L’Orchestre de la Suisse RomandeErnest Ansermet

TCHAIKOVSKYThe Sleeping Beauty

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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)

The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66

CD 1 63’25

PROLOGUE 1 Introduction – March 7’522 No. 2: Scène dansante (Entrance of Fairies) 4’15

Pas de six:3 No. 3a: Intrada – Adagio (Allegro vivo) 4’154 No. 3c: Variation I (Candite) 0’455 No. 3d: Variation II (Coulante) 0’356 No. 3e: Variation III (Falling crumbs) 0’567 No. 3f: Variation IV (Song-bird Fairy) 0’308 No. 3g: Variation V (Violente) 0’559 No. 3h: Variation VI (Lilac Fairy) (Waltz) 0’550 No. 3i: Coda 1’29! No. 4: Final (La Fée des lilas sort) 8’05

ACT I@ No. 5: Scène (The Palace Garden) 6’40£ No. 6: Valse 4’25$ No. 7: Scène (The Four Princes) 1’50

Pas d’action: % No. 8a: Introduction (Andante) – Adagio (‘Rose Adagio’) 6’05^ No. 8b: Dance of the maids of honour and the pages 1’58& No. 8c: Aurora’s Variation 2’40* No. 8d: Coda 3’40( No. 9: Final (La Fée des lilas paraît) 5’40

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CD 2 70’01

ACT II1 No. 10: Entr’acte et scène 2’462 No. 11: Colin-maillard (Allegro vivo) 1’40

Scenes and Dances:3 No. 12a: Scène (Moderato) 0’404 No. 12b: Dance of the duchesses (Minuet) 0’505 No. 12c: Dance of the baronesses (Gavotte) 0’456 No. 12d: Dance of the countesses 0’307 No. 12e: Dance of the marquises 0’408 No. 13: Farandole: Scène – Danse 1’359 No. 14: Scène (Arrival of the Huntsmen) 4’400 No. 15a: Pas d’action (Vision of Aurora) 5’00! No. 15b: Variation d’Aurore (Allegro comodo) 1’25@ No. 15c: Coda 1’20£ No. 16: Scène (Allegro agitato) 0’45$ No. 17: Panorama (Andantino) 2’50% Nos. 19/20: Scène and Finale 4’15

ACT III^ No. 21: Marche 2’25& No. 22: Polacca (Allegro moderato) 4’35

Pas de quatre: * No. 23a: Intrada (Allegro non tanto) 1’51( No. 23b: Variation I: Valse (The Golden Fairy) 1’00) No. 23c: Variation II: Polka (Silver Fairy) 1’00¡ No. 23e/f: Variation IV (The Diamond Fairy) and Coda 1’25™ No. 24: Pas de caractère (Puss-in-Boots and the White Cat) 2’05

Pas de quatre:# No. 25a: Adagio 2’16¢ No. 25b: Variation I: Valse (Cinderella and the Prince) 0’45∞ No. 25c: Variation II (Bluebird and Florisse) 0’45

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Total timing: 133’26

§ No. 25d: Coda 1’30¶ No. 26: Pas de caractère (Red Riding Hood) 1’20• No. 27a: Pas berrichon (Hop o’ my thumb) 1’15ª No. 27b: Pas de caractère (Cinderella and Prince Fortune) 2’35

Pas de deux:º No. 28a/b: Intrada; Adagio 3’40⁄ No. 28c: Variation I (Prince) 1’00¤ No. 28d: Variation II (Aurora) 1’25‹ No. 28e: Coda: Allegro vivace (The Three Ivans) 1’20› No. 29: Sarabande 2’10

Finale and Apotheosis:fi No. 30a: Allegro brillante – Mazurka 4’00fl No. 30b: Allegro brillante – Apothéose 1’50

L’Orchestre de la Suisse RomandeErnest Ansermet

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Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty was thesecond of the composer’s three great ballets.Swan Lake preceded it by thirteen years and TheNutcracker followed it by two. It is based on awell-known fairy tale by Charles Perrault (1628-1703) and was commissioned by the directorsof the Maryinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg,where the first performance took place inJanuary 1890. The choreography was by MariusPetipa. It was not an instant success. The fulllength ballet was not seen in London until 1921,when Diaghilev mounted a production which,despite spectacular costumes by Bakst, failed toexcite the public and Diaghilev, already in direfinancial straits, was forced to withdraw theproduction. He subsequently recouped some ofhis losses with a one-act version, taken mainlyfrom the third act of The Sleeping Beauty with afew additional numbers from other sources,called Aurora’s Wedding, which met with more success.

As was the common practice when thisrecording was made, in 1959, certain cuts weremade. Ansermet uses what was called theAmerican Complete Score, the major omissionbeing the Act II Entr’acte with its violin solo.There are a few other minor cuts, but the scorewas fuller than the contemporaneous CoventGarden version.

There are two broad approaches to Tchaikovskyballets: the theatrical and the symphonic.Anatole Fistoulari and Antal Dorati tendedtowards the former, whereas André Previn andRichard Bonynge hove towards the latter.Ansermet adopts a middle course, toconsiderable effect. When this recording firstappeared, one commentator observed thatAnsermet treated the entire score as a gigantictone poem. Nonetheless, Ansermet’s balleticinstincts ultimately prevail and there is more thana whiff of grease paint and glow of footlights inthis performance. Indeed, Ansermet emphasisesthe wonderful theatricality and energy ofTchaikovsky’s dazzling and glamorous score, asmuch as its ‘symphonic’ elements. His treatmentof the waltzes is quite sublime, taking themfractionally more slowly than usual and investingthem with poise, dignity and grandeur.

His reading is also notable for both its humanity– the depiction of the fragile Aurora isparticularly exquisite – and its humour. In thearistocratic ‘cabaret’ at the hunt, the countessesseem like corpulent dowagers and Puss-in-Bootsis a street fighter! Carabosse is genuinely sinister.The sound is truly panoramic, with triumphantbrass, supple strings and an especially powerfultam-tam in the climactic Act II finale. In Act III,one of the most brilliant sequences of ballet

‘numbers’ in the entire repertoire, the Suisse

Romande Orchestra is incandescent.

The ballet is set in the sixteenth century at the

palace of King Florestan XXIV. A great hall is

buzzing with courtiers, officials, nurses and

guards. On a dais is a cradle containing the

infant Princess Aurora.

The Introduction reveals two important leitmotivs

or personal signature tunes of two of the main

protagonists heard throughout the ballet: first,

the hectic, angry theme associated with the

villainous fairy Carabosse, followed by the

flowing, elegant and radiant music of the Lilac

Fairy, who devotes her magic powers to the

protection and happiness of the young princess.

The Introduction morphs into a March, where

Catalabutte, Master of Ceremonies, greets

important guests. Ansermet and the orchestra

intensify the magnificence of the music until the

King and Queen arrive. The fairies assemble and

bestow their gifts on the baby, but the last to

arrive is the Lilac Fairy (listen to how deftly

Ansermet handles the key change and the subtle

relaxation of the tempo here). The fairy

godmothers present their gifts to the

accompaniment of a solo clarinet with harp and

there follows a series of variations.

As the Lilac Fairy moves forward to present hergift, ominous sounds are heard and a pagehurries in to announce the arrival of Carabosse,a sinister stooped figure in black robes whoinstantly arrives in a black chariot drawn by rats,furious at not having been asked to be agodmother. The King demands the guest list andCatalabutte, forced to bear responsibility,prostrates himself at her feet, whereupon shetears out his hair with her long claw like fingersand throws it to her equally grotesqueattendants. She announces her gift to thePrincess will take the form of a curse which willmake the Princess prick her finger on a spindleand die. All are instantly horrified, but Carabosseand her attendants dance cheerfully.

The Lilac Fairy suddenly reappears to assure thegathering that the Princess will grow upbeautiful, gracious and talented and will indeedprick her finger on a spindle, but will not die.Her equally powerful magic will cause her tosleep for a hundred years and be awakened bya kiss from a handsome prince. Carabossedeparts in high dudgeon and the guests gatheraround the cradle.

Act I takes place sixteen years later at Aurora’ssixteenth birthday. Amid the celebrations,Catalabutte notices women threading spindles,which have been strictly forbidden since

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Carabosse’s curse. He confiscates them andorders the culprits to be gaoled. Before theirremoval, the King and Queen, accompanied byfour foreign princes seeking Aurora’s hand,arrive and query the reason for the disturbance.After vainly trying to conceal the spindles,Catalabutte is forced to explain and the kingthreatens the unhappy offenders with death.Only the intercession of the princes spares themand they are pardoned. There follows one ofTchaikovsky’s most beloved waltzes.

The four princes plight their troth to the Kingand Queen as Aurora enters. She then danceswith each prince, accepting a rose from each(hence the title ‘Rose Adagio’) and they are thenjoined in variations by maids of honour andpages and Aurora herself dances to a solo violin.Aurora sees an old woman in the crowd whooffers her a gift and she begins to dance merrilywith it. Carabosse’s theme is heard on thetrombones as Aurora pricks her finger. Herdance becomes wilder and wilder and shecollapses, apparently lifeless. As the companycries out in despair, Carabosse throws back herhood to reveal her identity and cacklesmalevolently. The four princes draw their swordsand fall on her but she vanishes. The Lilac Fairyappears and waves her wand as the Princess iscarried away. The castle is enveloped in mist and

everyone is frozen as the scene is transformedinto a dense forest.

Act II takes place a hundred years later in theforest. Horns depict a hunting party whichenters, followed by Prince Désiré (sometimescalled Florimund or Charming) and his tutorGallifron, who suggests a diversion. The partyplay Blind Man’s Buff (Colin-maillard), then eachrank of nobility (not, it should be added, in strictorder of precedence) – duchesses, baronesses,countesses and marchionesses – dance.Someone then suggests a farandole. The Princeseems despondent and preoccupied and, as thehunting party moves off, the Lilac Fairy appearsin a boat drawn by butterflies and proceeds totell him Aurora’s tale. With a wave of her wand,she invokes a vision of the princess dancing withfairies in the forest. The Prince tries to catch her,initially in vain, but she eventually comes to himand they dance. Soon Aurora dances alone, thenfades away.

Entranced by the vision, the Prince implores theLilac Fairy to take him to her, which leads to thefamous Panorama when they navigate their waythrough the thicket into the palace. There, hesees the vision on a four poster bed, leapstowards her and kisses her lips. This is, in effect,a transformation scene and one of the greatestclimaxes in all music. Immediately, the sleeping

princess awakens and swoons into the arms ofthe Prince Charming of her dreams. The gloomypalace is instantly flooded with light andeveryone stirs after their one hundred yearsomnolence. The weeds disappear and thecobwebs vanish. The spell has been broken.

ACT IIIThe festivities for Aurora’s wedding to PrinceDésiré occupy the entire third act and, as adivertissement of the most brilliant type, addvirtually nothing to the plot.

The orchestra strikes up a splendid march andthe royal family enters. The polonaise orpolacca, traditionally danced on ceremonial andstate occasions in Imperial Russia, is perhaps themost brilliant piece in the entire ballet and anumber of fairy tale or pantomime charactersfrom Perrault’s Contes de ma mère l’oye (‘Talesof Mother Goose’) appear, among themHarlequin, Columbine, Pierrot, Pierrette, Puss-in-Boots, Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf. Thegraceful Intrada is followed by dance variationsfor the gold, silver and diamond fairies.

Tchaikovsky composed very feline music forPuss-in-Boots and the white cat, whichsuggests mewing and scratching. Did thisinspire Ravel to create a similar dance inL’Enfant et les sortilèges? In the ‘Bluebird’

adagio Cinderella, Prince Fortune, the Bluebirdand Princess Florine dance to variations and acoda. Little Red Riding Hood is caught anddragged off by the wolf to the accompanimentof ‘growls’ from the orchestra. We meet TomThumb, his brothers and the ogre. It issuspected that Perrault collected the tale fromthe French province of Berry. Then, Cinderellaand Prince Fortune reappear in a scene which isfrequently cut in live productions.

Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré dance anextended movement in contrasting sectionswhich culminates in a fiery Cossack dance,dubbed The Three Ivans, anticipating the morefamous example in The Nutcracker. Thesarabande, a rarely included number, is arenaissance dance which brings a moment ofsolemnity to the surrounding exuberance. Thefull orchestra is in full voice initially in a finalmazurka. The melody of an old French folksong is then heard, as the Lilac Fairy finallyappears to cast her blessing on theproceedings in a glorious apotheosis.

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ERNEST ANSERMET was a significant figurein twentieth-century music. He was born in1883 and followed his father’s profession ofmathematician, graduating from LausanneUniversity in 1903 and returning there asProfessor of Mathematics, although by thenhe had realised that music was his truevocation. He received tuition from ErnestBloch and conducted his first concerts atMontreux in 1910.

He became a friend of Debussy, Ravel andStravinsky, on whose recommendation hebecame conductor for Diaghilev’s BalletsRusses, a position which took him to Londonand South America and which enhanced hisreputation to the point where he premieredFalla’s Three-Cornered Hat, Prokofiev’s TheBuffoon and Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale,Pulcinella and Renard. All his life, Ansermetwas associated with the ‘Diaghilev’ scores –Ravel, Debussy and romantic Russians likeRimsky-Korsakov and Borodin.

However, Ansermet’s talents extended wellbeyond this sphere of repertoire: he alsopremiered works by Bloch, Copland,Lutoslawski, Martinu, Walton and Britten’sopera The Rape of Lucretia. Ansermet’sgreatest legacy was undoubtedly the SuisseRomande Orchestra (Romande being the

French speaking region of Switzerland centredaround Geneva where the Orchestra is based)Ansermet remained its Chief Conductor fromits formation in 1918 until his retirement in1968, surely an unprecedented period in thehistory of music. After World War II, he signedan exclusive contract with Decca and, apartfrom a flirtation with the London Philharmonicand the occasional excursion (vide somerecordings with the Paris ConservatoireOrchestra), his recordings were madeexclusively with this orchestra until hisretirement. This made Ansermet unique, aseven conductors such as Furtwängler andKarajan, who both had marathon periods asChief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic,also frequently conducted other orchestrassuch as the Vienna Philharmonic and thePhilharmonia Orchestra.

The Suisse Romande was never one of theworld’s top ten orchestras, but on its day it wasa fine ensemble which benefited fromAnsermet’s scrupulous adherence to the score,clarity and flair for detail. In a 75th birthdayarticle, The Gramophone magazine commentedon his ‘mathematical accuracy’ – anunintentionally double-edged comment since itsuggests a sort of desiccated human abacus,largely devoid of spontaneity and intuition. t

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Ansermet was essentially unassuming, almostascetic, and had none of the grand seigneur,bullying podium psychopath, or the fatuousdynamism of the bogus celebrity about him.However, he was, especially towards the endof his life, often cantankerous and petulantand very jealous of any considerationdisplayed towards his Decca colleague andcontemporary, Pierre Monteux. It was ameasure of Ansermet’s influence that hemanaged to persuade Decca to cast himagainst type, as it were, and allow him torecord Beethoven and Brahms cycles when thecompany had such titans in theAustro/Germanic repertoire as Karl Böhm,Hans Knappertsbusch, Rafael Kubelik andGeorg Solti. Some of his last recordings wereof Bach cantatas.

No portrait of Ansermet, however brief, wouldbe complete without anecdotal evidence ofhis parsimonious side, delivered withconsiderable relish by John Culshaw in hisautobiography, Putting the Record Straight.Ansermet’s Geneva apartment had drawersand cupboards stuffed with material from theDiaghilev days – notes galore from theimpresario himself, or from Stravinsky andNijinsky, bundles of little sketches by Picasso,postcards from Debussy, Satie and Ravel –

which seemed to mean little to him. Despitethis veritable cornucopia, on the departurefrom the company of the recording producerJames Walker, who had worked with infinitepatience and loyalty to produce the bestresults possible during Ansermet’s decliningyears, all he received from Ansermet was abox of Swiss chocolates!

After his retirement as Chief Conductor of theSuisse Romande Orchestra in 1968, he madeonly one recording: a complete Firebird withthe New Philharmonia, which included arehearsal sequence. He survived only a fewmonths and died in February 1969. Had itbeen impossible for him to live without hisbeloved Suisse Romande Orchestra?

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Ernest Ansermet’s complete Tchaikovsky recordings for DECCA:

Swan Lake; Rococo Variations; Symphony No. 6Decca Eloquence 480 0563

The Sleeping BeautyDecca Eloquence 480 0560

The Nutcracker; Suites Nos. 2 & 3Decca Eloquence 480 0557

Recording producer: James WalkerRecording engineer: Roy WallaceRecording location: Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland, April 1959Eloquence series manager: Cyrus Meher-HomjiArt direction: Chilu Tong · www.chilu.comBooklet editor: Bruce Raggatt

480 0560