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GLIERE: The Red Poppy
St Petersburg Symphony/Andre Anichanov Naxos 553496 [2CD]108 minutes
Several years ago on CBC Radio there was a classical music program hosted by a man named Alex Pavlini, whose obvious love of great music was exceeded only by his often offbeat sense of humor. (One over-the-air case in point: "It's hot here in the studio; I hope you folks won't mind if I take my shoes off", followed by the sound of the shoes hitting the floor: plop...plop...plop.) Pavlini's theme music-as I was to discover years later-was a piece called 'American Dance' from Gliere's ballet The Red Poppy, a masterpiece of mock pomposity perfectly suited to his tongue-incheek manner. Thus it was with considerable disappointment that I played through this Naxos set of the "complete ballet" only to...