Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake / The Nutcracker / The Sleeping Beauty (Complete Recordings) - Boston Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa / Russian National Orchestra / Mikhail Pletnev [Box set, Collector's Edition, Import]

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Seiji Ozawa (Conductor), Mikhail Pletnev (Conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Russian National Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra
• Conductor: Seiji Ozawa, Mikhail Pletnev
• Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (November 23, 2004)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set, Collector's Edition, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B0002IRY0Y
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,302 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #81 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Ballets

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ozawa and Pletnev are bland and refined -- but the Nutcracker is great, December 22, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake / The Nutcracker / The Sleeping Beauty (Complete Recordings) - Boston Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa / Russian National Orchestra / Mikhail Pletnev (Audio CD)

This is a frustrating box set of Tchaikovsky ballets. There's no arguing against the good recorded sound, which captures the elegance of the BSO and the refinement of the Russian Naitonal Orchestra. Both ensembles play very well, so there's no arguing about the pleasure of hearing such perfect execution. But Ozawa and Pletnev both view these scores as models of correctnoess and poise. Perhaps they view ballet that way, too, but absent more passion and real heart, all three performances become debilitating after a while -- all that poise drains away the music's life blood. However, for long stretches Ozawa's Nutcracker is vigorous and engrossing -- it's the best thing here and worth seeking out on the used markety by itself.

By a slight margin I prefer this box set to the corresponding one on EMI from Previn, but you are better off finding separate versions of each score.