It is really not at all surprising that a composer of dance music might eventually get around to writing a full-length dance composition. But did you know this: that the music for the full-length ballet Aschenbrödel (Cinderella) amounts to the swan song of Johann Strauss? Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to complete the work. Before his death he had orchestrated the first act and half of the third act. The versed ballet composer Josef Bayer was assigned the task of completing the work, and he used the extensive sketches to produce a performable version. Over the years a lot of new source material has surfaced. On the basis of these sources the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna has made a new recording of this work so very rich in melodies. The result is also a sort of rediscovery of Aschenbrödel. Our conductor is the Strauss specialist Ernst Theis.
