Ballet Music from MGM Films

This record is titled for the well-remembered "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" dance that Vera-Ellen and Gene Kelly did in Words and Music. But most of its contents are from the more obscure dance pic Unfinished Dance. That one starred Cyd Charisse, who just died, and Margaret O'Brien. Also Danny Thomas, who didn't dance, as far as I know.

As was common in Hollywood, the music for Unfinished Dance was a sort of stew combining themes from the great clawsics in new, unexpected, and unwelcome ways. Here we have Kreisler, Smetana, Gounod, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, Chopin, and Thomas as viewed by music director Herbert Stothart and orchestrator Albert Sendray.

Actually, it's not as bad as I make it sound, and the M-G-M Studio Orchestra is always a delight to hear.

Also on the disk is the ballet from The Pirate. Lennie Hayton conducts that music as well as the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" adaptation.

I happen to love the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" music. Richard Rodgers wrote it for On Your Toes, and my favorite version is from the 1983 revival of that show, which used the original orchestrations.