Are there any Swan Lake recording out there with any "additional" music that is not included in the Dutoit...?
(Just curious, as this has always been my idea of how the 1877 score was vs. the 1895 one)
In other words. Is the Dutoit "complete"?

If you mean the one with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra (1992), then yes, it includes everything from the symphonic score.

However, if you want something that has the additional music found in most ballet productions, I suggest looking for a copy of Swan Lake, directed by Feodotov with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra. That will have the additional music for Odile's Variation, Valse Bluette, etc. This is currently out of print, however.

If you're looking for music from the Tchaikovsky pas de deux, I think the Prévin recording has that as an appendix.

emi

If you have an Amazon.com account, you can download through the Amazon MP3 download service both the Previn and Fedotov-conducted versions of the ballet music, which can be played back on your computer or played back on a portable music player that supports MP3 files. The Previn version is essentially the one that Tchaikovsky originally wrote in 1877.

However, if you want to hear the EXACT version of the ballet music as conducted by the Mariinsky Theatre orchestra at their Swan Lake performances, you can get the one conducted by Valery Gergiev (which is also available on Amazon MP3 download service).

Thank you, Emilienne and Sacto. Yes, I was referring to the 1992 Dutoit &Montréal Symphony Orchestra, which I bought several years ago. I also own the Fedotov, which I got me on Ebay . From the two, I find myself playing the Dutoit the most. I was just curious to see if there's "anything" out there from the original score that could had slipped out of the Dutoit.
Thank you again !.

Yes there is, passion and understanding for a start. You will find it with Svetlanov, Dorati, Monteux, Fistoulari and the likes. ;-)

i know one music-minded ballet- SWAN LAKE-follower who treasures the following DVD for the conducting by Barenboim:
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake / Barenboim, Scherzer, Matz, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin (1998)

I too have found Dutoit's recording a disappointment; "unballettic" for lack of a better word. Strange that it was so highly rated when it came out, and is *still* widely recommended in the mainstream classical press as a first choice of the complete score. (But then so is the Pletnev/Beauty!)

I've always been a bit suspicious how Decca managed to squeeze the whole ballet onto 2CDs.. does Dutoit play all the repeats, and in particulat all those "false starts" in the Dance of the Prospective Brides in ACT 3?

For me, the sheer excitement of Ermler's ROH version is unmatched, even though it lacks the Sobeshchanskaya PDD. For that I have the Bonynge box set, although I dont think he's at his best in the rest of the ballet (though he has his moments).

Well, he does indeed plays all that sequence of fanfarre/waltz starting several times, if this is what you are referring to. The waltzing itself seems to go on and on forever.

Charles Dutoit - whom I think of very highly of as a conductor - has always been a favourite of the Penguin Guide, Gramophone magazine etc. Dutoit and his Montreal Symphony Orchestra have moreover benefited from one of the best Decca-produced sounds in the digital era. They made some wonderful discs of Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy and others. Yet Tchaikovsky was something else. With Swan Lake they also bravely released Tchaikovsky's 4, 5 and 6 Symphony, and all what was basically left was the sound quality.