# Favorite Ballet?



## oogabooha (Nov 22, 2011)

I was surprised when I first came to this forum that there wasn't a subsection for ballet, because it really is one of my favorite things about music. I'm not a dancer myself, but I adore watching it and all aspects of ballet.

I think it's really hard for me _not_ to choose The Rite of Spring as my favorite ballet (obviously I have other favorites, but I have to run to class right now), but I'm curious as to what you guys all enjoy!


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

There's no way for me to really answer this question without getting in a lot of trouble. 

Suffice it to say I like some modern dance, but very little, if any, classical ballet. Some of the music is nice, though.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Nutcarcker - Gayaneh - Namouna.


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## Krisena (Jul 21, 2012)

Stravinsky.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Le sacre, Petrushka, Daphnis et Chloe.


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## principe (Sep 3, 2012)

Ballet had been served in a quite uneven way by Classical Music composers. 
In Baroque, it was a favourite subject, but it has very little to do with what we know as Classic Ballet in the romantic era and onwards. Some major Classical composers composed "Ballet" music (Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert), which is wonderful music but has little to do with Ballet. Opera composers too (Verdi's Ballet sections in Aida is something quite viable, for instance).
Anyway, as for me, I trust the unique contribution of Tchaikovsky (in the three Grand ones), Minkus' dedication and sensitivity, Khachaturian's emotional power and beauty, Shostakovich's humour and inventiveness and Stravinsky's (in his trio of masterpieces; it's not only the "Rite") for his "misbehaving" revolutionary creative attitude to the genre.
However, my very favourite (a very personal/emotional) choice is Prokofiev's superb Romeo and Juliet. For me, it has it all, in perfect doses!

Principe


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I have to give another vote to Romeo and Juliet. Superb. (music only, the only ballet I've actually seen live is the Nutcracker.) Daphnis et Chloe is wonderful also.


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## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

I can't say enjoy watching ballet, though I prefer listening to ballet music than I do opera. I would give another thumbs up to Prokofiev's _Romeo and Juliet_, particularly Lorin Maazel's Cleveland recording.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Appalachian Spring - Copland (Martha Graham version)


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

With a few exceptions (Delibes, Lalo, Tchaikovsky) most ballet music prior to the 20th century was deliberately "lowest common denominator" bland. This was to not upstage the dance, which was what audiences cared about (or at least what ballet masters and dancers cared about). 

(Aside: In the 1970s Decca had to figure out what to do with conductor Richard Bonynge, whom they were contractually obligated to because he was Joan Sutherland's husband. They had him record a bunch of unmemorable 19th c. ballet scores by the likes of Adolphe Adam, etc.)

After Tchaikovsky, ballet scores as real music began to flourish: Stravinsky's Big Three (plus Pulcinella), Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin, Ravel's Daphnis . . ., Prokofiev, Copland, Satie (sort of), and it became legitimate musical art form. If I were forced to pick a favorite from the above, I'd choose Romeo and Juliet also.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I never could sit still for ballet on video until I got an HD projection system with a ten foot screen. I got the bluray of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with Rojo and Acosta and it totally blew me away. It's like opera in the sense that just listening o it is just half the story, and watching on a small screen doesn't do it justice. I'm totally a born again ballet fan now.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I got at least a dozen favorites, but the Russians are typically my favorite. Glazunov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, they are my biggies. Prokofiev's Cinderella and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and Glazunov's Raymonda are at the top for me.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

My favorite ballet hasn't been written yet. I should get around to it some time.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I don't enjoy watching ballet but tend to enjoy listening to the scores. Maybe this will change when I get a 10 foot HD ego inflater of my own.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

To my own surprise, I find that I enjoy ballet pretty well. 

My favorite to listen to must be The Rite of Spring, but to see, I have take Giselle.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> I don't enjoy watching ballet but tend to enjoy listening to the scores. Maybe this will change when I get a 10 foot HD ego inflater of my own.


Haha! Jealous!


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

oh man, can I even pick one? There's too many brilliant works! Some of the best music ever written ever... The Rite of Spring, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppelia, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Daphnis and Chloe, The Firebird, Parade, The Seasons, La Sylphide, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Mo N' Herb's Vacation, Lumpy Gravy... jeez. Ballet is like the coolest thing there is


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

bigshot said:


> Haha! Jealous!


Unfortunately for you, I find it nigh on impossible to be envious of braggarts.

As for works in the genre; Daphnis et Chloé, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Miraculous Mandarin, Peer Gynt (Schnittke), Sinister Footwear, Bacchus et Ariane and Petrushka are among my favourites.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Grouchy bear!


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Khachaturian: Gayaneh
Delibes: Sylvia, Copplia
Tchaikovski: Nutcarcker
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Glazunov: Raymonda

I don't watch Ballets, I just listen to them!


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## oogabooha (Nov 22, 2011)

BurningDesire said:


> oh man, can I even pick one? There's too many brilliant works! Some of the best music ever written ever... The Rite of Spring, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppelia, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Daphnis and Chloe, The Firebird, Parade, The Seasons, La Sylphide, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Mo N' Herb's Vacation, Lumpy Gravy... jeez. Ballet is like the coolest thing there is


we should get along well, then! so glad to be meeting so many people with such great taste! I really love ballet, it's quite fantastic. I'm constantly in awe at the great combination that is the art of dance and the art of music, and it's so beautiful. I've never actually been to the ballet (besides the Nutcracker _many_ times, but I don't even like the Nutcracker a whole lot), so I'm really looking forward to it.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

oogabooha said:


> we should get along well, then! so glad to be meeting so many people with such great taste! I really love ballet, it's quite fantastic. I'm constantly in awe at the great combination that is the art of dance and the art of music, and it's so beautiful. I've never actually been to the ballet (besides the Nutcracker _many_ times, but I don't even like the Nutcracker a whole lot), so I'm really looking forward to it.


I've only seen The Nutcracker, and a performance by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (to music by Cage and Brian Eno) live. My school's orchestra and dance department are performing Swan Lake this fall :3 so that is exciting (I'm playing horn in the orchestra).

If I may make a recommendation to a fellow lover of ballet and music, I HIGHLY recommend the anime _Princess Tutu_, which is heavily based in ballet. The heroine is a duck who turns into a girl who is a ballet student who turns into a magical prima ballerina who uses dancing to fight evil and save people. The story is _really really_ great, the characters are great, the art and animation is very beautiful, and the music is amazing. Not only is the musical score primarily great music from the 19th (and a bit from the 18th and 20th) Century, particularly ballet, but it is also used so effectively in every scene, so poetically, its perfect. The music includes works by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Chopin, Beethoven, Wagner, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev, Satie, Debussy, Delibes, Adam, Borodin, Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, Badarzewska, Løvenskiold, Offenbach, Glinka... Its awesome :3 and you can watch it free and LEGALLY on Youtube :3 I recommend the english dub personally. The acting in it is generally quite good.


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## Morgante (Jul 26, 2012)

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Coppelia, Nutcraker, La Valse. Firebird and Petruska.

And Daphnis et Chloé.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

El Amor Brujo


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Le sacre, Petrushka, Daphnis et Chloe.


Signed.

I'm talking about the music though, I haven't really seen that much ballet.. But from what I have seen I definetely prefer modern ballet.


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