Global Fascinations and Sophistications

Verdi Preludes, Overtures and Ballet Music

Verdi Preludes, Overtures & Ballet Music (Chandos) is a 4-CD set also available separately, with drama surging beneath a flow of murderous intentions or poignancy depicting the suffering of main characters. The composer sometimes struggled to match the requirements of his backers, often abandoning his original intentions to cater for the grandeur of particular occasions, including the request to write additional ballet music which broke into plot. John Steane's note gives vent to Verdi's innermost feelings, but misses the point that dance episodes on their own account provide enchanting entertainment for the CD listener.

Volumes 3 & 4 feature La traviata, Les Vêpres siciliennes, Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlos, Aida, and Otello. Sicilian Vespers (vol.3) includes a 4-movement Ballet of the Four Seasons where Verdi even tops Delibes, Adam and Tchaikovsky in melodic invention highlit with delectable scoring felicity [listen - track 7, 0:50-1:49].

The Italian première of Aida (1872 - Vol.4) [listen - track 10, 4:39-5:39] includes an over-blown starter lasting 12 minutes, while The Force of Destiny original prelude ten years earlier is a poorly-linked popourri of themes (Steane raves about it), much improved by the subsequent re-written overture we all know. Sir Edward Downes conducts the BBC Philharmonic with the mastery of a Serafin or Toscanini.

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