The repertoire on this CD extends broadly - in terms of style, genre, and chronology - across the compositional output of Igor Stravinsky. Spanning from his most celebrated score for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, "Le Sacre du printemps" (1913), through the neo-classical Concerto en mi b�mol "Dumbarton Oaks" (1938), up to the serial "Movements" (1959), the selection testifies to the enormous richness and variety of his artistic legacy. This diverse repertoire is presented here by Helena Bugallo and Amy Williams, however, from a unifying viewpoint: the "black and white" perspective of arrangements for piano duet or two pianos that the composer himself made.

Classical Music

DER FEUERVOGEL

Classical Music

This production of "The Rake's Progress" marks Barbara Hannigan's debut as an opera conductor and is a "labor of love" for her. Hannigan, who has sung the role of Anne Truelove many times, hand-picked the cast of soloists from over 350 applications from 39 countries, and subsequent auditions throughout Europe, as part of her mentoring initiative "Equilibrium." In this unique and refined semi-staged production, director Linus Fellbom invites the audience to partake on a journey through space and time, from a distant future to the present, and back to 18th century London. The documentary "Taking Risks" follows all aspects of the production, starting with the very first auditions, the casting and rehearsal process, and culminating in the premiere in Gothenburg in December 2018.

Classics Explained: Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring

From the Russian fairy-tale enchantment of The Firebird to the austere ritual at the end of his Requiem Canticles composed over half a century later, Stravinsky's extraordinary creativity embraces a range of styles and tributes to composers of the past. He started under the guidance of Rimsky-Korsakov in pre-revolutionary St Petersburg and ended his life in America having made a very special kind of peace with the rigorous (serial) techniques of Schoenberg and Webern. Yet his homage's are always heartfelt, and he always remains himself: truly the most comprehensive and wide-ranging musical genius of the twentieth century.

STRAVINSKY: Firebird (The) / The Rite of Spring

This new set includes all three Stravinsky ballets recorded by the Sinfonieorchester Basel under the direction of Dennis Russel Davis. The Sinfonieorchester Basel is based in Basel, Switzerland and often accompanies ballet and opera productions at the Theater Basel. They were founded in 1876 and have been going strong to present day. They have received numerous awards including Diapason d'Or in 2004 and 2005 as well as a nomination for the ICMA Music Award in 2015.

This new recording of Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka” by the Sinfornieorchester Basel is the third and final installment in conductor Dennis Russell Davies’ Stravinsky trilogy. In this project, the orchestra has recorded Stravinsky’s three major ballets in a version for orchestra and piano duet. Stravinsky originally planned this composition as a Piano Concerto. After the idea of a ballet from Sergei Diaghilev, Stravinsky rewrote the music about Petrushka, the Russian carnival figure. The piece was first performed at the Theatre du Chatalet in June of 1911. Critics hailed the work as a genius combination of music, dance, and painting. In addition to the orchestral score, Stravinsky wrote a piano version, which has gained increasing popularity. Dennis Russell Davies has been chief conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel since 2009. In addition to the Stravinsky trilogy he has led the ensemble in numerous other recordings. He also performs on the piano version on this release, alongside partner Maki Namekawa.

The album by the Sinfonieorchester Basel features the 2nd of Igor Stravinsky's great ballets. After Le Sacre du printemps, the orchestra recorded L'Oiseau de feu. All of the three ballets will be presented in the version for orchestra as well as in the version for piano four hands. Unlike for Sacre and P�trouchka, for L'Oiseau de feu there is no piano arrangement for four hands by Stravinsky himself. Dennis Russell Davies, Principal Conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel and pianist has therefore arranged a version for piano four hands - exclusively for this production. The new arrangement is based on the original piano arrangement for two hands by Stravinsky, which is kept in the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. Dennis Russell Davies has recorded the arrangement together with his wife Maki Namekawa. The piano version opens up new perspectives on the orchestra version of L'Oiseau de feu and underlines the compositional value of Stravinsky's creation.

The music of Stravinsky’s "The Rite of Spring" has come down to us in the form of the orchestral score (which was laid aside amid the turmoil of World War I and only published in 1922) and a piano duet version published shortly before its 1913 premiere. Both versions are presented here side by side. These are not two aesthetically equal realizations of one and the same compositional concepts. Not only was ‘The Rite’ conceived from the outset as an orchestral work; it also owes its overwhelming impact in great measure to the colorful and often deliberately percussive sound of its instrumental forces.

Stravinsky went through three very differing periods during his life, the first being essentially inspired by his Russian background; the second, a neoclassical phase, and finally, a period in which he embraced serial techniques. All three works on this disc are essentially from his second phase, the Symphony in C dating from 1938, and first performed by the Chicago Symphony, to celebrate their 50th Anniversary It is in the customary four movements, opening with a brilliant and rhythmically incisive first movement; the second with it's haunting theme for solo oboe, while the remaining two movements are rhythmically complex, but in essence, were designed to bring the work to a customer-friendly conclusion. Sketches for the Symphony in Three Movements began in 1942 with the work completed in 1945, when the composer was largely living in Hollywood, and the work has often been described as a Concerto for Orchestra with a concertante part for piano. It is indeed a virtuoso work that demands the overtly brilliant style of performance that the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra can bring to music of this period. Indeed many of the musicians of this orchestra come from the West Coast of America, and the brittle impact of the work is here fully realized. To conclude the disc, we have the original 1920 version of the short Symphonies for Wind Instruments, a pungent work which bridged the gap between his Russian and Neoclassic period, as he exploits every tonal facet of the wind section. The recording was made in Wellington, on 4th and 5th April 1995, with Murray Khouri as the producer.

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (The) / Card Game

Also available on Blu-ray

The Firebird:

Ekaterina Kondaurova (Firebird)
Ilya Kuznetsov (Ivan Tsarevich)
Marianna Pavlova (The Princess)
Vladimir Ponomarev (Kachtchei the Immortal)
Choreography & libretto: Michel Fokine (1910)
Reconstruction Isabelle Fokine, Andris Liepa
The Rite of Spring:

Alexandra Iosifidi (The Chosen One)
Elena Bazhenova (300-Year-Old Woman)
Vladimir Ponomarev (Shaman)
Choreography after Vaslav Nijinsky (1913)
Scene plan: Igor Stravinsky & Nicholas Roerich, reconstructed and staged by Millicent Hodson

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STRAVINSKY AND THE BALLETS RUSSES • Valery Gergiev, cond; Mariinsky O and Ballet • BELAIR BAC041 (DVD 85:00 Text and Translation) Live: St. Petersburg 6/2008


The Firebird. Le Sacre du printemps


Here’s a fascinating DVD, with two works essential to both musical and balletic history. The Firebird was Stravinsky’s introduction to the Western world, under the aegis of Serge Diaghilev, with choreography by Mikhail Fokine (1910). The reigning ballerina of the age, Anna Pavlova, refused the title role as she found the music incomprehensible. She missed out on a historic occasion. By the standards of the time, there was little dancing and much pageantry, a point that remains valid today. But Fokine rose to the challenge of the music, with the Firebird darting around and ultimately coming to the rescue of the Prince and his Bride. Ekaterina Kondaurova in the title role is startlingly precise in her movements, capturing the nuances of bird motion. Ilya Kuznetsov is a winning Prince.


Even more significant was the 1913 creation of Sacre du printemps, which caused a riot. Stravinsky is at a turning point, and Nijinsky, the choreographer, is about to turn dance on its head with his refusal to follow the tenets of classic dance. The ballet ran for one season and was dropped, to return several years later with new choreography by Léonide Massine. Millicent Hodson has devoted a significant portion of her working life to rescuing Nijinsky the choreographer from oblivion, and the 30-minute interview with her that comes as a bonus tells us about the difficulties of re-creating a masterpiece. Today no one is the least bit fazed by the music, while recognizing its difficulties for both musicians and dancers. As Hodson points out, the ballet is for 47 soloists, though in much of the work they are working in small groups, only the Chosen One standing out with her exhausting solo at the end. It is nonetheless easy to see why contemporary audiences were hostile, as none of the elements fit standard patterns. The costumes and painted drops are exceedingly colorful, the makeup resembles the faces on matrioshka dolls, and of course the choreography is the antithesis of, say, Giselle or Swan Lake . People watching this DVD may be a bit puzzled as it is difficult to see the whole stage as the camera gives us (too) frequent aerial shots so that we can see the floor patterns, and when Hodson talks about the sections where there are 47 soloists, we don’t see enough of what’s happening at a specific moment. Alexandra Iosifidi as the Chosen One unsparingly throws herself into her role, so that we are almost as exhausted as she at the end.


Of course, re-creating Firebird is an easier task than Sacre , as Fokine continued to stage the work until his death. The Mariinsky performance gives credit for the restaging to Isabelle Fokine (the choreographer’s granddaughter and artistic director of the Fokine Estate Archive) and Andris Liepa. Other performances can be traced to Diaghilev’s original ballet masters, Serge Grigoriev and Liubov Tchernicheva (Royal Ballet), not to mention totally new choreography by a host of contemporary figures. In both ballets, we see copies of the original designs for sets and costumes, magnificently re-created, while the care lavished on these performances is evident throughout. And who can resist being spoiled by the Mariinski Orchestra and its charismatic conductor, Valery Gergiev.


FANFARE: Joel Kasow