Miguel Cervantes’ great novel, Don Quixote, in which the hero, disillusioned by tales of chivalry, sets out to right the perceived wrongs of the world, has inspired a wide variety of musical compositions, including ballets, operas and symphonic poems, from Boismortier to Ravel and from Telemann to Richard Strauss and beyond. The Austrian-born Léon Minkus settled in Russia where he established a long and successful career with the great choreographer Marius Petipa for whom Minkus wrote the music for more than fifteen ballets, including La Bayadère, a perennial favourite of popular Russian ballet repertoire. The rarely recorded Don Quixote, heard here in its original three act version, centres on the episode of Camacho’s wedding. The misadventures of the deluded knight and his sidekick Sancho Panza are depicted with sparkling orchestration, lively rhythms and gentle romance.