Tchaikovsky: Gala Tribute To Tchaikovsky [1993] [DVD] ,

Tchaikovsky: Gala Tribute To Tchaikovsky / Domingo, Te Kanawa, Barlow / Stars of the Royal Ballet / Royal Opera House Covent Garden

A whole host of opera stars gather at the Royal Opera House in tribute to the great composer of the 19th Century, Tchaikovsky. Stars such as Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa perform alongside the Royal Ballet.
Innumerable operatic heavyweights including Bruce Sansom, Leanne Benjamin, Placido Domingo and New Zealand-born Kiri Te Kanawa, team up with The Royal Ballet for this all-star celebratory homage to the compositions of Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky, mounted and performed on the centenary of his death. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and The Royal Opera Chorus provide added musical support.
This is a bit of an oddity - a gala at Covent Garden in 1993 to celebrate the operatic and balletic achievements of Tchaikovsky (with some Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Puccini(!) thrown in too). So we get a few opera stars singing party pieces, interspersed with some fabulous Royal Ballet dancers in classic pas de deux, with a few odd fillers in between. Some big names from the opera world appear here - Placido Domingo singing (pretty good in Lensky's aria from Onegin) and conducting (a very leaden and embarrassingly staged 1812 overture); Paata Burchuladze and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in a couple of arias each; Anna Tomowa-Sintow on a bad night in Lisa's aria from Queen of Spades (a fine artist but the slavic wobble in the voice is overpowering here); Kiri Te Kanawa living up to her nickname of dreary in Rachmaninov's Vocalise (and Musetta's aria from Boheme - very out of place in a tribute to Tchaikovsky and she doesn't even sing it that well??!!), but Sergei Leiferkus is absolutely magnificent in Aleko's Gypsies aria.

The ballet segments are much more successful - a stunning Tchaikovsky pas de deux with Darcey Bussell and Zoltan Solymosi; Viviana Durante and Bruce Sansom refined and understated in the Polish pas de deux from Anastasia; Leanne Benjamin and Tetsuya Kumakawa in Nutcracker; and Irek Mukhamedov and Lesley Collier, who is purely radiant as Aurora from Beauty, even at this advanced stage of her career.

The conducting standards vary - Barry Wordsworth brings out a glimmer from the orchestra in the ballet sequences, the opera arias offer less colourful conducting by Stephen Barlow and Edward Downes, and the less said about Domingo's 1812 the better! The camera work is a little frustrating at times for the ballet as the odd leg or arm gets cut out of shot, just sloppy framing really. The audience response comes across as rather lame at times, but I'm not sure if this is the recording as opposed to the actual reception on the night! Also annoyingly there is practically no information about the casting on the outside of the packaging, so it's only when you get into the sealed disc can you find out what the programme is and who is featured.

All in all an oddity worth seeing for some great highlights, particularly Darcey and Zoltan in the Tchaikovsky pas de deux and Leiferkus' Aleko aria, although, inevitably for these sort of affairs, there is good and bad, hence the 3 stars.

1 Opening Credits
2 "The Dance Of The Comedians" The Snow Maiden, Act III
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Edward Downes
3 Snowflakes, The Nutcracker, Act I
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Barry Wordsworth
4 "None But The Lonely Heart" Six Romances
Cello – Christopher Vanderspar
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Edward Downes
Tenor Vocals – Placido Domingo
5 Vocalise, 14 Songs
Composed By – Rakhmaninov
Conductor – Stephen Barlow
Soprano Vocals – Kiri Te Kanawa
6 "I Love You Beyond Measure" The Queen Of Spades, Act II
Baritone Vocals – Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Stephen Barlow
7 Tchakiovsky Pas De Deux
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Barry Wordsworth
8 "What Have I Done That You Should Punish Her This Way" Iolanta
Bass Vocals – Paata Burchuladze
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Edward Downes
9 "I Am Worn Out With Grief" The Queen Of Spades, Act III
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Stephen Barlow
Soprano Vocals – Anna Tomowa-Sintow
10 Pas De Deux, The Nutcracker, Act II
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Barry Wordsworth
11 1812 Overture
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Placido Domingo
12 "Sadko", 1898
Baritone Vocals – Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Bass Vocals – Paata Burchuladze
Composed By – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Conductor – Edward Downes
13 Pas De Deux, Anastasia, Act II
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Barry Wordsworth
14 "The Gypsies Sleep" Aleko
Baritone Vocals – Sergei Leiferkus
Composed By – Rakhmaninov
Conductor – Edward Downes
15 "Where Are They Now, Those Golden Days" Eugene Onegin, Act III
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Edward Downes
Tenor Vocals – Placido Domingo
16 Pas De Deux, The Sleeping Beauty, Act III
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Barry Wordsworth
17 Musetta's Aria, La Bohème, Act II
Composed By – Giacomo Puccini
Conductor – Stephen Barlow
Soprano Vocals – Kiri Te Kanawa
18 Madame Larina's Ball, Eugene Onegin, Act II
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor – Edward Downes