Your favorite "war horse" program?

[noskates]

Firebird - Kurt Browning. Haven't liked any program with that music since. I also think anyone skating to Bolero (other than Torvill and Dean) is criminal......

 

[Sabrina]

Godfather: Philipe Candeloro
It's a men's world: Menshov
Firebird: Anna Pogorilaya
Gone with the wind: Alaine Chartrand (Nationals)

 

[Marius]

Firebird: absolutely Tatsuki Machida his Worlds 2014 performance was stunning!
POTO: Akiko nailed it perfectly with her beautiful skating and her lovely interpretation
Swan Lake: Oksana Bayul was sooo amazing with Swan Lake, for me nobody can touch her here - honorable mention: Mao Asada with her full of joy steps and choreographic sequence at the end
4 Seasons: Patrick Chan! Carolina Kostner's program in 2006 was beautiful, fast and modern, but she quite never nailed it.. sigh
Bolero: Torvill and Dean are untouchable, but Caro was absolutely great with this piece of music!
Dark Eyes: obviously Sasha Cohen aaand while not as iconic or well known Machida's sp in 2011/2012 was quite beautifully choreographed
Romeo and Juliet: it depends on the version. From the film Romeo+Juliet: Hanyu 2012 fs
-Nino Rota: Sasha
-Prokofeev: Volosozhar/Trankov 2011 fs was outstanding for the intensity of the interpretation and the crowd was with them.
Malaguena: Javi :clapper:
Nocturne no.2: Mao Mao Mao
Lès Miserables: Yuna Kim's outstanding program.. so soft and classy
Sheherazade: again Yuna Kim! I didn't love Caro's one but I have to say that her Step Sequence was amazing and so on the music!
Rachmaninov 2: Mao Asada!
Carmen: mmmh Miki Ando in 2008 Nationals was very energic! But Tessa and Scott - just a magnificent program!
Turandot: Shen/Zhao
Notre-Dame de Paris: not sure if this is a warhorse :/ Aniway, Stolbova and Klimov were at their best with this music!

 

[Mathman]

Afternoon of a Faun -- Janet Lynn
Don Quixote -- John Curry (1976 Olympics)
Tosca -- Michelle Kwan (2004 Nationals performance)
Les Miz -- Yuna Kim (2013 Worlds performance) (personal quirky fave: Grant Hochstein, 2016 )
Turandot -- Shen & Zhao (2003 Worlds) , Shizuka Arakawa (2004 Worlds)
Romeo and Juliet (Rota) -- Sasha Cohen
Aranjuez -- Michelle Kwan (2003 Worlds)
Fledermaus -- Davis and White

 

[Crossover]

My most favorite warhorse programs tend to be one or two per one music as many others do.
However, when it comes to Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos (solo or any mix of No. 1, 2, 3 or his other piano pieces), I'm torn over which one can be my ultimate "one".

I love the romantic music performed by Lu Chen, Alexander Abt, Daisuke Takahashi and Mishkutionok/Dmitriev all together. Each has its distinctive style and color. Some day I'm in the mood for Lulu's version, the other day, I choose another one.

 

[dreamsk8]

Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov -Swan Lake

 

[jenaj]

Rach 3-Michelle Kwan 1997-98
Four Seasons- Stephane Lambiel
Nutcracker-baby Mao 2005-06
Spartacus Adagio-Michelle Kwan 2005 Nationals
Black Swan soundtrack-Ashley Wagner
Notre Dame de Paris-Davis/White
Schindler's List-Julia Lipnitskaya
Bring Him Home from Les Mis-Kurt Browning
Pagliacci-Daisuke Takahashi, Japan Nationals

 

[Ares]

Carmen - Katarina Witt (2nd place Evgeni Plushenko). I dislike most Carmen programs though.
Tosca - Evgeni Plushenko
Adagio Albinoni - Evgeni Plushenko
Carmina Burana - Anissina / Peizerat
Gladiator - Alexei Yagudin
The Man in the Iron Mask - Anissina / Peizerat or Alexei Yagudin (I can't make up my mind on that!). I like coming back to both. In case of A/P I mean World Championships version is my favourite, their
programs usually evolved from competition to competition significantly. There were some crucial alterations in steps that made it transcending.
Meditation from Thais - Shen / Zhao
Turandot / Nessun Dorma - Shen / Zhao
Swan Lake - Volosozhar / Trankov
Nocturne No. 2 - Mao Asada
Rakhmaninoff No. 2 - Mao Asada
Dark Eyes - Sasha Cohen
Pirates from Carribean - Javier Fernandez
POTO - Davis & White
Scheherezade - Midori Ito (2nd place Davis & White)
Samson & Dallilah - Davis & White
Bolero - Torvill / Dean still (2nd place Carolina Kostner)
Ave Maria - Carolina Kostner
Moulin Rouge - Ashley Wagner
Tango de Roxanne as a main theme from Moulin Rouge - no favourite. I wish that skaters were more inclined to the original version of that song (The Police).
Romeo & Juliet - depending on the version: Cohen, Takahashi, Anissina / Peizerat
4 Seasons - Stephane Lambiel
Firebird - Khokhlova / Novitski
Aranjuez - Michelle Kwan
Gershwin Concerto in F - Yuna Kim
James Bond - Brian Joubert (sentiment), otherwise Yuna Kim.
Danse Macabre - Yuna Kim
Adios Nonino - Jeffrey Buttle
La Strada - Daisuke Takahashi
The Mission - Zagórska / Siudek
Riverdance - Bourne / Kraatz
Astor Piazzola whatsoever mix (as ridiculous as it sounds), not sure whether it makes warhorse - Daisuke Takahashi

 

[jenaj]

Pirates of the Caribbean-Mirai Nagasu 2010 Worlds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa2R_HqZnz4

 

[koatcue]

I liked Wagner's Samson Swan Lake goes to...Ashley once again aaaand Oksana Baiul. Sheherezade - Davis and White. POTO - Akiko. Roxanne - Yuna and Zhenia That's it for me. I started watching skating in the end of 90s as a child, so I don't know much before it.

 

[Crossover]

Why don't we have a thread of compling all warhorse musics in the figure skating references as the subject appears every year?

I've complied only POTO just for fun (there are much more than the list though), but you see, the music was more popularly used in pairs than in men.

Complete POTO list
The Phantom of the Opera

Pairs:
Kristy Sargeant & Kris Wirtz (CAN) 1993-94 FS
Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman (USA) 1998-99, 1999-2000 FS
Pang Qing & Tong Jian (CHN) 2004-05 SP, 2005-06 & 2006-07 FS
Jessica Rose Paetsch & Drew Meekins (USA) 2009-10 FS
Kylie Duarte and Colin Grafton (USA) 2010-11 FS
Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir (USA) 2011-12 SP & 2012-13 SP
Klara Kadlecova & Petr Bidar (CZE) 2011-12 FS
Alexandra Rodriguez & Aritz Maestu (ESP) 2011-12 FS
Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise (ITA) 2012-13 FS
Caydee Denney & John Coughlin (USA) 2012-13 FS & 2013-14 FS
Daniel Montalbano & Evgeni Krasnopolski (ISR) 2012-13 FS
Xiaoyu Yu & Yang Jin (CHN) 2013-14 FS (junior)
Caitlin Yankowskas & Hamish Gaman (GBR) 2014-15 FS
Miriam Ziegler & Severin Kiefer (AUT) 2014-15 FS
Bianca Manacorda & Niccolo Macci (ITA) 2014-15 SP
Maria Vigalova & Egor Zakroev (RUS) 2014-15 FS
Natalja Zabijako & Yuri Larionov (RUS) 2014-15 SP
Tarah Kayne & Daniel O'Shea (USA) 2015-16 FS

Ice Dance:
Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas (LTU) 2005-06 FD
Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (CAN) 2009-10 FD
Meryl Davis & Charlie White (USA) 2009-10 FD
Kristina Gorshkova/Vitali Butikov (RUS) 2009-10 FD
Katarina Konickova and Matej Lang (CZE) 2010-11 FD
Victoria Sinitsina & Ruslan Zhiganshin (RUS) 2011-12 FD (junior)
Szilia Magyar & Daniel Illes (HUN) 2012-13 FD
Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams (CAN) 2013-14 FD
Ekaterina Riazanova & Ilia Tkachenko (RUS) 2013-14 FD
Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter (USA) 2014-15 FD (junior)

Ladies:
Marina Kielmann (GER) 1993-94 FS
Kiira Korpi (FIN) 2006-07 & 2007-08 FS
Viktoria Helgesson (SWE) 2008-09 SP
Yukari Nakano (JPN) 2009-10 SP
Manouk Gijsman (NED) 2009-10 FS
Ashley Cain (USA) 2010-11 FS
Fumiya Itai (JPN) 2010-11 FS
Diane Szmiett (CAN) 2010-11 FS
Elene Gedevanishvili (GE0) 2010-11 & 2011-12 FS
Margot Krisberg (ISR) 2011-12 FS
Akiko Suzuki (JPN) 2013-14 FS
Giada Russo (ITA) 2013-14 SP
Morgan Flood (USA) 2013-14 FS
Caroline Zhang (USA) 2013-14 & 2014-15 SP
Kanako Murakami (JPN) 2014-15 SP & FS
Gracie Gold (USA) 2014-15 FS
Aimee Buchanan (ISR) 2014-15 FS

Men:
Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) 2006-07 FS
Patrick Chan (CAN) 2009-10 & 2010-11 FS
Kim Lucine (MON) 2010-11 SP
Armen Agaia (GEO) 2011-12 FS
Ivan Bariev (RUS) 2012-13 FS
Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) 2012-13 SP
Panagiotis Polizoakis (GER) 2013-14 FS (junior)
Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) 2014-15 FS
June Hyoung Lee (KOR) 2014-15 FS
Michael Christian Martinez (PHI) 2014-15 FS
Takahito Mura (JPN) 2014-15 FS
Ronald Lam (HKG) 2014-15 FS
Alain Sandraz (USA) 2014-15 FS (novice)

Pro and ex programs
Robin Cousins (GBR) 1990 Pro Worlds
Brian Boitano (USA) 1990 Pro Worlds
Radka Kovarikova & Rene Novotny (CZE) 1995-96 Professional
Alexei Urmanov (RUS) 2000 Ice Wars: Four the World Competition
Yuna Kim & Stephan Lambiel - 2008 Festa on Ice, opening

 

[Meoima]

Nope... Ban POTO please!! I hate it not just because too many people use it, but also because it's horrible music. Seriously... The music is the worst.

 

[Crossover]

Nope... Ban POTO please!! I hate it not just because too many people use it, but also because it's horrible music. Seriously... The music is the worst.

You know what? The music was considered "a cool choice of music" once upon a time...My suggestion is merely to colllect all programs skating to such warhorse musics including POTO as a reference.

 

[TMC]

Great idea Crossover!!!

 

[Meoima]

You know what? The music was considered "a cool choice of music" once upon a time...My suggestion is merely to colllect all programs skating to such warhorse musics including POTO as a reference.

It's horrible music to me. I have hated it ever since I was a kid. Especially the part "sing for me", so chessy and annoying to my ears.
Men in an iron Mask is much cooler.

 

[noskates]

I don't think POTO is the worst music. There are definitely parts of it that are awful but there are also some beautiful pieces in the soundtrack.

My most despised music in its entirety is Carmen. If I never hear it again it will be too soon.

 

[sunnystars]

Carmen?
My faves are definitely Tessa and Scott's and Samantha Cesario. One is a contemporary masterpiece and the other is a true personification.

 

[iluvtodd]

Samson & Delilah - Meryl & Charlie
Carmen - Samantha Caesario
Carmina Burana (O, Fortuna) - Paul Wylie
Die Fledermaus - Jenny Kirk (I also love Akiko & Meryl & Charlie's)
Turandot - Shen & Zhao

 

[icedance]

Carmen: Cappellini and Lanotte

 

[elbkup]

Don't mind a warhorse program from opera-musical-ballet-film if the music is little known/interesting like this from "Carmen", unique in that it begins with flamenco guitarists practicing a signature aria then fading to opera sung by Regina Resnick (arguably the best version of this aria ever done...)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EdASAWros2g

Would be interesting and different to see this used as a skating program