Ballet music was very much part of the great operas, sometimes inserted later for a bit of relief from the drama. Together with popular overtures – Rossini’s ‘Thieving Magpie’, Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ – this is a collection of some of those best-loved instrumental moments, some of which have even eclipsed the whole opera in popularity.
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
La gazza ladra: Overture
AMILCARE PONCHIELLI
La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours
PIETRO MASCAGNI
Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo sinfonico
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Manon Lescaut: Intermezzo
GEORGES BIZET
Carmen: Prelude (Act I)
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Samson et Dalila: Bacchanale
FRANZ SCHMIDT
Notre Dame: Intermezzo
JULES MASSENET
Thaïs: Meditation
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Les contes d’Hoffman: Barcarolle
Dresden State Opera Chorus
Staatskapelle Dresden
Silvio Varviso
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Macbet: Ballet Music
I vespri siciliani: The Four Seasons: ‘Autumn’
Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Antonio de Almeida