Britten: Prince of the Pagodas Suite - McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan

Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra deliver a coolly new-age performance of Colin McPhee's proto-minimalist masterpiece Tabuh-Tabuhan, very similar to Dennis Russell Davies' recording for Argo. It's very well played and very beautiful although quite different from Howard Hanson's speedier and more dynamic rendition on Mercury Living Presence. The Britten/McPhee recording of Balinese Ceremonial Music has been available previously but makes an apt coupling, especially in the company of this new suite (arranged by Donald Mitchell and Mervyn Cooke) from Britten's The Prince of the Pagodas. This contains a huge slice (some 50 minutes) of the ballet, including the exotic "pagoda" music inspired by the composer's trip to Bali, but unaccountably omits some of the best numbers from the usual suite, such as the final pas de deux of Belle Rose and the Prince. All the same, like the McPhee it's very well played and finely recorded too, making this enterprising release well worth owning from just about any point of view.