Prelude and Mazurka from Coppélia
Léo Delibes (1836-91)
Coppélia, based on a story about trying to bring dolls to life, (as so many ballets are), was the first big hit for Léo Delibes. The contemporary audiences loved its tunefulness, its colourful orchestration, and its lack of pretension. The short Prelude, featuring the horns and bassoons in a sonorous chorale-like passage, gives way to the familiar Mazurka, a sort of half-way house between the Viennese waltzes of Johann Strauss and the rustic Ländler relished by Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler. Tunes tumble out with great fecundity. You may find it difficult to stay in your seat, faced with such an alluring invitation to prance about the hall.
Delibes was a highly successful composer who loved to write for the stage, having no wish to gain immortality through symphonies or concertos. He was a vital link in that strand of classical music that stretches from Adolf Adam, (his teacher), who composed the ballet Giselle, to Camille Saint-Saëns and Franz Lehár. Among his many stage works is the opera Lakm , which includes the ‘Flower Duet’, now immortalised in ads for British Airways.
Léo Delibes (1836-91)
Coppélia, based on a story about trying to bring dolls to life, (as so many ballets are), was the first big hit for Léo Delibes. The contemporary audiences loved its tunefulness, its colourful orchestration, and its lack of pretension. The short Prelude, featuring the horns and bassoons in a sonorous chorale-like passage, gives way to the familiar Mazurka, a sort of half-way house between the Viennese waltzes of Johann Strauss and the rustic Ländler relished by Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler. Tunes tumble out with great fecundity. You may find it difficult to stay in your seat, faced with such an alluring invitation to prance about the hall.
Delibes was a highly successful composer who loved to write for the stage, having no wish to gain immortality through symphonies or concertos. He was a vital link in that strand of classical music that stretches from Adolf Adam, (his teacher), who composed the ballet Giselle, to Camille Saint-Saëns and Franz Lehár. Among his many stage works is the opera Lakm , which includes the ‘Flower Duet’, now immortalised in ads for British Airways.