[Moriarty]

Swan Lake of Tchaikovsky.

 

[Clouds Weep Snowflakes]

No matter how far away is Christmas and how many times I listen to The Nutcracker I never get bored.

 

[Haydn70]

No matter how far away is Christmas and how many times I listen to The Nutcracker I never get bored.

I was executive director of a small regional dance company for seven years. The last five of those years we did The Nutcracker. I came to really the work.

 

[Larkenfield]

Another recommendation for Stravinsky's Petrushka, perhaps his most charming and delightful ballet:

 

[Zhdanov]

H.S.Løvenskiold - La Sylphide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Sylphide

 

[Josquin13]

I'd suggest that you focus on the music that impresario Serge Diaghilev commissioned for his Ballet Russes, which was a Russian ballet company in residence in Paris (& Monte Carlo) at the early part of the 20th century. Diaghilev commissioned (or adapted) works from a number of the great composers of the day--such as Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.. It's a fascinating period in the history of music. I'd also recommend the three famous ballets of Pyotr Tchaikovsky--Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty, and Serge Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, to get started.

--Claude Debussy, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun:

LP recording (with crackles):

--Claude Debussy, Jeux (this work may be a bit more challenging, but give the music a try, if you're open to it):

--Maurice Ravel, Ma Mére L'Oye (Mother Goose):

--Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé:

--Igor Stravinsky, The Firebird (or L'oiseau de feu):

--Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring (or Le Sacre du Printemps):

--Igor Stravinsky, Petruschka (or Petrouchka):

--Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade:

--Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake:

--Pyotr Tchaikovsky, The Sleeping Beauty:

--Serge Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet:

And one more from the Ballets Russes, if your game:

--Gabriel Pierne, Cydalise et la Chévre-pied:

Finally, I'd also suggest watching George Balanchine's ballet that he choreographed to Robert Schumann's imaginative solo piano work, Davidsbundlertänze:

You may not like everything that you listen to above, but if you like some of it, that's a good start.

 

[jegreenwood]

Not sure who we're responding to, but if you want an introduction to abstract (non-story) ballet, I'd recommend Balanchine's Serenade to Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C.

Ratmansky's ballet set to the piano version of Pictures at an Exhibition would be another good choice.

 

[MarkW]

If, as it seems, ballet music i mostly what you're looking for, most of the foregoing is good. Please remember that a lot of full-length ballet scores are full of "filler" to get from number to number that frankly, isn't very interesting. Often suites and excerpts are a better way to go. Also until the "biggies" appeared in the late 19th c., a lot of ballet music was intentionally bland (and boring) so as not to upstage the dancers. If you find one of these, don't give up, but move on.

 

[Marsilius]

...Also until the "biggies" appeared in the late 19th c., a lot of ballet music was intentionally bland (and boring) so as not to upstage the dancers. If you find one of these, don't give up, but move on.

Or, alternatively, explore it further by watching a performance with dancers on video/YouTube or wherever.

When you do that you will see a strikingly different - and by no means necessarily inferior - art form that had developed to a very sophisticated level before the advent of Tchaikovsky. Its primary focus was very much on the choreography and dancers, rather than on the music. The latter, indeed, was, at the choreographer's demand (and fee!), virtually deliberately composed to be self-effacing and primarily accommodating to, rather than challenging, the dancers and their abilities.

Good places to start might be Esmeralda, The pharoah's daughter, Napoli or, at the summit of that era of ballet history, La bayadère or Don Quixote.

 

[Marsilius]

I was executive director of a small regional dance company for seven years. The last five of those years we did The Nutcracker. I came to really the work.

"Love"? "Hate"? An interesting and maybe Freudian slip!

 

[Rogerx]

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Balanchine / NYC Ballet)

 

[jegreenwood]

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Balanchine / NYC Ballet)

Frederick Ashton's "The Dream" is great as well.

I've only seen it once - looking forward to more viewings.

 

[pianozach]

Plus-size Ballet

 

[Rogerx]

Plus-size Ballet

You are joking, right?

 

[pianozach]

You are joking, right?

Yes. I'm joking.

 

[adriesba]

My first ballet I saw was Prokofiev's Cinderella. I'd probably recommend The Nutcracker for a first. But you must eventually try Le Sacre du Printemps! Preferably in the original choreography.

 

[adriesba]

My first ballet I saw was Prokofiev's Cinderella. I'd probably recommend The Nutcracker for a first. But you must eventually try Le Sacre du Printemps! Preferably in the original choreography.

Ugh... ! correction, the original Nijinsky choreography is the ONLY acceptable choreography for Le Sacre du Printemps! I just saw a little bit of some really disgusting alternative choreography on YouTube. Nope, nope, nope! I backed out fast! Very, VERY BAD and gratuitous! Please stick with Nijinsky, lest you want to rot your brain and scar your eyes! I could just vomit! You have been warned!

 

[jegreenwood]

If you're a Shakespeare fan, then in addition to R&J and Midsummer Night's Dream, try Christopher Wheeldon's "The Winter's Tale."