Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake -- Selections

NBC Symphony Orchestra (Artist), Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Leopold Stokowski (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Leopold Stokowski
• Composer: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (November 20, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cala
• ASIN: B000FDFS8Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,881 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 10. Scène

2. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 13. Danses des cygnes. 1. Tempo di Valse

3. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 13. Danses des cygnes. 5. Pas d'action

4. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 13. Danses des cygnes. 4. Allegro moderato

5. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 13. Danses des cygnes. 6. Tempo di Valse

6. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 13. Danses des cygnes. 2. Moderato assai

7. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 2. No. 13. Danses des cygnes. 7. Coda

8. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 3. No. 15. Allegro giusto

9. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 3. No. 21. Danse espagnole

10. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 3. No. 22. Danse napolitaine

11. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 3. No. 20. Danse hongraise

12. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 3. No. 23. Mazurka

13. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 1. No. 5. Pas de deux. No. 1. Tempo di Valse

14. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 1. No. 5. Pas de deux. No. 2(a). Andante

15. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 1. No. 5. Pas de deux. No. 3. Tempo di Valse

16. The Swan Lake, ballet, Op. 20: Act 1. No. 5. Pas de deux. No. 4. Coda

17. An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful, Blue Danube), waltz for orchestra (with chorus ad lib), Op. 314 (RV 314)

18. Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), waltz for orchestra, Op. 325 (RV 325)

19. Ruins of Athens, incidental music, Op. 113: Turkish March

20. Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major ('Alla Turca') K. 331 (K. 300i): Turkish March

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stokowski in great form (but not so great sound), December 29, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake -- Selections (Audio CD)

I notice almost no response to Cala's ongoing series of Stokowski reissues, now numbering into the dozens. This English label, in cooperation with major record companies (this Swan Lake was licensed from RCA) and the Stokowski Society, has unearthed any number of treasures. More than anyone they are restoring Stokowski's reputation, erasing decades of caricature about the "man who conducted with Mickey Mouse" in Disney's Fantasia.

Here we have 57 min. of Swan Lake from 1954-55 with the NBC Sym., recorded just after the departure of Toscanini. Strings were reduced to save money, which is too bad, but the sprightly woodwind solos stand out all the more. Stokowski indulged in a complete rearrangement of numbers, putting the ballet's three acts in reverse order--it makes no sense on stage but sounds fine as a concert suite. The orchestra plays beautifully, and the conducting is vivid and lively, as good as Stokowski's sparkling Sleeping Beauty from 1947. Too bad that the sonics are only middling, sounding rather thin. But they are far better than Toscanini's from Studio 8-H, being not nearly as cramped and boxy.

Usually I find that Tchaikovsky's music tempted Stoki into all kinds of rhythmic distortions -- I'm thinking in particular of a ghastly Sym. 5 done late in life for Decca's souped up Phrase 4 line -- but not here. This is a 'straight' Swan Lake, a little faster than the norm, that's phrased with the dance in mind from beginning to end. Highly recommended.