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Epicurus.com - The Sleeping Beauty
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $17.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Philips
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028944616620
Label: Philips
Manufacturer: Philips
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Philips
Release Date: 1995-06-13
Studio: Philips
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Editorial Reviews:
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Antal Dorati was the Tchaikovsky Ballet pioneer. For Mercury Living Presence, he made the first-ever recordings of the complete versions of the Russian composer's three great ballets. But Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty were mono recordings; he did two versions of Nutcracker, one mono and one stereo. So this stereo remake of Tchaikovsky's greatest ballet was highly anticipated, particularly as it features the incomparable Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. True to form, the performance is magnificently played and warmly recorded. Originally issued on three LPs (and CDs), it's now available on two well-filled discs for the price of one. A no-brainer. -- David Hurwitz
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Delightful Ballet Music
Comment: This was purchased so we could have a musical CD of this favorite from the Ballet Music corpus. We were not disappointed: it alternates between our vehicles and our home.
Customer Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFUL.
Comment: It's the only word.
The Sleeping Beauty is the best of Tchaikovsky's works. Antal Dorati really knew how it had to be played.
The music is royal, noble, rococo, (the introduction, the march of the prologue, the introduction and the dances of the second act for example) but also enchanting, heavenly, and even frivolous (the "Danse des Demoiselles d'Honneur et des Pages", the "Danse des Marquises", the "Variations de la Princesse Florine et de l'Oiseau Bleu" or the "Colin-Maillard").
I fell in love with the music.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dorati at his best, which is pretty good
Comment: Dorati was a veteran ballet conductor, and it shows in the light-footed, bouncy rhythms he prefers. But Sleeping Beauty is the most searching music Tchiakovsky ever wrote for the dance, and Dorati doesn't quite have it in him to find that extra depth and poignant melancholy. The main reason that his set remains competitive derives from the lovely, warm recording (better than Gergiev's with the Kirov, also on Philips) and gorgeous orchestral playing from the Royal Concertgebouw (also better than on Gergiev's set, where the ensemble can be unexpectedly rough at times.)
Critics admire the music of this ballet above Swan Lake, but the pubic doesn't -- thre are six or seven competitive versios of the earlier score while among complete recordings of Sleeping Beauty it basically comes down to either Dorati or Gergiev, with the classic Ansermet out of print. (Previn has a rather sleepy version that for me is out of the running.) I own both, depending on whether I want to hear the gorgeousness of the music or a bit more depth of interpretation. I also listen to Mogrelia on Naxos, despite his second-rate orchestra, because he is such a talented condcutor--often better than his two renowned rivals. We are still waiting for the great conductor who will plumb this score to its depths.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good, but.....
Comment: At a bargain price, this is a very good version of this spectacular score for beginners. Nobody mentioned this in their reviews, so I would like to pose this question: why do the cellos play IN THE WRONG CLEF during the march!? Listen to any other recording and you know something is dreadfully wrong here.
Thankfully -- or not -- the torture lasts for only 16 bars, and the rest of the recording is fine. But in the words of the late Yul Brynner: "Is a puzzlement!"
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Dorati Legend Continues Spectacularly
Comment: After purchasing Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, also conducted by Antal Dorati, I was VERY excited to buy this album. He didn't let me down. This is the most emotoinal and personal musical account of the Sleeping Beauty I have heard. Period. The Lilac fairy themes struck me as being expecially lovely and deep. If one listens to the background in the No. 9 Final the moment the Lilac fairy come it is truly awe inspiring.
One or two of the tempi could have been faster (in the No. 21 Marche, for example), but otherwise this is truly the ultimate goal for the Tchaikovsky lover (like me).
If you buy this wonderful album, I suggest going right to the No. 30 Finale, probably the most unmatched recording on either of the two disks. Listen to it, Love it, Enjoy it.
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