Sony Masterworks
Stravinsky: Le Baiser de la Fee; Bartok: Deux Images / Muti
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Details
- Composer
- BARTÓK, BÉLA STRAVINSKY, IGOR
- Artist
- Riccardo, Muti
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Sony Masterworks
- Released
- Apr 19, 2011
- Catalog #
- SONY58949
- UPC
- 074645894928
About
Riccardo Muti is, of course, a noted Tchaikovskian, and this admirable performance of The Fairy's Kiss approximates the tone and lustre of The Sleeping Beauty ballet.
Tchaikovsky was as much a part of Stravinsky's creative consciousness as Mozart was of Tchaikovsky's. All three composers meet in Le baiser de la fée ("The Fairy's Kiss"; 1928), where Tchaikovsky is at his most overtly Mozartian and Stravinsky at his most elegantly balletic. The score is based largely on Tchaikovsky piano pieces and songs; it was commissioned by the dancer Ida Rubinstein, while sections of it were later selected for a separate work, Divertimento, that went on to achieve rather more popularity than the complete ballet. More recordings, too; some of them of exceptional quality.
Riccardo Muti is, of course, himself a noted Tchaikovskian, and this admirable performance approximates the tone and lustre of, say, The Sleeping Beauty ballet. The very opening has lovingly stressed string accents and a feeling of 'miracles in the offing'. The ensuing Allegro sostenuto is more playful than biting, and while I would have welcomed a keener edge in the third section of Scene I (track 3) and a rather less. sedate approach to the ensuing Vivace agitato, the "Village Fête" is properly buoyant, the third scene's "By the Mill" nicely atmospheric (how utterly Tchaikovskian those oboes and clarinets) and the penultimate "Scene", with its painfully nostalgic references to None but the lonely heart, is played with appealing restraint. Still, it is at that point in particular that memories of Mravinsky's searing 1983 broadcast prompt a quick rush to the shelves, even though imperfect sound and the occasional technical slip-up preclude total rapture. Stravinsky, too, is memorable, a tighter, drier and occasionally more incisive option, while Järvi's characterization and superior sound serve to bolster a third option - and that is about the limit of the competition, at least for the moment. Muti's La Scala strings are sweetly expressive, whereas his winds and brass are not quite in the top league.
The sound is warm, enclosed and scrupulously balanced, a fairly intimate experience, quite appropriate to the music. Ultimately, I would place Muti more or less on a par with Järvi, but not quite the equal either of Mravinsky or of the composer himself.
As to the BartOk Two Pictures, Muti's performance of "In full flower" traces a romantic strain to contrast with Boulez's Debussian axis (see above). Bluebeard is obviously close to hand while the "Village dance" is sleek, witty and very well played, with not much in the way of a native Hungarian accent. It is a good performance and makes for an attractive, if somewhat unexpected, coupling for a worthy Baiser de la fée.
-- Robert Cowan, Gramophone [9/1995]
Tchaikovsky was as much a part of Stravinsky's creative consciousness as Mozart was of Tchaikovsky's. All three composers meet in Le baiser de la fée ("The Fairy's Kiss"; 1928), where Tchaikovsky is at his most overtly Mozartian and Stravinsky at his most elegantly balletic. The score is based largely on Tchaikovsky piano pieces and songs; it was commissioned by the dancer Ida Rubinstein, while sections of it were later selected for a separate work, Divertimento, that went on to achieve rather more popularity than the complete ballet. More recordings, too; some of them of exceptional quality.
Riccardo Muti is, of course, himself a noted Tchaikovskian, and this admirable performance approximates the tone and lustre of, say, The Sleeping Beauty ballet. The very opening has lovingly stressed string accents and a feeling of 'miracles in the offing'. The ensuing Allegro sostenuto is more playful than biting, and while I would have welcomed a keener edge in the third section of Scene I (track 3) and a rather less. sedate approach to the ensuing Vivace agitato, the "Village Fête" is properly buoyant, the third scene's "By the Mill" nicely atmospheric (how utterly Tchaikovskian those oboes and clarinets) and the penultimate "Scene", with its painfully nostalgic references to None but the lonely heart, is played with appealing restraint. Still, it is at that point in particular that memories of Mravinsky's searing 1983 broadcast prompt a quick rush to the shelves, even though imperfect sound and the occasional technical slip-up preclude total rapture. Stravinsky, too, is memorable, a tighter, drier and occasionally more incisive option, while Järvi's characterization and superior sound serve to bolster a third option - and that is about the limit of the competition, at least for the moment. Muti's La Scala strings are sweetly expressive, whereas his winds and brass are not quite in the top league.
The sound is warm, enclosed and scrupulously balanced, a fairly intimate experience, quite appropriate to the music. Ultimately, I would place Muti more or less on a par with Järvi, but not quite the equal either of Mravinsky or of the composer himself.
As to the BartOk Two Pictures, Muti's performance of "In full flower" traces a romantic strain to contrast with Boulez's Debussian axis (see above). Bluebeard is obviously close to hand while the "Village dance" is sleek, witty and very well played, with not much in the way of a native Hungarian accent. It is a good performance and makes for an attractive, if somewhat unexpected, coupling for a worthy Baiser de la fée.
-- Robert Cowan, Gramophone [9/1995]
Tracklist 18 tracks
-
1 Scene 1: Prologue: A Storm 02:34
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Scene 1: Prologue: A Storm
- Duration
- 02:34
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
2 Scene 1: Prologue: Allegro sostenuto 02:50
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Scene 1: Prologue: Allegro sostenuto
- Duration
- 02:50
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
3 Scene 1: Prologue: (Fig. 27-41) 02:26
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Scene 1: Prologue: (Fig. 27-41)
- Duration
- 02:26
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
4 Scene 1: Prologue: Vivace agitato 01:06
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Scene 1: Prologue: Vivace agitato
- Duration
- 01:06
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
5 Scene 2: A Village Fete 04:00
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Scene 2: A Village Fete
- Duration
- 04:00
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
6 Scene 2: A Village Fete: Valse 01:13
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Scene 2: A Village Fete: Valse
- Duration
- 01:13
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
7 Scene 2: A Village Fete: Tempo primo 01:52
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Scene 2: A Village Fete: Tempo primo
- Duration
- 01:52
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
8 Scene 2: A Village Fete: Tempo agitato ma giusto 03:24
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Scene 2: A Village Fete: Tempo agitato ma giusto
- Duration
- 03:24
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
9 Scene 3: By the Mill 03:10
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Scene 3: By the Mill
- Duration
- 03:10
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
10 Scene 3: By the Mill: Più mosso - Allegro grazioso 03:27
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Scene 3: By the Mill: Più mosso - Allegro grazioso
- Duration
- 03:27
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
11 Scene 3: By the Mill: Pas de deux - Entree 01:26
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Scene 3: By the Mill: Pas de deux - Entree
- Duration
- 01:26
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
12 Scene 3: By the Mill: Adagio 03:16
- Track
- 12
- Title
- Scene 3: By the Mill: Adagio
- Duration
- 03:16
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
13 Scene 3: By the Mill: Variation 01:23
- Track
- 13
- Title
- Scene 3: By the Mill: Variation
- Duration
- 01:23
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
14 Scene 3: By the Mill: Coda 02:13
- Track
- 14
- Title
- Scene 3: By the Mill: Coda
- Duration
- 02:13
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
15 Scene 04:38
- Track
- 15
- Title
- Scene
- Duration
- 04:38
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
16 Scene 4: Epilogue: Land of Eternal Dwelling 04:54
- Track
- 16
- Title
- Scene 4: Epilogue: Land of Eternal Dwelling
- Duration
- 04:54
- Composer
- Igor Stravinsky
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
17 No. 1. Viragzas (In Full Flower) 07:46
- Track
- 17
- Title
- No. 1. Viragzas (In Full Flower)
- Duration
- 07:46
- Composer
- Béla Bartók
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti
-
18 No. 2. A falu tanca (Village dance) 09:22
- Track
- 18
- Title
- No. 2. A falu tanca (Village dance)
- Duration
- 09:22
- Composer
- Béla Bartók
- Ensemble
- Milan La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor
- Riccardo Muti