This 2010 recording of Tchaikovsky's eternally popular Swan Lake ballet, with
Mikhail Pletnev and the
Russian National Orchestra might be ideal for dancing, but it is less ideal purely as a listening experience. On the whole, and in most of its parts, theirs is a highly dramatic and very fast-paced performance, filled with plenty of vigor, energy, color, and contrast. The score requires more pathos and bathos than depth and profundity, and
Pletnev elicits from the Russian musicians a sweetly soulful and wholly polished performance. But this version misses the lightness and buoyancy of
Gennady Rozhdestvensky's classic account of the work, a performance that sacrifices none of the work's drama, and allowing it space to dance.
Pletnev's recording has many virtues, though, and the listener may find a place on the shelf for both his and
Rozhdestvensky's versions. Ondine's sound is clean and lush, with plenty of detail.