Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet)/ Sleeping Beauty Suite

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Seiji Ozawa (Conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Seiji Ozawa
• Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (October 13, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GGC
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,140 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Nutcracker: Ouverture. Allegro giusto

2. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 1 Scène. L'ornement et l'illuimination de l'arbre de Noël - Allegro non troppo - Più moderato - Allegro vivace

3. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 2 Marche. Tempo di marcia viva

4. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 3 Petit Galop des enfants et entrée des parents - Presto - Andante- Allegro

5. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 4 Scène dansante - Andantino - Allegro vivo - Andantino sostenut

6. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 5 Scène et Danse Gross-Vater - Andante - Andantino - Moderato assai - Andante - L'istesso tempo - Tempo di Gross-Vater - Allegro vivacissmo

7. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 6 Scène. Allegro semplice - Moderato con moto - Allegro giusto - Piu allegro - Moderato assai

8. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau I: No. 7 Scène. Allegro vivo

9. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau II: No. 8 Scène. Andante

10. The Nutcracker: Premier Acte Tableau II: No. 9 Valse des flocons de neige - Tempo di Valse, ma con moto - Presto

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Nutcracker: Deuxieme Acte: No. 13 Valse des fleurs - Tempo di Valse

2. The Nutcracker: Deuxieme Acte: No. 14 Pas de deux

3. The Nutcracker: Deuxieme Acte: No. 15 Valse finale et Apothéose - Tempo di Valse - L'Apotheose. Molto meno

4. The Nutcracker: La belle au bois dormant-Suite: No. 1 Introduction. La Fée des lilas - Allegro vivo - Andantino - Piu mosso - Andante sostenuto

5. The Nutcracker: La belle au bois dormant-Suite: No. 2 Adagio. Pas d'action - Andante - Adagio maestoso - Molto sostenuto, quasi piu Andante - Tempo I

6. The Nutcracker: La belle au bois dormant-Suite: No. 3 Pas de caractère. Le Chat botté et la chatte blanche - Allegro moderato - Moderato

7. The Nutcracker: La belle au bois dormant-Suite: No. Panorama. Andantino

8. The Nutcracker: La belle au bois dormant-Suite: No. 5 Valse. Allegro (Tempo di Valse)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BSO delivers a stellar performance of an old favorite., August 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet)/ Sleeping Beauty Suite (Audio CD)

The Suite from The Nutcracker has become so familiar and frankly overused today, especially at Christmastime, that it is rare to hear a recording that doesn't either plod through the work with boredom from too many playings or try to compensate with false enthusiasm. This, however, is a recording that restores the true beauty to all of the most familiar numbers in The Nutcracker and gives new life into the less well-known (though equally beautiful) ones as well. The traditionally known dances "Trépak" and "Valse des Fleurs" sparkle with all the shimmer that they deserve. The lesser-known portions of the ballet, such as the Danse Groß-Vater are equally well executed. Particularly noteworthy is the exquisite harp work, especially the cadenza to the Valse and throughout the Pas de Deux. The sonority of the Boston Symphony is exploited to its full potential in the larger scenes, especially the climaxes in the Pas de Deux and the battle between the Nutcracker-Prince and the Rat King. The final Valse et Apothéose is masterfully executed.The Suite from La Belle au Bois Dormant is executed with all the flair found in the Nutcracker. The entire work is extremely attentive to detail, which is not to say that it lacks the quirky nature very much present in Le chat botté et la chatte blanche music. The ever-popular final Valse is appropriately grand as well. I am usually quick to find fault, and after listening to this recording many times, I can find very little not to reccommend.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps Ozawa's finest recording, June 25, 2000

By 

J. Buxton "cantabile" (Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet)/ Sleeping Beauty Suite (Audio CD)

These are wonderful performances captured in excellent sound by the DG label. The complete Nutcracker is perhaps Seiji Ozawa finest recorded performance of any work, and the Sleeping Beauty Suite is equally distinguished. The Boston Symphony rise to the ocassion and show what a truly great orchestra they are. The Penguin Guide inexplicably neglects this version for some unknown reason. I've rarely heard the whole score played so vividly and sensitively, with the melodies just flowing everywhere. If you are only familiar with the Nutcracker Suite, I urge you to hear the rest. Every tune becomes memorable as played on this recording. In particular the Waltz of the Flowers has rarely had such bloom, and you can clearly hear every section of the orchestra. This recording, in my opinion, rivals the Kirov Orchestra/Gergiev on the Philips label. The speeds with Ozawa are a bit slower, but the impact is equally moving. One note for the cost conscious buyer: This set is now available in Europe (although curiously not in the US) as a 2 for the price of 1 set (also includes Ozawa's San Francisco recording of Romeo and Juliet). I urge you to shop around and if you are in the habit of buying online you can probably order this from an online company based in the UK for significantly less than it is going for here, probably because the full price set is still selling so well in the States. It is my hope that Amazon will make some of these "import" versions available online too.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-Notch Tchaikovsky from Boston, May 4, 2006

By 

M. C. Passarella "lpassarella" (Lawrenceville, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Complete Ballet)/ Sleeping Beauty Suite (Audio CD)

This recording came as an extremely pleasant surprise to me. The collaboration of Ozawa and Boston has been variable on disc, with probably more misses than hits over the years, but these Tchaikovsky recordings are pretty much all that one could wish for. There is charm and warmth aplenty, aided and abetted by an ideally warm DG recording that captures what I've heard in Symphony Hall, Boston, better than just about any other I've sampled. But charm isn't everything: here, the battle with the Mouse King and the livelier dances from Act I and the Divertissement have an energy and verve that are a joy to hear. Inclusion of the best bits from Sleeping Beauty, ravishingly played again, makes this a very fine Tchaikovsky ballet sampler, despite stiff competition on CD.