Alexander III in 1882. "Nuit et Jour" is one of a small handful of Minkus's ballets to have been published in piano recution, so it's possible that Drigo used the solo as the basis for Kschessinskaya's variation. Another possibilty is that the solo is actually by Minkus, and taken from one of his other works. Considering how much Minkus borrowed from himself, this is not unlikely. It is significant to note that Kitri's original variation from the Grand pas de deux, which is included in the Stellowsky and Gutheil piano scores, is a violin solo reminiscent of Carlotta Grisi's variation from Pugni's "Pas de Quatre". I am not aware of any production of "Don Quixote" that includes it.

--CD 2 / Track 21: "Variation: Kitri (Version of no.9)". I have no idea what "Version of No.9" refers to, but I suspect that this is the waltz variation that Cesare Pugni wrote for Anna Sobeshchanskaya (the first Kitri) in 1869 for the oriignal production of "Don Quixote" in Moscow. It is very much in his style.

--CD 2 / Track 23: 'Finale/Spanish Dance'. I am not sure of the origins of this number, but it is obviously not by Minkus, but likely by Anton Simon.

Spassov is a boon to ballet dancers. Excellent tempos and phrasing for the dancer. It's such a joy to have the full-length recording.