Ocean's Kingdom | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 3 October 2011 | |||
Recorded | June 2011 | |||
Genre | Contemporary classical, ballet | |||
Length | 56:33 | |||
Label | Decca (UK) Hear Music/Telarc (US) | |||
Producer | John Fraser | |||
Paul McCartney chronology | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 60/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
BBC Music | (unfavourable) [3] |
Consequence of Sound | C+ [4] |
The Guardian | [5] |
The Independent | [6] |
musicOMH | [7] |
The New York Times | (unfavourable) [8] |
PopMatters | [9] |
Record Collector | [10] |
Uncut | [11] |
Ocean's Kingdom is the fifth classical album by Paul McCartney. It is the score of the ballet of the same name, commissioned by the New York City Ballet. It was performed by the London Classical Orchestra and conducted by John Wilson. The album was released on CD and vinyl, [12] on 3 October 2011 by Decca (UK) [13] and October 4 (US) by Hear Music/Telarc (US). [12] In the United States, it peaked at number 144 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album has a score of 60 out of 100 at Metacritic, based on eight reviews, signifying a "mixed or average" critical response. [14]
The ballet tells of a love story based in two fantastic worlds – the "pure" ocean kingdom, and the Earth kingdom with its "sort of baddies" who threaten the underwater way of life. According to McCartney, love happens when earth meets water, and "you'll have to see whether the couple make it".[ citation needed ] His score for the ballet consists of four orchestral movements.
All pieces by Paul McCartney.
Available through iTunes and as a digital download with the code card included in the CD and LP, it contains the studio & live versions of the four movements. The live tracks are from the world première on 21 September 2011, as performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra & conducted by Fayçal Karoui.
The Nutcracker, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. The plot is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 short story The Nutcracker, itself a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The ballet's first choreographer was Marius Petipa, with whom Tchaikovsky had worked three years earlier on The Sleeping Beauty, assisted by Lev Ivanov. Although the complete and staged The Nutcracker ballet was not initially as successful as the 20-minute Nutcracker Suite that Tchaikovsky had premiered nine months earlier, it became popular in later years.
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"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 song written by Chuck Berry, originally released on Chess Records, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to be as respected as classical music. The song has been covered by many other artists, including the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 97 on its 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Nitin Sawhney is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics, and spirituality. Sawhney is also active in the promotion of arts and cultural matters, is chair of the PRS Foundation, sits on the board of trustees of theatre company Complicité, and is a patron of numerous film festivals, venues, and educational institutions. In 2021, he was an ambassador for the Royal Albert Hall.
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Sir James Paul McCartney is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre-rock and roll pop to classical, ballads, and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in modern music history.
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