Gala des Étoiles

Ballet companies periodically offer evenings of excerpts to celebrate the principal dancers—the étoiles—of their own companies along with guest stars from other troupes. Captured live at Milan's Teatro alla Scala in conjunction with the city's hosting of Expo 2015, Gala des Étioiles features 13 individual numbers. Some are modern pieces, such as Massimiliano Volpini's Prototype, which is set to an electronic score and showcases La Scala's own Roberto Bolle, who also appears with Polina Semionova of the American Ballet Theatre in one of the more immediately accessible items, Roland Petit's Carmen, danced to Bizet's popular melodies. Svetlana Zakharova is spotlighted in Fokine's The Dying Swan, set to the music of Saint-Saëns, which was a signature piece of Pavlova, and she joins Leonid Sarafanov, a principal at St. Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Ballet, in the pas de deux from Petipa's Le Corsaire. The third of the company's current étoiles, Massimo Murru, pairs with Maria Eichwald of the Stuttgart Ballet in the pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan's version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Other numbers of interest include Ben Stevenson's Three Preludes, set to solo piano pieces by Rachmaninov; Petit's La Rose malade, with the famous adagio of Mahler's Fifth Symphony; and the finale by Stefania Ballone, featuring Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours, which is performed by the entire ensemble. The physical production is fairly modest (save for the elaborate Prototype), but the orchestral accompaniment is first-rate. Presented in DTS 5.1 (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray release) and LPCM stereo, this will be enjoyed by balletomanes for its variety and splendid dancing. Recommended. (F. Swietek)