Lambert Conducts Bliss and Adam Ballets

From time to time, I have been exploring the recorded legacy of composer-conductor-orchestrator Constant Lambert. Today we return to his activities as the music director of the Sadler's Wells Ballet.

This present 10-inch LP derives from two productions in the 1946 season, the ballet's first in residence at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Arthur Bliss and Constant Lambert during a 1944 rehearsal

The first side has music from Miracle in the Gorbals, written by Lambert's friend Arthur Bliss and premiered by the company in 1944. This recording was made on the same day as the opening of the 1946 revival, June 14.

Shearer and Rassine as the lovers

"The Gorbals" was and is a sector in Glasgow that had become a notorious slum by the time of the the 1944 production, which had a scenario by Michael Benthall and choreography by Robert Helpmann. The heavily symbolic action elicited strikingly fine music from Bliss, well conveyed in Lambert's authoritative performance. Bliss himself, among other conductors, later recorded more extensive versions of the music.

The second side of the LP presents a suite from Adolphe Adam's music for Giselle, one of the most popular ballets of all time. In this recording, Lambert performs the dual role of conductor and orchestrator. Although the music was written in 1841, Adam's orchestration was not published until the 20th century. Rather than licensing that version, ballet companies such as Sadler's Wells found it less expensive to commission their own orchestrations - and of course that company had a highly skilled arranger on staff in the person of Lambert.

Margot Fonteyn as Giselle

The Giselle recording session came two days after the March 16, 1946 opening of the ballet, a revival of a 1934 staging.

The sound is good on these recordings. The download includes the contemporary Gramophone review, plus additional production ephemera.

In addition to Miracle in the Gorbals and Giselle, Lambert was also in the studios to record three other ballets from the 1946 season - The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia and Gavin Gordon's music for The Rake's Progress. I plan to transfer all at a later date.

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