GMG Classical Music Forum

Having spent the last week listening through my Previn set of the Tchaikovsky ballets for the first time, I have really come to love each of them very very much! All three of them are so magical, so it's hard to choose a favourite! I'd have to go for Swan Lake though. Absolutely fantastic music! :)

How about yours? :)

I can share the feeling, it's quite hard to choose, all three are definitely wonderful. I think my vote will go for The Sleeping Beauty.

Swan Lake for me too!  8)

I love all three.  However, hands down I would chose Swan Lake.  It has drama, tension and darkness in it, which the other two ballets lack.

And hands down, I love best the performance of Bonynge and the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

I seldom listen to these three ballets, but if I had to choose one it would definitely be The Sleeping Beauty. I do like Swan Lake a lot, but I've never really warmed to The Nutcracker for some reason. This said, I enjoy Tchaikovsky's symphonies much more.

Really, I could listen and watch each of them endlessly and never come to a decision, while very much enjoying the process. Where's the option to pick the top three!?!?!?! :)

Hm. I wonder...

I have to say I have ignored Tchaikovsky's Ballet's until recently. Few weeks ago I saw parts of The Sleeping Beauty on TV and realized that Tchaikovsky's Ballets are actually damn good music.

Sleeping Beauty.

Stravinsky's Le Baiser de la fée.

Quote from: Monsieur Croche on October 01, 2016, 11:41:57 AM
Stravinsky's Le Baiser de la fée.

That´s supposed to make you feel so smart, ain´t it?

Guess what, you aren´t. It just shows one more time your smugness.

TD: The Nutcracker

Quote from: Florestan on October 01, 2016, 11:46:20 AM
That´s supposed to make you feel so smart, ain´t it?

Guess what, you aren´t. It just shows one more time your smugness.

QFT. My vote also for The Nutcracker, especially when performed in Balanchine's splendid choreography for the New York City Ballet.

Can't choose, sorry*.

*(not sorry)

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on October 01, 2016, 07:45:37 PM
QFT. My vote also for The Nutcracker, especially when performed in Balanchine's splendid choreography for the New York City Ballet.

I also chose the Nutcracker but I favor the Petipa choregraphy adapted by Aaron Watkin and Jason Beechley in  the production of the Dresden opera with the students of the  Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden.  The Arte broadcast of this production is on YT

https://www.youtube.com/v/JHZokYsB1pI

In second place, I would choose, the Sleeping Beauty in the Petipa/Nureyev choregraphy in the Paris Opera production with Aurélie Dupont and Manuel Legris.

Quote from: Mirror Image on December 29, 2012, 06:01:55 PM
I seldom listen to these three ballets, but if I had to choose one it would definitely be The Sleeping Beauty. I do like Swan Lake a lot, but I've never really warmed to The Nutcracker for some reason. This said, I enjoy Tchaikovsky's symphonies much more.

+1

Quote from: Spineur on October 02, 2016, 01:00:09 AM
I also chose the Nutcracker but I favor the Petipa choregraphy adapted by Aaron Watkin and Jason Beechley in  the production of the Dresden opera with the students of the  Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden.  The Arte broadcast of this production is on YT

Thanks for the link. I'll watch during the holiday season. Meanwhile, the Balanchine has been preserved on DVD and you can see it on YT as well (unfortunately with an annoying narrator). It is a venerable tradition here in New York City and the production has been copied and imitated numerous times as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ5Se2ErinU

What I appreciate about Tchaikovsky's ballets (the 3 listed here) is that they can be listened to as pieces of music in and of themselves. They are really rich musical works - quasi-symphonic in construction, tightly constructed (rather than dances just strung together), perfect, clear flowing musical narratives, chalk full of memorable tunes, greater range of rhythms, masterfully orchestrated. Before Tchaikovsky ballet was just vapid backdrop for dancers to show off  .. he elevated it to a true musical art-form with a real independent voice. Composers like Ravel, Bartok & above all Stravinsky - would do the same.

They're all so wonderful and iconic it's difficult to choose. I guess I'll have to go with The Sleeping Beauty because, musically, it's the richest in sumptuous romantic orchestral music. Swan Lake has a lot of beautiful and poignant melodies too but the memorable moments for me are less abundant than in Sleeping Beauty. My absolute favorite scene from all three ballets in terms of the music, though, is the lush and  unforgettable pas de deux "A Pine Forest in Winter" from The Nutcracker.

Favorite? Swan Lake.

Why? I don't know.

This is in a sense easy for me. I like SB best musically but my favourite is Swan Lake. Florestan talked about one's first piece. For me that's the Swan's solo in Swan Lake. When I first heard it remains probably the most consequential few minutes of my life.

Quote from: trazom on October 02, 2016, 01:02:35 PM
My absolute favorite scene from all three ballets in terms of the music, though, is the lush and  unforgettable pas de deux "A Pine Forest in Winter" from The Nutcracker.

This is the most evocative scene I can think of but I am not as familiar with the pieces as others are. My impression is that Sleeping beauty is the most diverse and richest score but it is also a little long...
In any case, when I first heard the complete Nutcracker I was surprised how badly the piece is represented by the usual suite/excerpts that are centered around the "candy" sequence and the Valse des fleurs.