Top 10 Favorite Ballets

[Mirror Image]

Another ballet I really enjoy which I haven't mentioned yet is Antill's earthy, colorful Corroboree:

[asin]B0018PJEJO[/asin]

http://youtu.be/62eN2sthuWk

I've seen I dubbed "The Australian Rite of Spring" and I can see why!

A very cool ballet, Kyle. I need to revisit this one at some juncture.

[kyjo]

A very cool ballet, Kyle. I need to revisit this one at some juncture.

Yeah, it seems like a work that would be right up your alley!

[Mirror Image]

Yeah, it seems like a work that would be right up your alley!

Yeah, I've heard it several times. Another Australian ballet I like a lot is Sculthorpe's Sun Music I-IV. Some unreal textures and from my understanding a very difficult work to perform well at least according to Sydney Symphony Orchestra members who nearly cancelled the premiere of the work.

[kyjo]

Yeah, I've heard it several times. Another Australian ballet I like a lot is Sculthorpe's Sun Music I-IV. Some unreal textures and from my understanding a very difficult work to perform well at least according to Sydney Symphony Orchestra members who nearly cancelled the premiere of the work.

It's quite possible to detect influences from Antill's ballet in Sculthorpe's music. Primal rhythms, rough-hewn textures, and evocations of the Australian landscape are features of both Corroboree and Sculhorpe's music.

[kishnevi]

Must admit ballet is not something I'm keen on, especially the classic 19th century kind. I fell alseep once watching La Bayadere.  So if there doesn't seem to be anything that's not appallingly mainstream, that's why.

Stravinsky: Petrushka
Stravinsky: The Firebird
Stravinsky: Le Sacre de Printemps
Vaughn Williams:  Job
de Falla: el Amor Brujo
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Shostakovich: The Golden Age
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe
Copland: Rodeo
Verdi: Ballet Music from Aida*

*I'd list Gershwin's American in Paris,  except I'm not sure if Gene Kelley dancing on the silver screen counts for purposes of this thread.

[Brian]

Another ballet I really enjoy which I haven't mentioned yet is Antill's earthy, colorful Corroboree:

[asin]B0018PJEJO[/asin]

http://youtu.be/62eN2sthuWk

I've seen I dubbed "The Australian Rite of Spring" and I can see why!

I have a great memory of this one. In 2008, Houston was struck by a hurricane and I was walking back to my apartment from college, along a temporarily abandoned train track (the trains returned when power was restored). As I walked I had Corroboree blasting at high volume in my headphones. Something about listening to that music at 1 a.m. in an abandoned nighttime cityscape was really, really cool.

But no, I don't remember a post of yours where you confess to hating some really good orchestrator.

[springrite]

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
Bartok: Miraculous Mandarin
Henze: Undine
Schnittke: Peer Gynt
Tubin: Kratt
Ravel: Daphne et Chloe
Stravinsky: Petrushka
Szymanowski: Harnasie
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (got to have at least one traditional one)
Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils (I know it is not technically a ballet, but it can be!!!)

[Mirror Image]

Nice picks, Paul!

[springrite]

Nice picks, Paul!

I know you'd like it.

I did not have room for Dance Panels, Job and Romeo and Juliette

[Christo]

Again, a mixture of the over-familiar and perhaps less familiar (almost forgot Falla, and yes, Corroboree and many more could also be mentioned; I love all Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky ballets for example, and also those by Prokoviev, but just not enough to include them here). And though Vaughan Williams is my all-time favourite composer, his Job leaves me rather cold, I thought I should let you know in advance. Perhaps I should have opted for his other ballets or 'masques for dancing', Old King Cole, On Christmas Night, or The Bridal Day.)   

Tchaikovsky, Lebedinoye ozero (1876)
Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé (1912)
Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du Printemps (1913)
Gabriel Pierné, Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied (1915)
Manuel de Falla, El sombrero de tres picos (1915)
Bohuslav Martinů, Špalíček (1931/40)
Eduard Tubin, Kratt (1940)
Alberto Ginastera, Estancia (1941)
Aram Khachaturian, Gayane (1942)
Arthur Bliss, Miracle in the Gorbals (1944)
Stevan Hristić, Ohridska legenda (1947)

[kishnevi]

Must admit ballet is not something I'm keen on, especially the classic 19th century kind. I fell alseep once watching La Bayadere.  So if there doesn't seem to be anything that's not appallingly mainstream, that's why.

Stravinsky: Petrushka
Stravinsky: The Firebird
Stravinsky: Le Sacre de Printemps
Vaughn Williams:  Job
de Falla: el Amor Brujo
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Shostakovich: The Golden Age
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty
Tchaikovksy:  Nutcracker 
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe
Verdi: Ballet Music from Aida*


*alright, if that doesn't qualify,  then put in either Swan Lake or Les Noces

I managed to completely forget that Daphnis et Chloe was a ballet until Springrite's post reminded me;  list has been amended accordingly by deleting Sleeping Beauty.

[Drasko]

Do all of you keep your eyes tightly shut when you go to the ballet? ;P

I'm not sure I could name 10 favourites, but some of the ones I recall enjoying include -

Balanchine/Stravinsky - Stravinsky Violin Concerto (may be my overall favourite)
Balanchine/Stravinsky - Orpheus
Balanchine/Prokofiev - The Prodigal Son
Robbins/Bernstein - Fancy Free
Robbins/Gould - Interplay
Martins/Barber - Barber Violin Concerto (I think that's the title...)
Ailey/Ellington - ? (I know it's not Revelations, it had a band onstage with some pretty scary trumpet playing and... stuff...)
And several by less well-known choreographers whose names I don't remember unfortunately (most of which were indebted in some way to modern dance as well as the ballet tradition, but I suppose that's where my tastes lie) with various sources of music. Outside the big houses most of the repertoire rarely if ever acknowledges the composer, and almost never mentions the name of the composition. I recall some pieces to music by a band/solo project called something like Murcof (does that sound familiar?) which were both choreographically and musically interesting, although not really "classical".

Very New York-centric, since I actually haven't been to a single ballet performance since leaving there. Unless Māori traditional dancing counts XD

I'm pretty sure thread starter meant ballet as piece of music written for the ballet rather than staged choreography. This is not very dance oriented forum, doubt that more than three members could list ten favorite ballets as staged dance productions. I'll give it a try:

Sleeping Beauty - Marius Petipa
Giselle - Coralli/Perrot/Petipa
Petite Mort - Jiri Kylian
Six Dances - Jiri Kylian
In the middle, somewhat elevated - William Forsythe
Jewels - Balanchine
Apollo - Balanchine
Le Sacre du printemps - Angelin Preljocaj
Sylvia - John Neumeier
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune - Vaslav Nijinsky (Nureyev reconstruction)
Le Train bleu - Bronislava Nijinska

[Karl Henning]

I'm pretty sure thread starter meant ballet as piece of music written for the ballet rather than staged choreography.

But, there is that ambiguity.

Thread Duty:

Only ten? Impossible!  But, here are ten I always think highly of, in no particular order:

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet, Op.64
Prokofiev, L'enfant prodigue, Op.46
Copland, Billy the Kid
Stravinsky, Agon
Stravinsky, Le baiser de la fée
Debussy, Jeux
Tchaikovsky, The Sleeping Beauty, Op.66
Cage, Cheap Imitation
Barber, Cave of the Heart
Wuorinen, Dante Trilogy

[Sergeant Rock]

A baker's dozen...plus one 

Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake
Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker
Schnittke Peer Gynt
Stravinsky Le sacre du printemps
Stravinsky Le baiser de la fée
Stravinsky Agon
Strauss Josephslegende
Vaughan Williams Job
Copland Rodeo
Piston The Incredible Flutist
Hindemith The Four Temperaments
Satie Parade
Bernstein Fancy Free

Talk of Australian ballet composers reminds me of another I really like. Add  Elena Kats-Chernin Wild Swans to my list.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Stravinsky, Agon
Stravinsky, Le baiser de la fée
Debussy, Jeux

I knew those three would make the list...if you made a list. And you have 

Sarge

[kishnevi]

This thread keeps reminding me of ballet/dance music I like but didn't have at the front of my memory.
This is MyList 3.0.  Pyotr Ilyich has been entirely elided.

Must admit ballet is not something I'm keen on, especially the classic 19th century kind. I fell alseep once watching La Bayadere.  So if there doesn't seem to be anything that's not appallingly mainstream, that's why.

Stravinsky: Petrushka
Stravinsky: The Firebird
Stravinsky: Le Sacre de Printemps
Vaughn Williams:  Job
de Falla: el Amor Brujo
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Shostakovich: The Golden Age
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe
Copland: Rodeo
Verdi: Ballet Music from Aida*

*I'd list Gershwin's American in Paris,  except I'm not sure if Gene Kelley dancing on the silver screen counts for purposes of this thread.

[kyjo]

Nice to see some votes for Tubin's Kratt! It's a really stunning work:

[asin]B000CSUMTO[/asin]

[kyjo]

I have a great memory of this one. In 2008, Houston was struck by a hurricane and I was walking back to my apartment from college, along a temporarily abandoned train track (the trains returned when power was restored). As I walked I had Corroboree blasting at high volume in my headphones. Something about listening to that music at 1 a.m. in an abandoned nighttime cityscape was really, really cool.

But no, I don't remember a post of yours where you confess to hating some really good orchestrator.

Cool story, Brian! OK, the really good orchestrator whose music I happen to hate is R. Strauss.

[kyjo]

Stevan Hristić, Ohridska legenda (1947)

I have this one in my collection and think quite highly of it. It's a hugely exciting and colorful work: http://youtu.be/w5MFnMuXtRU

It's real shame Croatian (and Balkan in general) music is so neglected by the record companies.

[North Star]

Favourite ballet i've seen is the Klami/Aho Pyörteitä (Whirls) (Aho finished the orchestrating and wrote much of the 3rd tableau from scratch, with quotations from other Klami works) - though I hated the first two tableau's choreography. Enjoyed the music very much indeed, though. Of course, this is also the only one I've seen...