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Although classical recordings, particularly those of orchestral music, are expensive to make and usually have only the faintest hope of generating enough unit movement to pay the studio bill, some don't really get a fair shot at finding an audience before the delete sheet arrives to reclaim them. Gisèle Ben-Dor's 1997 recording of the complete scores of Alberto Ginastera's first two ballets Panambí and Estancia with the London Symphony Orchestra are a good example of this; issued on Conifer Classics in 1998, the disc was barely in the catalog a year before BMG pulled the plug on its classical division, which essentially rang the death knell for Conifer. Nearly a decade later, Naxos rights this wrong by making this performance available once again in its Latin American Classics Series. Both Panambí and Estancia are better known in their incarnations as concert suites; the concert suite for Estancia is probably the best-known orchestral work of Ginastera overall. This is the first recording made of Estancia as a complete ballet, and Ben-Dor has taken the option of having a narrator recite verses from the source work, José Hernández's poem "Martin Fierro," to link the various parts of the ballet, as is common in Argentine performances. Not everyone will be pleased with this choice, but it is completely in keeping with the nature of the work, and the narration is well delivered by singer/actor Luis Gaeta. In some cases Ben-Dor has also opted to substitute movements from the suites for those in the original ballets; although through mere circumstance the suites for both works were premiered before the ballets were staged, they were written later and represent ideas that seem a bit more finished than in the originals. Again, not everyone will find that a satisfactory compromise, but you have to hand it to Ben-Dor for taking the initiative in making these recordings the best that they can be from a textual standpoint. These recordings were made at Abbey Road and the London Philharmonic Orchestra does a terrific job in making these unfamiliar, and often dense, scores sing under Ben-Dor's knowing baton. This is not as crisp a performance as the best ones of the suites -- just witness Eduardo Mata's 1995 recording of the Estancia Suite on the Dorian disc Latin American Ballets, one of his last. However, it is better than just adequate and the Danza Final "Malambo" in Estancia packs plenty of wallop, just as it should. Moreover, one is grateful to finally have access to a complete recording of Estancia, which reveals the work as a masterpiece of modern composition, containing many inspired moments and ideas that are 50 years ahead of their time. © TiVo

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