Aram Khachaturian - Spartacus Ballet Suites (Loris Tjeknavorian)

Information

Composer: Aram Khachaturian

1. Spartacus, Suite No. 1: I. Intro and Dance of Nymphs
2. Spartacus, Suite No. 1: II. Intro, Adagio of Aegina and Harmodius
3. Spartacus, Suite No. 1: III. Variation of Aegina and Bacchanalia
4. Spartacus, Suite No. 1: IV. Scene and Dance of Crotalums
5. Spartacus, Suite No. 1: V. Dance of the Gaditanae and Victory of Spartacus
6. Spartacus, Suite No. 2: I. Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
7. Spartacus, Suite No. 2: II. Entrance of Merchants, Dance of Roman Courtesan, General Dance
8. Spartacus, Suite No. 2: III. Entrance of Spartacus, Quarrel, Harmodius' Treachery
9. Spartacus, Suite No. 2: IV. The Dance of the Pirates
10. Spartacus, Suite No. 3: I. In the Market Place
11. Spartacus, Suite No. 3: II. Dance of the Ethiopian boy and Dance of the Grecian Slave
12. Spartacus, Suite No. 3: III. Dance of the Egyptian Maidens
13. Spartacus, Suite No. 3: IV. Phrygia's Prophecy and Farewell to Spartacus, Parting of Spartacus and Phrygia
14. Spartacus, Suite No. 3: V. Sword Dance

Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Loris Tjeknavorian, conductor

Date: 1999

Label: ASV

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Review

Aram Khachaturian's ballet score Spartacus got a boost in the 1970s when the BBC used an excerpt from "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia" as the theme to their TV series "The Onedin Line." This was a show about ships, and the men who go down to sea in them, and it had nothing to do with rebellious slaves in ancient Rome. Few people noticed the oddity. This just goes to show that Khachaturian's ballet will not be helpful to history buffs, and certainly not to those with an interest in what the Romans and their slaves were listening to at orgies and other events, both public and private, two millennia ago. Spartacus is as Russian as borscht and the gulags, but it is none for the worse for that.

Many conductors have taken a selection of numbers from this ballet and called it a suite. As a matter of fact, Khachaturian put together three ballet suites from numbers of his own choosing, and that is what is recorded here - these, then, are the "authorized" Spartacus suites. The first two contain the best material. Suite #1 closes with the rip-snorting "Dance of the Gaditanae and Victory of Spartacus," and Suite #2 opens with the aforementioned "Adagio." All three suites stand on their own, but they also work back to back, although chronological order gets thrown out the window if one does so, because Suite #3 is comprised of music from early in the ballet. (The entire ballet finally has appeared on CD, on the Capriccio label, if you are interested.) The plot emphasizes Bacchanaleia and combat, not love, poetry, or other "finer things in life," so it should come as no surprise that Khachaturian's score is more athletic than mellow. Now that I mention it, many of the faster numbers would work perfectly as an accompaniment for floor gymnastics, and the even faster ones (there's quite a bit of oom-pah oom-pah oom-pah in this score) seem intended for a kind of Russian can-can. It is easy to make fun of some of Spartacus's more vulgar moments, but all in all, it's an adorable score, and even if it doesn't get your limbs moving it will make your pulse race, and sedentary exercise is better than none.

That's fine by the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, because their violin section is thin and not as capable of supporting a Big Tune as other orchestras that have recorded this music are. Rhythmically, however, they are right on, and one really can't criticize their rousing playing. Tjeknavorian is the right man to conduct this music, as earlier AS&V releases have shown. He doesn't apologize for Khachaturian's moments of banality, but neither does he compound the composer's lack of subtlety with gaucheries of his own. He likes the music, he takes it seriously, and his podium technique is strong… who could ask for more? The engineering will challenge your equipment, and your neighbors' tolerance.

— Raymond Tuttle

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Aram Khachaturian (6 June 1903 – 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, he studied at the Gnessin Musical Institute and the Moscow Conservatory with Nikolai Myaskovsky, among others. As a young composer, he was influenced by contemporary Western music, particularly that of Maurice Ravel. In his Symphony No. 1 and later works, this influence was supplanted by a growing appreciation of folk traditions. His other works include Symphonies No. 2 & No. 3, the symphonic suite Masquerade, the ballet Spartacus, concertos, as well as film scores and incidental music.

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Loris Tjeknavorian (born 13 October 1937) is an Iranian Armenian composer and conductor. Born in Boroujerd, Iran, to an Armenian‑immigrant family, he pursued advanced musical studies at the Vienna Academy of Music, the Salzburg Mozarteum with Carl Orff, and the University of Michigan. As a conductor, Tjeknavorian has toured extensively across Europe, the Americas and beyond, conducting leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera. His compositional output exceeds sixty works, including symphonies, operas, chamber music and ballet.

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