KHACHATURIAN: Gayne Ballet Suite – London Symphony Orchestra/ Anatole
Fistoulari – Everest 35mm mag film recording reissued as Classic Records

Audiophile Audition
Aug 3 2006

KHACHATURIAN: Gayne Ballet Suite – London Symphony Orchestra/ Anatole
Fistoulari – Everest 35mm mag film recording reissued as Classic
Records 3-channel HDAD2016 (CD/DVD-V audio/DVD-A audio), 46:53 ****:

For my previous specifics about this Classic Records series, see my
first review Here. The patriotic folk ballet Gayne comes from the
composer most associated with Armenian music over any other. Although
Khachaturian used elements from the folk music of his people, he
dressed them in very modern harmonies, giving them a 20th-century
life that resulted in immediate popularity. For example, take the
opening one of these 11 tracks which conductor Fistoulari picked out
of the two concert suites the composer had created from his complete
ballet score. It’s the classical hit The Sabre Dance. Fistoulari
was born in Kiev, conducted Russian operas in Paris with Chaliapin,
and later was conductor of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

The rest of the movements are: Lyrical Duet, Dance of the Rose
Maidens, Gopak, Lullaby, Lezghinka, Russian Dance, Gayne’s Adagio,
Dance of the Young Kurds, Dance of the Old Man, Fire. The Adagio may
be remembered from Kubrick’s effective use of it on the soundtrack
of 2001: A Space Odyssey. All the pieces are aglow with orchestral
color and vitality, making perfect audio demos. As with the others
already reviewed, I found the provided CD just about identical to
the now-out-of-print l995 Everest CD reissue, and the addition of the
center channel on both the Dolby 3-channel and the DVD-Audio 3-channel
of the separate DVD to greatly enhance the realism and impact of
the music. I find a similarity in enhancement going from 2-channel
to recorded-for-3-channel to that of going from an LP mastered from
analog tape to a direct disc recorded at the same time.

– John Sunier

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