Les Patineurs (complete ballet) [Alf:36-A888702]

An idea from composer Constant Lambert, who was the music director of the Vic-Wells Ballet during the 1930s, LES PATINEURS (The Skaters) combines vocal and dance numbers from two Giacomo Meyerbeer operas: LE PROPHETE and L'ETOILE DU NORD.  Depicting a Victorian skaing party on a frozen pond on a winter's evening, the ballet in one act contains a sequence of eight divertissements, each depicting a different combination of skaters (couples, individuals, etc.), identified by the clothes they are wearing.  Premiered in 1937, the work was a great success and was one of the first ballets ever to be televised.  It still enjoys regular performances and recordings today.  Instrumentation in the set: 1+Picc.2.2.2: 4.2.3.1: Timp.Perc(2): Hp: Str (4-4-3-3-3).  This version has been edited by William McDermott.