(Section D)
Led by LAURANCE TURNER
Conducted by EDWARD CLARK
Tchaikovsky's ' Swan Lake' is an early work, indeed, the earliest of all his ballets. It is an excellent example of the type of ' classical' baHet which flourished in Russia in the heyday of the Tsardom. The subject is a fairy-tale of a familiar type-princesses changed into swans, a prince who falls in love with one of the swan-princesses, fatal spells, and so on. Tchaikovsky has wedded it with graceful melodious music, less piquantly scored, perhaps, than that of the more famous ' Nut-cracker ' ballet ; but equally charming in its own way.
The Waltz, which forms the second number of the Suite to be played this evening, has always been one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works in his own country, though it has been unjustly neglected abroad.
' The Swan Lake ' has for some time been one of the most popular ballets in the Vic-Wells repertoire