Verdi: Complete Ballet Music from the Operas [2 CDs]

MARBECKS STAFF PICKS 2012

"Serebrier has a remarkable gift for drawing polished and vigorous performances from his orchestra. The result has all the tension and bite of a live performance with the advantage of studio techniques, helped by refined and beautifully balanced recording, transparent in texture."
(Gramophone)

"there's something to be said for Naxos choosing an orchestra and conductor who haven't grown stale through a marathon sequence of Traviatas and the results are remarkably fresh and invigorating....Serebrier sets tempos which are pretty nigh spot on and the playing from the BSO is full of zest and vigour." International Record Review, May 2012

This unique programme is the first time that all the ballet music from Verdi's operas has been brought together in a single recording. Although The Four Seasons from I vespri siciliani (The Sicilian Vespers) and the ballet scenes from Aida and Otello have survived, substantial pieces from Il trovatore and Don Carlo are more often cut, while the ballet from Jérusalem is all but unknown. José Serebrier's recordings with the Bournemouth Symphony have resulted in some great successes with unusual repertoire. This release will be of interest both to opera enthusiasts and to those eager to explore Verdi's neglected and relatively small body of concert music.