Search - Ballet Edition :: Essential Ballet

These 2CD mid-price sets, drawn from the catalogues of EMI Classics and Virgin Classics, present a selection of the best-loved and most popular ballet music by the great composers, performed by the world's leading artists. This a collection of many of the best-known and most familiar items from across the whole spectrum of classical ballet. It starts with the swan theme from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and encompasses other famous `white' ballets like Adam's Giselle and Chopin's Les Sylphides as well as Prokofiev's two favourites love stories: Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. Lively and colourful music is heard from Coppélia, La Fille mal gardée and Gayaneh, and witty sophistication is represented by Poulenc's Les Biches and Satie's Monotones. Stravinsky unique musical style is heard in extracts from Petrushka and Apollo and pure dance is not neglected in Franck's Symphonic Variations, the waltz from Tchaikovsky's Serenade and the glorious finale from Bizet's Symphony in C that ends the programme