Aram Il'Yich Khachaturian: Spartacus Ballet Suites 1-3

Aram Khachaturian's famous ballet, Spartacus, was first produced for the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad in 1956 and was hailed--in its 1968 version--as the most successful Soviet ballet since Prokofieff's Romeo and Juliet. High praise indeed. The story comes from the story of a Roman slave/gladiator who led a revolt against Rome but was betrayed by his followers. The ballet itself is distinguished by a wide range of distinct melodies and themes, and the three gathered here do cohere well. But the suites do not follow the ballet sequentially. These suites were written to stand on their own. Fun anyhow. --Paul Cook