David Bintley's Beauty and the Beast

David Bintley's Beauty and the Beast, for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. This article has a review- here is an exerpt:
"Although originally made and programmed as an alternative to “The Nutcracker”, David Bintley’s “Beauty and the Beast” is far from the jolly Christmas fare that well-worked ballet usually serves up. Now appearing in the autumn schedule, it may be a fairy tale, but like all the best fairy tales it’s more than a children’s story. There are lots of humour and many comic characters, but Bintley has overlaid matters with plenty of dark symbolism."


"The ballet is well-paced, helped along by Glen Buhr’s score, which rolls along, never pausing for a moment to allow us to catch our breath, or come to that applause. It does lack any sort of stand out moment though. Although the music is full of perfectly listenable-to rhythms and compliments the dance well, afterwards you find you actually can’t remember any of it. "
I have to agree with this critique of the music. Most of it is boring. A ballet of Beauty and the Beast has the potential to be so moving, powerful, and beautiful, but a ballet without good music will never become a classic.