Minkus is a man of pleasant surprises, whose music has been too readily denigrated. No doubt he did indeed lack the special powers that Delibes and Tchaikovsky brought to ballet music. However, anyone who knows the ''Pas de deux'' from his Don Quixote, to which I believe the ice-skater, the late John Curry, gave wider currency, will know his power to write rousing, tuneful music. When I reviewed John Lanchbery's extended LP recording of Don Quixote 20 years ago (HMV, 7/74—nla) I seem to have been less than wildly enthusiastic; but my admiration for Minkus's ability has grown in leaps and bounds since. When I reviewed Bonynge's two-CD ''Ballet Gala'' (Decca, 11/90), Minkus's ''Grand Pas'' from Paquita was one of the tracks that made the collection such a great joy. Now I feel similar enthusiasm about this two-CD set, which I declare one of the very best of all the delightful ballet recordings that Bonynge has brought us over a period of some 30 years.
Marius Petipa's ballet La Bayadere was first presented at the Maryinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, in 1877, eight years after Don Quixote. It panders to the idealized vision of the Orient that exerted such a lingering fascination on the nineteenth-century romantics, centring its plot on the bayadere who emerged from a Hindu temple to perform her ritual dance before retreating into its mysterious shadows. The highlight of Minkus's ballet score is the Shades scene, which Nureyev revived in London in 1963 and which Bonynge included in his pioneering Decca ballet collection over 30 years ago (6/63—nla). Natalia Makarova revived the entire ballet in New York in 1980, and then in 1989 staged it with the Royal Ballet. The Paris Opera's 1991 staging was Nureyev's final offering.
Now here is this splendid recording. It is, one may note, attributed to Minkus/Lanchbery, and without doubt John Lanchbery's colourful and masterly orchestration contributes much to the ultimate effect. Since certain numbers are described as original Pavolova material, perhaps not all the music is even by Minkus. But, when the result is as enjoyable as this, who cares? Delight follows upon delight—perhaps never highly memorable, but always highly diverting, alternately engaging, alternately exciting, always highly tuneful and instantly enjoyable. Those who are regular collectors of Bonynge's ballet recordings can scarcely fail to add it to their collection, and even those who hesitate to commit themselves to a two-CD complete ballet score should be happy with this one. It is, as I have said, one of Bonynge's very best—exhilaratingly tuneful, lovingly played and brilliantly recorded.'