Khachaturian: Spartacus / Khachaturian, Vienna Philharmonic

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Khachaturian's popular ballet scores benefit from his vigorous leadership and the surprisingly idiomatic playing of the Vienna Philharmonic. All the favorite crowd-pleasers are here, including the Sabre Dance. This pairing of ballet suites was a demonstration disc back in LP days and the engineering is still impressive. For those not on Khachaturian's wave length (he does skate perilously close to kitschy vulgarism), the generous filler is a delight--Ansermet's dynamic account of Glazunov's ballet. Its four movements depict the four seasons in an idiom flavored by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov's teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, and the music's all the more fetching for it. Ansermet sometimes could be a bit too sedate, and his orchestra was never a world-class group, but his conducting is nothing short of vivacious here, and the orchestra, captured in vivid sound, is with him all the way. --Dan Davis

Tracks:

Spartacus-Excerpts: Adagio Of Spartacus And Phrygia
Spartacus-Excerpts: Variation Of Aegina And Bacchanalia
Spartacus-Excerpts: Scene And Dance With Crotala
Spartacus-Excerpts: Dance Of Gaditanae And Victory Of Spartacus
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Sabre Dance
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Aysheh's Awakening And Dance
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Lezghinka
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Gayaneh's Adagio
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Gopak
The Seasons, Op. 67: Winter
The Seasons, Op. 67: Spring
The Seasons, Op. 67: Summer
The Seasons, Op. 67: Autumn

Amazon.com

Khachaturian's popular ballet scores benefit from his vigorous leadership and the surprisingly idiomatic playing of the Vienna Philharmonic. All the favorite crowd-pleasers are here, including the Sabre Dance. This pairing of ballet suites was a demonstration disc back in LP days and the engineering is still impressive. For those not on Khachaturian's wave length (he does skate perilously close to kitschy vulgarism), the generous filler is a delight--Ansermet's dynamic account of Glazunov's ballet. Its four movements depict the four seasons in an idiom flavored by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov's teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, and the music's all the more fetching for it. Ansermet sometimes could be a bit too sedate, and his orchestra was never a world-class group, but his conducting is nothing short of vivacious here, and the orchestra, captured in vivid sound, is with him all the way. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Spartacus/Khachaturian.......2007-01-10

Portions of this work were used in the BBC Oneden Line in the 1980s. The title had me baffled for years until I checked the reviews. I was surprised and extremely pleased to have the entire version.

Poor digitalization.......2007-01-05

How nostalgic to can hear 33 1/3 rpm vinyl scratches between the selections! Also, I hear some gurgling that sounds as if a cassette tape is running through dirty heads. This is the only digitally transferred CD on which I've ever heard either of these annoyances.

flamboyant readings of Khachaturian!.......2005-10-31

This CD is really a treasure! Khachaturian's brilliant ballet scores played amazing by Wiener Philharmoniker, under the baton of the composer!

It is a little surprising that, Wiener Philharmoniker plays generally Austro-German musics, from Haydn to Mahler and Alban Berg. But they are very good in these virtuosic orchestral scores. For example, Sabre Dance is whirling, excellent! I like especially the dances "Lezghinka" which a very fast dance of Caucasian-Musluman people and the "Gopak" which starts slow and gradually go faster and faster and finishes in a hysteric tempo! There is a beautiful slow movement, "Adagio" which you can remember form the film 2001: A Space Odyseyy.

At this price and at this sound quality, you can not go wrong with this legendary recording of 1962 by Khachaturian.

Highly recommended.

Vivid performances!.......2005-04-25

The serene and exotic lyricism of this notable work has never been exhibited with so eloquence and majesty ever before. This adagio of Spartacus and Phygia's passionate performance is imbued of profane exoticism, radiant sensuality and suggested eroticism. As you know the string and winds section of the Vienna were in that decade one of the most remarkable around the world. The variation of Aegina and Bacchanalia is loaded with admirable acrobatic fierceness. Scene and dance with crotaria is simply outstanding. Kachaturian as director maintained the rigorous balance, and the muscle never shatters the expression musical. The last section Dance of Gaditane and Spartacus' victory is extremely interesting, the bass clarinet makes a rapture filigree work, anticipating the tragic ending. The whole orchestra will emerge creating a real homage to Dionysisus and surrounding the hall with that Balkan wildness.

The Gayaneh suite begins with the super known Sabre Dance, an admirable exercise of portentous sound and exhibition of high caliber pyrotechnic. The tragic and premonitory omen waltz is almost a perpetuum mobile that strikes the main melody in Aysheh's awakening and dance. In Lezghinka we have to admit the superior histamine doses given by Tekjnavorian . It' s worthy but it is not even closer to incandescence and febrile spirit demanded: I found it weak, lack of the required emotion. In the case of Gayaneh's adagio so well known for the great audiences since Kubrick 's 2001 Odyssey we have to recognize it' s simply great, serene, persuasive, intimate with admirable fond. Hopak is excellent too, reflecting the joy of living so characteristic o this slave country.

Ansermet' s Seasons is splendid though I rather choose the Albert Wolff's performance of the fifties.

And just as historical reference, it is a must for you to acquire this golden recording. Excellent sound edition.

Hudsucker Proxy.......2003-11-11

For a number of years, I've been under the impression that the "Adagio of Spartacus" was simply called "The Hudsucker Proxy Theme." Now I know that where I have been giving credit to Carter Burwell and the Hudsucker Proxy soundtrack, I should have been giving credit to this album - it has both the Adagio of Spartacus and the Sabre Dance - the two best songs from the Hudsucker Proxy, in their original forms. If you are a fan of Hudsucker, BUY THIS ALBUM!

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