Jim Svejda, Fanfare magazinePerhaps it’s only because of everyone’s fond memories of the 1948 film of this name that won Brian Easdale the first Academy Award given to a British composer, but you’d think that something called The Red Shoes might sound like it had something to do with dancing. But from the way this odd piece lopes along somewhere between a moderato and a moderato non troppo, you’re quickly disabused of that notion. You also might think that since it’s “based on the story by H. C. Anderson” it might have a modicum of charm, but you’d wrong on that count as well.Cast in eight movements loosely based on one of the darker Anderson fairy tales, this version of The Red Shoes has practically nothing to recommend it. With thematic content that’s cigarette-paper thin—the perky but curiously drab little flute theme in “The Opening” is repeated so often you think you’re going to scream—and next to nothing in the way of musical or emotional variety—“The Ball,” the aptly named “The Tired Jig,” and “Fear and Safety” are virtually indistinguishable—it all makes for a very trying 51 minutes. The second number, “The No Song” is even worse than that. A children’s choir keeps repeating the word “no” so incessantly and with such “nyah-nyah” obnoxiousness that by the end you’re almost ready to send a check to Planned Parenthood.The performance by the group called the Suoni Ensemble has a distinct semi-professional feel, with spotty intonation, tentative entrances, little in the way of dynamic contrast, and a trumpet player who in addition to doing a mediocre Chuck Mangione imitation seems to think that splattered notes can be turned into an expressive device.If this seems like shooting a butterfly with an elephant gun, then it’s always useful to keep in mind that life is much too short and that anything that completely wastes nearly an hour of anyone’s life gets everything it deserves.