BBC Philharmonic, Rumon Gamba - Malcolm Arnold: Ballet Music (2009) CD-Rip

Ballet is not a form for which British composers are generally known, but this CD includes four dance works by Malcolm Arnold: two of the composer's complete shorter ballets, Rinaldo and Armida and Electra, as well as suites from two of his longer ballets, Homage to the Queen and Sweeny Todd, performed with impressive enthusiasm by the BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba and recorded in imposed digital sound by Chandos. Each is effective in its own way. Homage is big, brassy, and brilliant; Rinaldo and Armida is darker, moodier, and more mysterious; Electra is sleek, slinky, and a little sexy; and Sweeny Todd absolutely explosive and positively frightening. These effects are primarily orchestral in nature and the music is symphonic in origin, so one listens in vain for danceable rhythms, propulsive tempos, or even an insistent tattoo or two. It is conceivable that Arnold's ballets might be danced, but these works can be enjoyed as bright, colorful, and melodic orchestral music.