ONCE UPON A TIME

Esther Birringer has chosen three great Russian ballets for her recital album. Petrushka and Romeo & Juliet are filled with drama, love and tragedy and The Nutcracker with fantasy. Tchaikovsky's suite from ballet was arranged for piano by Mikhail Pletnev. Prokofiev, a superb pianist, arranged numbers from his ballet Romeo & Juliet for piano, and Stravinsky took three sections from his ballet Petrushka and created the Three Pieces. It is a superb showcase for any pianist and makes great demands upon the performer.