| Spartacus (1956) |
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| First off, the version of this ballet that I would recommend is the one shown on the right. It is performed by the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Loris Tjeknavrian. The CD is released by ASV Digital of England in 1999. (Cat#CD DCA 949) Recorded in DDD. This is the entire ballet that has been recorded, and it runs 1 hour and 4 minutes. |
| Spartacus Ballet Suites, Aram Il'ych Khachaturian 1903-1978 Suite No. 1 1. First Movement -Introduction and Dance of Nymphs 2. Second Movement-Introduction, Adagio of Aegina and Harmodius 3. Third Movement -Variation of Aegina and Bacchanalia 4. Fourth Movement -Scene and Dance of Crotalums 5. Fifth Movement -Dance of the Gaditanae and Victory of Spartacus Suite No. 2 6. First Movment -Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia 7. Second Movement-Entrance of Merchants, Dance of Roman Courtesan and General Dance 8. Third Movement -Entrance of Spartacus, Quarrel, Harmodius' Treachery 9. Fourth Movement -The Dance of the Pirates Suite No. 3 10. First Movement -In the Market Place 11. Second Movement-Dance of the Ethiopian Boy and Dance of the Grecian Slave 12. Third Movement -Dance of the Egyptian Maidens\ 13. Fourth Movement -Phrygia's Prophecy and farewell to Spartacus, Parting of Spartacus and Phrygia 14. Fifth Movment -Sword Dance |
| What's used in Caligula? Suite 1, Third Movement-Incidental movie music Suite 2, First Movement-Love Theme from Caligula, Drusilla's theme, and the music for the disco record, "We are One", referring to Caligula and Drusilla. (I learned this from the Book!) Suite 3, Fourth Movement-Incidental movie music |
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| About the music: -The music for Caligula was picked very carefully. Spartacus is the greatest Russian ballet since Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" and "Cinderella". So obviously, when picking the music for the movie, the producers were going for grand Russian Ballets, and the music fits perfect. When I first learned that some of the best music in the film was not original, I was disappointed, but as I listened to the full ballet's more, I understood that the music was dead on, and that Paul Clemente complimented the music used from the ballet's with his own compostions as well. Spartacus was originally written in 1956 with 4 acts. In 1957 the ballet featured 6 scenes with a reduced score. In 1958, the original score was substantially revised. In 1960, the ballet had 3 Acts, but it was reduced in length. The 1968 version featured 3 Acts, and substantially further revisions by Khachaturian. This third "Bolshoi" version is concidered the best of all the productions. As well, Khachaturian had much more music written, but it was never published, and so the CD above is a true representation of the authors vision. |