Minkus and friends: Don Quixote, Paquita, La Bayadere, Napoli

Ludwig Minkus composed some of the most important full-length ballet scores during the golden age of classical ballet in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. His works, which often involved exotic settings like Spain and India, included Don Quixote and La Bayadère, and he frequently contributed additional music to existing ballets such as Paquita. Extracts from those three aforementioned works are heard here. Minkus's successor was Riccardo Drigo, who also wrote extra numbers for existing ballets such as a pas de deux for Le Corsaire, which has firmly established itself as a showpiece in its own right outside the complete Corsaire. The other works included in this album were composed variously by three Danish composers (Holger Paulli, Eduard Helsted and Niels Gade) who all wrote works for the great Danish choreographer August Bournonville.