Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Oliver Knussen's recording of the Price of the Pagodas is the most complete to date - even Britten's version is abridged. To date there hasn't been a better performance than this and you get the added bonus of the Gloriana Suite.
The music itself does come with a few problems. Firstly, the tale is hardly standard Britten fare and seems more of a pastiche of other ballets by Prokofiev and Stravinsky with a nod to the Ballet Russe. The story combines something of Cinderella and King Lear. The Act II balinese style music owes much to the work of Colin MacPhee, who Britten knew during his time in America and Canada. It is the most memorable part of the ballet. He returned to this gamelan style again in his final opera, Death in Venice, so it clearly made an impact on him.
That said, the ballet is very long and suffers from almost an embarrassment of riches. Britten worked hard to build a symphonic structure but there is much that seems more for show than essential to the tale. The set of dances in the epilogue is very much stretching the point. You can, if you wish, simply edit what you're going to listen to and refer to the suite prepared by Donald Mitchell or build your own suite, so the ballet's excess of material needn't be a problem. Showy or not, the score is glittering and memorable.
At this price there is no worthy competition.
The music itself does come with a few problems. Firstly, the tale is hardly standard Britten fare and seems more of a pastiche of other ballets by Prokofiev and Stravinsky with a nod to the Ballet Russe. The story combines something of Cinderella and King Lear. The Act II balinese style music owes much to the work of Colin MacPhee, who Britten knew during his time in America and Canada. It is the most memorable part of the ballet. He returned to this gamelan style again in his final opera, Death in Venice, so it clearly made an impact on him.
That said, the ballet is very long and suffers from almost an embarrassment of riches. Britten worked hard to build a symphonic structure but there is much that seems more for show than essential to the tale. The set of dances in the epilogue is very much stretching the point. You can, if you wish, simply edit what you're going to listen to and refer to the suite prepared by Donald Mitchell or build your own suite, so the ballet's excess of material needn't be a problem. Showy or not, the score is glittering and memorable.
At this price there is no worthy competition.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
This double CD of music by Britten is inspiring to listen to - and so well played here. Wonderful imagination. The variety of instruments heard is a joy. Beautifully recorded.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
![DECCA: The Originals [2 of 7]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517NzCLi7bL._AA60_.jpg)
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
