Document

  1983
    March 1983
        Orchestral
                Chopin Les sylphides. Thomas Hamlet—ballet music.

Chopin (orch. Douglas) Les sylphides.

Thomas Hamlet—ballet music. National Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Bonynge.

Decca digital (Full price) (LP) SXDL7583 (Cassette) KSXDC7583.

It is good to welcome Richard Bonynge and the National Philharmonic Orchestra again in ballet music, especially as one side of the record is devoted to that from Thomas's Hamlet which will be completely unfamiliar to most readers. The story of the opera follows Shakespeare's play quite closely. The work dates from 1868 and was popular for many years. However, it subsequently fell out of favour and was only recently revived at the 1981 Buxton Festival. It was, I believe, the first opera to include a part for a saxophone in the score. The ballet comes in the Fourth Act, preceding Ophelia's mad scene, and takes the form of a divertissement introduced by the corps de ballet dressed as Danish peasants. The music is attractively fresh sounding with a gently graceful introduction, a brilliant and rumbustious finale and in between a jolly "Danse villageoise". There is also an appropriately rustic-sounding "Waltz-Mazurka" among other dances. The scoring has some very happy touches, especially in the use of woodwind and the playing is either suitably lingering or crisp as the occasion demands. The digital sound is excellent.

There have been many good recordings of Les sylphides, the most popular being the 1961 DG recording conducted by Karajan (2535 189, 1/77). Suffice it to say that I prefer this new release. The performance is more characteristic and, as might be expected, the digital sound is far better.

WAC



		It is good to welcome Richard Bonynge and the National Philharmonic Orchestra again in ballet music, especially as one side of the record is devoted to that from Thomas's Hamlet which will be completely unfamiliar to most readers. The story of the opera follows Shakespeare's play quite closely. The work dates from 1868 and was popular for many years. However, it subsequently fell out of favour and was only recently revived at the 1981 Buxton Festival. It was, I believe, the first opera to include a part for a saxophone in the score. The ballet comes in the Fourth Act, preceding Ophelia's mad scene, and takes the form of a divertissement introduced by the corps de ballet dressed as Danish peasants. The music is attractively fresh sounding with a gently graceful introduction, a brilliant and rumbustious finale and in between a jolly "Danse villageoise". There is also an appropriately rustic-sounding "Waltz-Mazurka" among other dances. The scoring has some very happy touches, especially in the use of woodwind and the playing is either suitably lingering or crisp as the occasion demands. The digital sound is excellent.



		There have been many good recordings of Les sylphides, the most popular being the 1961 DG recording conducted by Karajan (2535 189, 1/77). Suffice it to say that I prefer this new release. The performance is more characteristic and, as might be expected, the digital sound is far better.