Review By WQXR (New York),December 2012
The Most Popular Classical Albums of 2012
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under José Serebrier makes a strong case for the complete Verdi ballet scenes: Otello, Macbeth, Jérusalem, Don Carlo, Aida, Il trovatore and I vespri siciliani. © 2012 WQXR (New York)
Review By Tobias Pfleger,www.klassik.com,
Review By Lew Whittington,The Huffington Post,November 2012
On one of the top opera recordings of the year, there isn’t a tenor or soprano to be heard, it is conductor Jose Serebrier’s labor of exquisite love, Verdi: Complete Ballet Music from the Operas leading the resplendent Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in ballet scenes from ‘Othello’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Don Carlo’, ‘Aida’, ‘Il trovatore’ and ‘I vespri siciliani’.
This is a collection of Verdi’s deleted ballet scenes and is a defining recording of this rarefied work.
Serebrier is known for orchestral balance and this quality is certainly evident with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on this two-disc set very well engineered by Phil Rowlands at The Lighthouse studios in the UK over a three-day period in 2011. © 2012 The Huffington Post Read complete review
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Review By José Antonio García,Scherzo,October 2012
8.572818-19_Scherzo_102012_ES.pdf
Review By Henry Fogel,Fanfare,September 2012
VERDI, G.: Ballet Music from the Operas (Complete) (Bournemouth Symphony, Serebrier) 8.572818-19
VERDI, G.: Ballet Music from the Operas (Complete) (Bournemouth Symphony, Serebrier) (Blu-Ray Audio) NBD0027
…the performances demonstrates Serebrier to be…interpretively interesting conductor.
Serebrier…brings to the music a greater variety of color, more rhythmic energy, and a wider range of ideas about phrasing. The vitality of his rhythm is perhaps the most significant…it can be heard everywhere, in slow or fast music. The extra lilt he brings, for example, to the waltz right after the introduction of the Don Carlo ballet brings a smile to the listener.
While not all of this music is at Verdi’s most inspired level, none of it is unworthy of our attention. Second-rate Verdi is still better than most composers’ gems! Serebrier’s colorful, charming, and highly committed performances, and the Bournemouth Symphony’s excellent playing, make this a highly recommendable disc. © 2012 Fanfare Read complete review
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Review By WETA,June 2012
Review By Catherine L. Tully,4dancers.org,June 2012
Verdi–Complete Ballet Music from the Operas provides a very unusual treat for fans of classical dance music.
Here you’ll listen to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by José Serebrier as they play Giuseppe Verdi’s complete ballet music from the operas. There are pieces here that have only rarely been performed.
At the request of the Paris Opera Verdi began including ballets in his operas, but they were often left out of his published scores. This double CD with Verdi’s complete ballet music is a truly unique piece of musical history that ballet fans of all ages can appreciate. If you love this composer’s work, it is something you really should hear.
The first CD is just over 54 minutes long and includes music from Otello, Macbeth, Jerusalem and Don Carlo. The second is a little longer than an hour and features pieces from Aida, Il trovatore and I vespri siciliani. © 2012 4dancers.org
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Review By Edward Greenfield ,Gramophone,June 2012
Verdi’s penultimate masterpiece, Otello…bears little or no resemblance to the late style of the main opera but rather relates to the style of Verdi’s early operas. Shrewdly, Serebrier makes this point right at the start by placing this five-minute piece first on disc 1. In that brief span, Verdi offers a sequence of tiny genre pieces with an oriental flavour.
Serebrier follows that with the three atmospheric numbers Verdi wrote for Act 3 of his much earlier Shakespearean opera, Macbeth…Next comes the long ballet scene for the original French version of Don Carlos, with its sections including some for solo cello and violin, all beautifully played here.
The second disc opens with the one exceptional ballet, that for Aida. Last of all comes the most ambitious of all the ballets, the four substantial numbers representing the seasons of the year that Verdi wrote for I vespri siciliani.
As he has often shown in the past, José 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. © 2012 Gramophone Read complete review on Gramophone
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Review By George Hall,BBC Music Magazine,June 2012
Each piece’s vitality and colour are well captured in these performances which combine sweep with finesse. © 2012 BBC Music Magazine
Review By Pedro Coco Jiménez,Ritmo,June 2012
Entre 1972 y 1973, el sello Philips se embarcó en el proyecto de grabar una integral de los ballets de las óperas de Giuseppe Verdi con las orquesta de la Ópera de Montecarlo y la Sinfónica de Londres, bajo la dirección de Antonio de Almeida, y si bien esta fue comercializada en CD a finales de los ochenta, no es hoy en día muy fácil de encontrar. Otras orquestas como la del Met se han acercado también a esta música para llevarla al disco, pero no completa, por lo que la aparición –además a un precio muy económico– de este CD doble de Naxos es una muy buena noticia. Incluye los tres ballets de los actos primero y segundo de Aida, que la de Almeida no recogía, por lo que, como bien dicen en la carpetilla, es la primera vez que la integral se hace en una única sesión y con una única orquesta.
El carismático José Serebrier al frente de la siempre profesional Sinfónica de Bournemouth ofrece una visión muy diferenciada de cada una de estas pequeñas joyas, con gran sensibilidad en su aproximación y excelente juego con las dinámicas.
Obviamente sorprende más lo más desconocido, y así, resulta irresistible el majestuoso ballet de La Pellegrina en Don Carlos o el ‘exotismo’ de Jérusalem o Il Trovatore. © 2012 Ritmo
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Review By Mark Pinto,WRTI-FM, Philadelphia,May 2012
Mark Pinto Recommeds…
…José Serebrier…conducts all of Verdi’s operatic ballet music with England’s Bournemouth Symphony in this innovative and very enjoyable two-disc set from Naxos.
The Bournemouth Symphony performs this music with obvious affection. The players are quick-witted and responsive to the frequent tempo and mood changes and play with such precision and understatedness that you can practically see the dancers. The ensemble playing is tight, and the soloists are top-notch. If you’re an opera or ballet music lover wanting to hear more of Verdi than usually meets the ears, this recording will not fail to charm. © WRTI-FM, Philadelphia Read complete review
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Review By Stephen Eddins,Allmusic.com,May 2012
Serebrier and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra perform them [ballets] with a light touch and with idiomatic élan. Serebrier’s flexible, lilting phrasing makes it clear that this is music intended for dance, and besides being flawlessly graceful, the performances sound like fun. Some of the music, like the dances from Aida, is usually included in performances of the opera, but some, like the ballet from Jérusalem…Serebrier unearthed in opera house archives in preparation for this recording. Naxos’ sound is pristine and bright. This recording should be of strong interest to Verdi fans, and the sparkling performances should appeal to anyone who loves Romantic ballet. © 2012 Allmusic.com href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/verdi-ballet-music-from-the-operas-mw0002305524" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read complete review
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Review By Dan Morgan,MusicWeb International,May 2012
The thrustful, swaggering Ballabile from the Act III of Otello—penned for the Paris premiere in 1894—makes a splendid introduction to the set. Serebrier finds a thrilling momentum and ceremonial whirl here, the music capped by a hefty, crowd-pleasing bass-drum thwack. What a pleasure it is to discover that Naxos have produced a recording of untrammelled weight and range. The same musical and aural delights are apparent in the ballet music from Macbeth, revised for Paris in 1865. This may be slightly less memorable than that for Otello, but there’s an unmistakable undertow here, the music firmly rooted in the drama that surrounds it; indeed, those regal and impassioned perorations are simply glorious.
Jérusalem, which began life in 1843 as I Lombardi, was retitled and revised for Paris four years later. It’s disconcerting to discover that some of this ballet music is very similar to that of the partying Parisians in La Traviata (1853). That’s especially so in the deftly articulated—and convivial—Pas de quatre and the sparkling Pas de deux, whose frothiness hardly seems appropriate to a sober tale centred on the Crusades. Nevertheless, Verdi’s score is delivered with energy and polish, the melting, harp-led tunes of the Pas de solo most beautifully written and played.
The first CD ends with a substantial ballet from the original—French—version of Don Carlo. This too is unremittingly dramatic and, at times, most exquisitely scored. Serebrier and his band invest the music with a limpid beauty and rhythmic pliancy that just underscores Verdi’s gift for simple –yet heartfelt—tunes. There’s heaving passion and bright majesty as well, and the Naxos engineers have done a magnificent job capturing the noble fanfares and dynamically impressive tuttis. Indeed, I’d say this is the most spectacular Naxos sound I’ve heard in a long time; bravos all round.
The ballet music from Aida is unusual in that it’s an integral part of the action and not just a fashionable accessory. Predictably it gets a rousing performance on this CD, the sinuous arabesques of the Act I ballet wonderfully atmospheric. Verdi had to bow to convention once more with Il trovatore, revised and retitled Le trouvère for Paris in 1856. The flashing gypsy rhythms are very well managed, and even if there’s a hint of rumty-tumtiness at times there’s no mistaking the hot blood that courses through the veins. The real delight is listening to the orchestra play as if their natural home were a theatre pit; in fact, it’s hard to imagine these scores more idiomatically played.
One might be forgiven for thinking that two hours of this fare would be tedious, but when the level of invention and the standard of musicianship are this high the time just flies by. Part of the secret is that Serebrier creates and sustains a powerful sense of theat
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Review By Steven J Haller,American Record Guide,May 2012
if you are primarily interested in the complete ballet music this welcome Naxos set is really the only game in town.
José Serebrier supplies much historical information about the productions—both French and Italian…It’s clear from these richly textured and exuberant performances that the expert Bournemouth players fully share Serebrier’s enthusiasm for this music, and this set will easily repay repeated listening as Verdi’s warm-hearted melodies and full-throated brass make for nearly two full hours of the best opera has to offer—and without temperamental divas to get in the way. All we need now from Maestro Serebrier are the overtures. © 2012 American Record Guide Read complete review on American Record Guide online
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Review By Christophe Huss,ClassicsTodayFrance.com,May 2012
En considérant la disparition des disques des catalogues (et donc des CD de Levine chez Sony), l’initiative de Naxos apparait plus qu’utile. Regrouper les ballets de Verdi en un même album double est d’ailleurs, si je ne trompe, une première.
Serebrier aborde ce répertoire avec sérieux à la tête d’un orchestre qui n’a évidemment pas le moelleux de celui du Met. Ce qui est bien réussi ici, dans le cadre d’une captation sonore assez globale, c’est le respect des volumes (balance orchestre de fosse et orchestre de scène) et des couleurs (les cuivres de type “banda”).
La direction est assez carrée: c’est du ballet, disons, “rationnellement symphonisé”, mais solidement cadré, dont la sensualité et le rebond ne sont pas le fort.
On en revient au point de départ: sans enthousiasmer l’album remplit avec compétence un vrai rôle dans le catalogue. © 2012 ClassicsTodayFrance.com
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Review By Giuseppe Rossi,Musica,May 2012
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Review By GdH,ConcertoNet.com,April 2012
Naxos a eu l’excellente idée de réunir les musiques de ballet qui ponctuent—sous l’influence du grand opéra français—les partitions de Verdi…Si certaines pages sont bien familières des amateurs d’opéra…ce disque séduira d’abord et avant tout pour ses raretés…L’intelligence et la finesse dans la coquetterie sont toutefois plus présentes encore dans les "Quatre saisons" des Vêpres siciliennes…et dans le "Ballet de la reine"de Don Carlos…Dans cette musique guinchante et solfiante à la fois, le Symphonique de Bournemouth fait preuve d’une belle plasticité. Tout terrain, le chef uruguayen José Serebrier…dirige en vieux routier: avec charme et assurance… © 2012 ConcertoNet.com Read complete review
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Review By Infodad.com,April 2012
Those looking for confirmation of how good Serebrier can be in Romantic music need look no further than a fascinating (++++) Naxos release in which Serebrier—again with the Bournemouth Symphony—presents all the ballet music from Verdi’s operas. …we have a fascinating recording, and a very well-performed one, of ballet music from Otello, Macbeth, Jérusalem (a reworking for Paris of I Lombardi alla prima crociata), Don Carlo, Aida, Il trovatore and I vespri siciliani…Serebrier does not attempt to turn these works into more than they are or twist them in any particular way—he lets them flow naturally…Sometimes lively, sometimes sensual, always well-constructed and often quite interesting [in] its own right (although not all the time), Verdi’s ballet music shows a side of the composer with which many listeners, including regular operagoers, will not be familiar. It also shows a side of Serebrier with which listeners are familiar… © 2012 Infodad.com Read complete review
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Review By WQXR (New York),April 2012
Verdi couldn’t have known how much fun future choreographers will have with his buoyant, sparkling music. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under José Serebrier makes a strong case for its charms in a new recording of the complete Verdi ballet scenes: Otello, Macbeth, Jérusalem, Don Carlo, Aida, Il trovatore and I vespri siciliani.
Just how rarely this music is actually performed in the opera house or in orchestral concerts only adds to the value of this recording.
Serebrier captures the spooky goings-on of Macbeth in exemplary fashion, particularly milking the grotesque final dance of the witches.
Serebrier, whose interests run from neglected works by Glazunov to film scores, is no Italophile but he renders this undervalued music with great expressive range. © 2012 WQXR (New York) Read complete review
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Review By Paul Corfield Godfrey,MusicWeb International,April 2012
The performances under Serebrier are everything that the music needs: lively, responsive, and dramatic…very well performed and recorded here. The price is right if you want to explore some Verdi with which many listeners will be totally unfamiliar. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review
Review By David Hurwitz,ClassicsToday.com,March 2012
The only other serious competition in this repertoire, and it’s not as complete as this release (the Aida items are missing), is an old Philips Due mostly conducted by the late Antonio de Almeida. Those are good performances, but they don’t outclass these, either interpretively or sonically. You might say that it doesn’t take much interpretive insight to conduct Italian ballet music, but ultimately the goal is always the same: to avoid boredom. This may be even harder in music whose purpose is largely decorative and expressively limited. It’s to Serebrier’s (and Verdi’s) credit that there isn’t a bar here that fails to entertain, or that doesn’t make an excellent case for believing that this music is of much higher quality than its reputation suggests.
The two big “finds” for most listeners will be the extensive ballet music from Jérusalem (a.k.a. I lombardi), and the similarly large-scale (20 minutes) dance episodes from Il trovatore. This last item quotes the “gypsy” tunes from the opera’s first act, including the Anvil Chorus, and it’s really delightful. The sonics are clear and vivid, and with a playing time of nearly two hours, this set easily becomes the modern reference for this undervalued repertoire. © 2012 ClassicsToday.com Read complete review
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Review By Christie Grimstad,ConcertoNet.com,March 2012
this Naxos CD is the first of its kind, bringing together in one album the collection of all Verdi ballet music, some of which has been seldom heard for years. The recording is perfect from beginning to end. Award winning José Serebrier has a penchant for digging into the peripheries of opera by uncovering new discoveries and parlaying them into a thoughtful and coherent manner. Under his masterful supervision, The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra hits every note and dynamic with punctilious flair. From percussion to strings to woodwind to brass, detail abounds. The tempos have comfortable zest without a sense of drag.
La Peregrina is a showcase piece featuring a beautiful section for solo violin. Saddled on both sides of the Triumphal March from Aida are three splendid movements, initiated by the Bournemouth Symphony’s beautifully executed flute section wafting with exotic élan.
Serebrier’s forward is well written and informative. Quoted as saying, “Whenever I conduct Verdi operas I find myself having to insist on including the ballet scenes, most of which have been left out of the published scores or included as an optional addendum…”, Serebrier’s passion for ballet music is well represented.
The Naxos/Serebrier venture is simply superior on all counts. © 2012 ConcertoNet.com Read complete review
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Review By Christoph Schlüren,Crescendo (Germany),February 2012
Sämtliche ermittelbaren Ballettmusiken aus den Opern Giuseppe Verdis, das ist eine Première, die wir uns lange gewünscht haben. Und wer könnte für eine so feinnuancierte, wohlbalancierte, feurige, schwung- und charaktervolle Darbietung sorgen wie Altmeister José Serebrier, dessen authentisch frische Italianità und blühende Kantabilität hinreißen? Stilistisch erinnert Serebrier gelegentlich etwas an Victor de Sabata und den frühen, noch nicht abgebrühten Toscanini. Auch das Scharfe, Martialische wird mit Verve ausgespielt, doch kippt es nie ins Unkontrollierte. Die Raritäten aus Macbeth, Don Carlos, dem Trovatore und insbesondere—völlig unbekannt—aus Jérusalem faszinieren, wenngleich keine Überraschungen zu erwarten sind; es ist ebenso starke Musik wie die bekannteren Nummern aus Otello und Aida oder die herrlichen vier Jahreszeiten aus ‚I verspri siciliani’, und der melancholische Sommer umfängt mit innigem Zauber. © 2012 Crescendo (Germany)
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Review By Christoph Schlueren,Crescendo (Germany),February 2012
This is a premiere: the complete ballet music from the operas by Guiseppe Verdi that we have long awaited. But did we know that we would get such a finely-nuanced, well-balanced, firey, full of energy, and characterful version from the traditional master José Serebrier, which is at once authentically freshly Italian and full of blooming cantabile? Stylistically, Serebrier reminds us somewhat of Victor de Sabata and the earlY mastery of Arturo Toscanini. Also the sharp, martial music is played with verve, although never getting out of control. The rarities from Macbeth, Don Carlos, Trovatore and others—really unknown— from Jerusalem are absolutely fascinating, even though we were not expecting any real surprises. The strong music from the well-known numbers from Otello and Aida, the wonderful Four Seasons Ballet from Vespri Siciliani and the melancholy Summer, all have an intimate magic. © 2012 Crescendo (Germany)
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