Shostakovich: The Golden Age (Complete Ballet)

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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: The Golden Age (Complete Ballet)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky

[ Chandos Classics / 2 CD Box Set ]

Release Date: Friday 21 September 2001

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Gennady Rozhdestvensky received his musical education at the Moscow Conservatoire. He was appointed Staff Conductor and then Principal Conductor at the Bolshoi, where he gave the Russian premieres of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Khachaturian's Spartacus.

In 1961 he was made Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Television, and in 1974 he became Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1978-1982 he was Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and subsequently Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

He was the founder conductor of the celebrated Moscow Chamber Opera, and has toured extensively with them. He appears regularly as guest conductor at the major European concert venues.

"The ballet The Golden Age (1930) depicts an industrial exhibition organised in a capitalist country, at which a group of Soviet sportsmen have been invited to compete. The general idea of the music is to differentiate between goodies and baddies by assigning them respectively healthy-folk and decadent-bourgeois idioms.
The trouble was that Shostakovich couldn't stop himself enjoying being decadent.
Not all the 37 movements stand up independently of the stage-action. But the finales and the whole of Act 3 are top-notch stuff, at times surprisingly threatening in tone and symphonic in continuity; and there are several movements which could undoubtedly be promoted alongside the four in the familiar concert suite (the Tap Dance of Act 2 is especially appealing, for instance). Those who know their Shostakovich will be constantly intrigued by foretastes of LadyMacbeth, Symphony No 4 and the Hamlet music, and by the appearance of Shostakovich's 'Tea for Two' arrangement as an Interlude in Act 2.
This first complete recording is a major coup for Chandos. Admittedly not even their flattering engineering can disguise a certain lack of confidence and idiomatic flair on the part of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
But don't let that deter anyone with the least interest in Shostakovich, or ballet music, or Soviet music, or indeed Soviet culture as a whole, from investigating this weird and intermittently wonderful score. A really fascinating disc." Gramophone

Tracks:

COMPACT DISC ONE 68:07
ACT I
1 1 Prelude 1:46
Vstupleniye - Vorspiel - Prélude
2 2 Dance of the Maître d'Hôtel and the Aristocrats 2:34
Tanets Metr d'otelej kelnerov - Tanz des Oberkellners und der Aristokrate - Danse du maître d'hôtel et des aristocrates
3 3 Sportsmen's Training Session 2:01
Trenirovka sportsmenov - Training der Sportier - Séance d'entraînement des sportifs
4 4 Entrance of the Maître d'Hôtel and the Aristocrats 3:00
Vihod Metr d'otelej, aristocrtatov - Auftritt des Oberkellneres und der Aristokraten - Entrée du maître d'hôtel et des aristocrates
5 5 Dance of the Tennis Players and Training Session 4:09
Tanets Tenissistov i trenirovka - Tanz der Tennisspieler und Training - Danse des jouers de tennis et séance d'entraînement
6 6 The Maître d'Hôtel reports . . . 1:40
Metr d'otel dokladivaet o . . . - Der Oberkellner erstattert Bericht . . . - Le maître d'ehôtel annonce . . .
7 7 Preparations for the Diva's Visit 2:11
Prigotovlenie k vstreche Divi - Vorbereitungen zum Besuch der Diva - Préparatifs en vue de la visite de la diva
8 8 Dance of the Golden Youths 3:49
Tanets Zolotoj Molodyozhi - Tanz der Goldenen Jugend - Danse de la jeunesse dorée
9 9 Adagio 7:26
10 10 Dance of the Diva and Tanya 2:20
Tanets Divi i Tani - Tanz der Diva und Tanjas - Danse de la diva et de Tania
11 11 Dance 2:32
Tanets - Tanz - Danse
12 12 Conversation between the Diva and the Hero 0:50
Razgovor Divi s Geroyem - Gespräch der Diva mit dem Helden - Conversation entre la diva et le héros
13 13 Dance of the Diva and the Hero 2:42
Tanets Divi i Geroyem - Tanz der Diva mit dem Helden- Danse de la diva et du héros
14 14 Dance of the Negro and the White Man 3:37
Tanets Negra i Belovo - Tanz des Negers mit dem Weißen - Danse du nègre et de l'homme blanc
15 15 General Dance 3:20
Obschij tanets - Allgemeiner Tanz - Danse générale
16 16 General Confusion 1:35
Obscheye zameshateslstvo - Allgemeine Verwirrung - Confusion générale
17 17 The Diva's Despair 2:25
Otchayaniye Divi - Die Diva verzweifelt - Le désespoir de la diva
18 18 Conversation between the VIP and . . . 1:18
Razgovor Visokogo Litsa s . . . - Gespräch der wichtigen Persönlichkeit mit . . . - Conversation entre le grand personnage et . . .
19 19 Fox-trot 4:28

ACT II
20 20 Gallop 6:51
Gallop - Galopp - Galop
21 21 March 1:56
March - Marsch - Marche
22 22 Football 5:06
Football - Fußball - Football

COMPACT DISC TWO 65:39
1 23 Interlude 1:45
Intermediya - Zwischenspiel - Interlude
2 24 Dance of Tanya and Sportsmen from U-Town 6:22
Tanets Tani i U . . . h sportsmenov - Tanz Tanjas und der Sportier aus U-Stadt - Danse de Tania et des sportifs d'U . . .
3 25 Sports Contest 4:00
Sportivniye Sorevnovaniya - Sportveranstaltung - Rencontre sportive
4 26 Scene and Exit of the Soviet 1:53
Stsena i uhod Sovetskoj - Szene und Abgang der Sowjets - Scène et sortie des Soviétiques
5 27 Interlude 3:24
Antrakt - Zwischenspiel - Entr'acte
6 28 Tango 2:17
7 29 Tap Dance 4:42
Chechyotka - Steptanz - Claquettes
8 30 Polka 2:06
9 31 Eccentric Dance 4:43
Ekstsentrichnij tanets - Exzentrischer Tanz - Danse excentrique
10 32 Andante
11 33 Allegro vivace 6:02

ACT III
12 34 Adagio 2:35
13 35 Adagio 9:38
14 36 Allegro 6:31
15 37 Finale 5:49