Delibes: Coppélia (complete ballet) / Sylvia (Ballet in Three Acts)

Coppelia is the first of Delibes's two great ballets--they belong with very few 19th-century works that can withstand comparison to Tchaikovsky's three great dance pieces. Delibes, in case you didn't know, is the composer of Lakme, which gave us that soprano duet that has become world-famous in the British Airways commercials. He was a superb musical craftsman--an orchestral wizard with an excellent melodic gift. When this history-making recording was made, recordings of complete ballets were virtually unknown. We owe a major debt of gratitude to Antal Dorati and Mercury Living Presence for not only bringing this music to a large and appreciative public, but for doing so in performances that are as recommendable now as when they first appeared. --David Hurwitz