Goooood Morning, and welcome back to some cheese and classical music and mac in that exact order. Today's episode is ballet music! I've played some movements from Ballets in past episodes but this is the first episode completely comprised of ballet music. So if you've ever been confused by how classical music pieces are organized because they have all those movements with various numbers and intricate titles, ballet music might seem even more intimidating or confusing because when you look at an album of ballet music you see sooooo many pieces. This is because ballets are comprised of small movements that play back to back. Each movement accompanies a different dance or scene in the ballet, and this is why there are so many. Today's lineup features a *heavy* dose of Tchaikovsky, because who does ballet better than Tchaik? Then we have some rando pieces from Adam, and Chopin. Rando because Chopin was not famous for composing ballet music...or really anything other than piano music BUT! We love him no matter what cuz he just kills melodies and also ~angst~. And I really don't know much about Adam as a composer in general. Then Prokofiev and Delibes, the former being an overall knockout composer, and the latter being lesser known but pretty high ranked when it comes to ballet works specifically. Enjoy!
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71, TH 14: Miniature Overture
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act I, Scene 1: No.1, Decoration of the Christmas Tree
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act I, Scene 1: No.2, March
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Coppelia: Act I - Prelude
Léo Delibes, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Morgrelia
Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 1, Op. 64bis: VI. Romeo and Juliet (Balcony Scene)
Sergei Prokofiev
Les Sylphides: 2.Nocturne, Op.32, No. 2
Frédéric Chopin
Gaîté parisienne: Vivo - Barcarolle - Allegro moderato
Jacques Offenbach
The Sleeping Beauty, Suite, Op.66a, TH 234: 2. Pas d'action: Rose Adagio
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Giselle - Act 2: Grand pas de deux: Adage
Adolphe Adam
The Nutcracker - Ballet, Op.71, Act II: No. 14 - Pas de deux
Sir Simon Rattle
Swan Lake, Op.20 (1988 Remastered Version), Act II: 13. Danses des cygnes
London Symphony Orchestra/André Previn
The Sleeping Beauty, Op.66 - Act 1: 6. Valse
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky