Khachaturian: Gayane Suite

The splendour of Russia’s ballet tradition is evoked in spectacular scores by Rimsky-Korsakov, Khachaturian and Glazunov, while Shostakovich espouses modernism – and ‘Tea for Two’. The exotic Scheherazade, which inspired a steamy harem scenario from Diaghilev and Fokine, is here entrusted to Riccardo Muti. Aram Khachaturian himself conducts excerpts from Spartacus – including the sweepingly romantic and justly celebrated Adagio; another, contracting highlight comes with the fiery Sabre Dance from the same composer’s Gayaneh.

The St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra are one of the classical world's most popular touring ensembles, bringing an inimitable style and character to their performances under the direction of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Yuri Temirkanov. This recording presents works from two very different composers, both united through their mastery of orchestral colouring and evocative imagery: Khachaturian's Spartacus and Gayaneh suites are infused with enchanting Armenian influences, and enjoyed a deserved popularity with Russian audiences that helped protect him from the worst of widespread artistic suppression during the era. Following these, one of the jewels of orchestral repertoire: Ravel's 'Daphnis et Chloé' was composed for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes dance company and has remained a popular work to this day.

Aram Khachaturian, 20th century Armenian composer, kept the Soviet authorities happy: his music is accessible, melodious, dramatic, folkloristic and glorifies the victory over evil forces. The ballet suites Spartacus and Gayane enjoy huge popularity, not in the least because of the Sabre Dance and the Adagio from Spartacus, which were used in many commercials, films and TV series. No better champion for this sumptuous orchestral music then the great conductor Evgeny Svetlanov and his Bolshoi forces, showing enough refinement and taste to prevent hollow bombast.

Along with Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Khachaturian was one of the most famous and celebrated composers of the Soviet Union. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, his earliest musical influences were the folk music of Georgia and of his ancestral homeland, Armenia. His ballet Gayaneh, composed in 1942, tapped into this passion for his Armenian heritage; set on a collective farm, its story is concerned with the triumph of love and loyalty to the Motherland over treason – themes that would keep Stalin happy.

Khachaturian’s later ballet Spartacus, written in 1956, took the famous story of the Greek slave turned gladiator and his defeat of the Roman general Crassus as its basis. Composed in the dying years of Stalin’s rule, Khachaturian and his audiences were drawn to the story’s theme of resistance against tyranny. Several movements from these ballets have taken on a life outside the original ballet suites – for example, the Sabre Dance from Gayaneh and the famous Adagio from Spartacus – ensuring that these wonderful and colourfully scored ballet suites have become firm favourites in the concert hall.

Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz came to prominence after their remarkable successes at international piano competitions such as Leeds, Brussels,Warsaw and Moscow where they won major prizes. Today they are two of the most distinguished pianists of their generation.

"A very classy collection of Armenian folk-derived music put over expertly with flair and controlled schmaltz, never quite over the top… the recording quality is of the highest and there are no lapses in the feeling of spontaneity." Musicalpointer.co.uk

For lovers of ballet music, this superb 5-disc set contains some of the greatest ballet music ever written. Tchaikovsky’s three great ballets – Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker – need no introduction.They contain not only some of the composer’s greatest music, but some of the most famous music ever composed.

Heard on this disc are the popular orchestral suites that have made Tchaikovsky’s ballet music a staple of the concert hall, from the enchanting theme from Swan Lake to the charming ‘Ouverture miniature’ and ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ from The Nutcracker.

Khachaturian’s two ballets have also become great orchestral favourites – the famous Adagio from Spartacus even entered the UK top 10 singles chart. Featured on the second disc of this set are excerpts from Spartacus and Gayaneh, including the fiery ‘Sabre Dance’, as well as Khachaturian’s incidental music for Mikhail Lermontov’s play Masquerade.

The graceful and charming ballet music of Léo Delibes is represented on the third disc, in suites from Sylvia and Coppélia, alongside the dances written to accompany Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse and two extremely popular songs from the opera Lakmé – the ‘Flower Duet’ and ‘Bell Song’. On the fourth disc, the ballet music from Adolphe Adam’s Giselle is featured, the dramatic story of death through dancing. The collection concludes with the ballets from Massenet’s operas Le Cid, Cendrillon and Thaïs. This captivating exploration of 19th- and 20thcentury ballet music, in which listeners will find popular favourites alongside new discoveries, is an ideal introduction to the world of ballet.

Some composers have left us an extensive catalogue of recorded performances, most notably Edward Elgar, Igor Stravinsky and Benjamin Britten. Others like Olivier Messiaen, Heitor Villa-Lobos and William Walton have left us significant, although limited, editions. All too many, however, have merely left us a mere fraction of their output and it was to bring these recordings to the record-buying public that the EMI Classics series COMPOSERS IN PERSON was planned and researched by Ken Jagger (1945-2007). He did include representative issues for five the above named composers in the series so as to provide a total of 20 releases.

Most composers are found as either conductors or pianists (so sometimes both) although some appear on other instruments – Hindemith as violist as well as conductor and Messiaen, Widor, Vierne and Dupré as organist.