ADAM: “GISELLE.” Orchestra of the Royal Opera...

ADAM: “GISELLE.” Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Richard Bonynge. London 417 505-2 (two compact discs). The advantages of this performance are chiefly musicological. Bonynge offers a more than complete version of Adolphe Adam’s score for the 1841 ballet classic. This edition includes Burgmuller’s peasant pas de deux and the waltz variation and substitute love music for Act 1 (all of them conveniently indexed in the CD format)--and how often in live performance will you hear the Wilis’ fugue in Act II? Unfortunately, the conductor swoons and swoops his way through the music, overdoing the atmosphere at the expense of rhythmic elan. You have to remind yourself that the score was meant to accompany bodies moving through space. Playing and recording are tops.