Good review, my friend! Yes, indeed, Ashton needed to rework the score a bit to make it into a narrative that made sense. To me, the impressive achievement was that he (aided by John Launchberry, the musical director of the Royal Ballet Orchestra) managed to do so WITHOUT adding any extraneous music.
Yes, it involved some cutting, and reordering, and several repeats; but overall he stayed far more truer to the intent of Mendelssohn than Balanchine's daring (and sometimes clumsy) mixing in of unrelated score excerpts for his own ballet for the NYCB. This involved adding the Concert Overtures to The Fair Melusine, Sons and Strangers, <(I>Athalie and, oddly, the Sinfonia #9 for strings which sticks out like a sore among otherwise more felicitous choices.
Overall I like Ashton's ballet far more than Balanchine's; in fact, it comes close to my very favorite work by the recognized master of the Royal Ballet. Seeing it live at Covent Garden a few years back was a highlight of my England trip in 2001.
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Date: 2009-04-08 11:49 pm (UTC)Yes, indeed, Ashton needed to rework the score a bit to make it into a narrative that made sense. To me, the impressive achievement was that he (aided by John Launchberry, the musical director of the Royal Ballet Orchestra) managed to do so WITHOUT adding any extraneous music.
Yes, it involved some cutting, and reordering, and several repeats; but overall he stayed far more truer to the intent of Mendelssohn than Balanchine's daring (and sometimes clumsy) mixing in of unrelated score excerpts for his own ballet for the NYCB. This involved adding the Concert Overtures to The Fair Melusine, Sons and Strangers, <(I>Athalie and, oddly, the Sinfonia #9 for strings which sticks out like a sore among otherwise more felicitous choices.
Overall I like Ashton's ballet far more than Balanchine's; in fact, it comes close to my very favorite work by the recognized master of the Royal Ballet. Seeing it live at Covent Garden a few years back was a highlight of my England trip in 2001.