Les Ballets Russes in Paris became a sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. Here is presented sometimes scandal-ridden music composed for this company by Stravinsky, Debussy, Dukas, Ravel and Poulenc.

The Ballets Russes was established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. The 'Russian Ballets' created a sensation in Western Europe because of the great vitality and creativity of the Ballets Russes compared to what was current in France at the time. It became the most influential ballet company in the 20th century, and that influence has lasted to this day.

We are proud to present the following recordings with music dedicated to the Ballets Russes, all performed by the German SWR Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden and Freiburg, directed by Sylvain Cambreling, Michael Gielen and Marcello Viotti:

• Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, 'Le Sacre du Printemps'. Parts 1 and 2. A classic in the annals of stage scandals.
• Claude Debussy: Dance Poem, 'Jeux - Poème dansé'. First performance just two weeks before the scandal-ridden Rite of Spring. Music whose appeal, tender valeurs and instrumental finesse was not discovered until the mid-twentieth century.
• Paul Dukas: Fanfare and Poème dansé from the dance poem La Péri. The composer only permitted a handful of his works to be saved for posterity. La Péri was written 25 years before his death, but remained the last major composition he allowed to be published.
• Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloë, choreographic symphony for orchestra and choir (here:EuropaChorAcademie). This masterpiece is here presented in its full choreographic form.
• Francis Poulenc: Les Biches, ballet suite for orchestra. According to the composer, a kind of party ballet, without any real story line for the very good reason that, if it had one, it could well have provoked a scandal.

Live/attacca recording. Please note that some movements are joined as one single file per block of tracks, since the movements are played sometimes without gaps.

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