What in the world is that 12/2000 reviewer talking about? This isn't "similar to the classical version," it IS the classical version. There are no "alterations to the music," just the ballet as P.I.T. wrote it. I hear nothing disorderly here. No one would mistake this to be the Berlin, Vienna, or Concertgebouw, but it gives the impression that Lenard was able to rehearse and "inspire" the ensemble to play at the very top of their form and sometimes beyond. The sound is slightly cavernous, as is typical of early Naxos, but at this price, who would complain?

This 1989 recording of Tchaikovsky’s wonderful “Swan Lake” ballet music has, in the meantime, been superceded by a new Naxos recording (by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra directed by Dmitry Yablonsky). Ondrej Lenárd’s version was certainly not bad, and has given me many a pleasant hour of listening, so that I would underscore the positive comments made by my fellow-Amazonites. The whole just has two Achilles heels: one is the rather weak quality of the strings, especially in the solo passages; the other is the recording quality, which, while being adequate, is no match for the likes of Decca’s classic recording with the National Philharmonic (directed by Richard Bonynge): the Naxos concept appears to be to sit the listener half-way down the hall and give him a realistic panorama from there without amplifying any of the proceedings, the result being that detail is lost and that instruments played at the back of the orchestra sound too quiet (including the cymbals). Listening on high-quality earphones proved more satisfactory than via loudspeakers, where the “cavernous” quality noted by another reviewer becomes all too obvious. As the Bonynge recording has been released, in Europe at any rate, at about the same price as the Naxos set, I recommend going there if you are coming to this with a view to buying “Swan Lake” for the first time. Mincho Minchev’s violin solos on that recording are eminently better than the Slovakian version, although Bonynge does perhaps get a little sentimental in places.

Tchaikovsky's music for the ballet Swan Lake is one of his greatest compositions -- indeed, one of the greatest musical masterpieces of the Romantic era. Before Swan Lake, ballet scores -- with a few exceptions, notably Giselle and Coppelia -- typically had been ground out merely to provide pleasant, rhythmic background music to be danced to. The highlight of ballets had been the dancing, not the music. With his composition of the score for Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky significantly altered the role and quality of ballet music. Yes, the music of Swan Lake is highly danceable, but it goes far beyond mere danceability. It is so beautiful and atmospheric that it can be -- and frequently is -- performed and enjoyed outside the ballet theater simply as great music, without regard to its original role. Thus, even if you have never attended a ballet -- or think you don't like ballet -- you can purchase this bargain-priced 2-CD set and revel in the gorgeous music it presents. I hope that you will do so, for no music lover should be without this unique masterpiece.

This CD was very similar to the classical version. However many alterations to the music made it difficult to enjoy. Tracks such as the Pas de Trois and the Fiancees dance were much different than I have ever heard and seemed disorderly and in reflection I would find hard to dance to. Although its beautiful sound quality it was not to my satisfaction so was almost a swan lake.