Carmen-Suite

The Carmen Suite was composed in 1967 by Rodion Shchedrin for his wife, the legendary ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, as a way to circumvent the Soviet authorities' resistance to presenting Bizet's opera in a traditional format. By reorchestrating the score for strings and a vast array of percussion, Shchedrin transformed the work into a vibrant, rhythmic ballet score that highlights the dramatic essence of Carmen without the libretto.

This 1988 release by Melodia-Eurodisc features the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra under the direction of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, a conductor renowned for his interpretive precision and deep familiarity with Soviet-era compositions. The recording captures the intensity and brilliance of the work, reflecting a period when Western labels were increasingly collaborating with Melodia to bring authoritative Soviet performances to a global audience, showcasing the enduring power of Shchedrin's modern reimagining.