Igor Stravinsky: S and D

Violin Concerto - By far the best of the (few) concerto-style works in Stravinsky's catalog. (That's overstating I admit, but I don't like the piano concerto, and what else is there?)

Agon - Stravinsky was edging towards the twelve-tone technique of his recently-deceased "rival" Schoenberg, but he hadn't yet let go of more traditional tonal concepts, so this highly sectionalized work (lots of short dance movements) is all over the map but holds together too. This one is the most fascinating of all I think (and a huge influence on Harrison Birtwistle among other later composers).

(more to follow when I've had a think)

Early works (around same time as Firebird/Petrushka)
Search: The King Of The Stars, Three Japanese Lyrics

Post-Rite of Spring period:
Search: Le Chant du Rossignol, Renard, The Soldier's Tale, Ragtime, Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Les Noces, Octet

Neo-classical:
Search: Pulcinella (try the suite from the ballet first, to see whether this is your thing), "Dumbarton Oaks" Concerto, The Fairy's Kiss (complete ballet), Capriccio for piano and orchestra (not sure if this latter is the piece Paul doesn't like, or if he means the one for Piano & wind instruments - which is patchy, yes)

Arrival in America period:
Search: Stmphony in 3 Movements (possibly my favourite, along with the Mass), Ebony Concerto, Mass

12-tone period:
I confess I know too little about the works he composed in his last decade or so. I've heard 'Agon' and the 'Requiem Canticles' (both good), and try 'Threni' also if this sounds like your thing.

Your whole list is a v. good guide I think.

Rites of Spring: also top.

And there my knowledge ends.

Yes! It's great, isn't it? (Was it the Naxos version you heard?)

One of my happier concert memories is dozing off in the middle of The Rake's Progress. I was only out for a minute or two, and it was very nice to wake up and (while still disoriented for just a moment) discover that I was at the opera! The restraint and (generally) diatonic harmony of TRP probably has a lot to do with why that was a pleasant experience -- I would not recommend trying this with Wozzeck, etc.

(Dan sings the tenor part a measure late.)

Some bits - those pounding chords spring to mind - do work brilliantly with a less varied timbre, cos you can really listen to the rhythms... but I miss the woodwind in places. Particularly at the start, the way the original just sounds so... unnatural. Unearthly.

Has anyone seen the video of the reconstruction of the actual ballet? It's hilarious.

Back to the stereo...

(Sorry, I guessed wrong.)

happy birthday

:D

I'm gonna listen to Jeu Des Cartes i think.

amazing piece, apparently inspired by Debussy. dreadful, scary, beautiful, contemplative, playful, formal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIL7wnx6Yy8

happy 100th anniv of the premiere of Petroushka

rah

i love petroushka, and i've probably played pollini's recording of the three movements from... about a million times

i suppose it isn't quite as great as the rite of spring, but it has a wondrous fulsome quality distinctive in stravinsky's work

ha ha "fulsome"

cuz it's closest to the sort of ~hebephrenic~ sensibility that his detractors identified, garish and thrown together

Much as I love the famous ballets, I seem to get drawn back to his neo-classical works more often. Pulcinella suite shreds!

If that Sony boxed set of 25 discs of Stravinsky music for the price, basically, of a single album is still available then I strongly recommend it - it is so much stuff for so little money. And mostly conducted by Stravinsky himself.

Hmm.... it's on Amazon UK for 30 quid. Sounds quite tempting - what's the sound quality like?

oh dang, I need to get this

It's very 60s in that a lot of the instruments sound individually mic'd and artificially stereo-separated, so the sound is fine as long as that fact doesn't bother you.

Still tempted but I'm worried that a comp like that is going to obsolete my current (incomplete) odds and sods collection. Really want to get hold of this at some point:

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/02/89/45/34/0002894534582_500X500.jpg

Thanks for the tip, DV -- ordered.

uh, and i hasten to mention but

Sounds quite tempting - what's the sound quality like?

errr... I am not too hot on discerning good and bad recordings of classical music pieces. But the set was highly recommended in The Rest Is Noise, so I am guessing that it is largely acceptable.

stravinsky was often disparaged for his conducting but at the price you might as well

I was expecting a little more fanfare when you rolled out your new ep, dleone, especially seeing as it's an intact cover version of 'les noces'

part 4 sounds insane

working on it!

in a set like the Sony box the music is the real interest and not so much "great recordings".

prob go with markevitch or ansermet for old recordings, abbado or boulez for newer

I have the box and you absolutely can't go wrong with it. Best value for money purchase I've ever made probably. I haven't seen a recent edition but certainly until relatively recently The Penguin Guide used to rate several of the performances as still definitive or among the best available, plenty of others are respectable and the few stinkers are easily replaced - at least you'll have some indication of whether you like the music enough to want different versions. It's not state of the art modern sound, but it's perfectly decent - it's not some thin, crackly transfer from 78s or anything like that where you have to get over the barrier of dated sound before you start hearing the music.

Got the box today and listened to the first disc (The Firebird and some other bits). Also listened to DL's Les Noces, linked above -- very cool.

The Gergiev/Kirov Orchestra - The Rite Of Spring & Scriabin's Poem Of Ecstasy is one hell of a rendition, not that I'm an expert but I couldn't imagine a better recording. In the review which piqued my interest, the writer said this has the savage splendour that is lacking from most recordings including Stravinsky's own.

it is the most brutal one I know. I don't hark to it that often -- I like my sacre more brutal than abstract, but I also like it to be fleet and gergiev goes a bit too far for me down the path he has chosen. My two standbys are both by hit-or-miss workman conductors who managed to heat up in this case-- ozawa/chicago and abbado/LSO. the mono Monteux/Boston is amazing also.

Gergiev's Les Noces is also excellent, though not as gruff as his sacre.

As fate would have it, I stopped by Academy Records & CDs in Chelsea after work last night and found the Karel Ancerl/Czech PO recording of Le Sacre cheap and used in its older non-remastered edition (this recording of Le Sacre was chosen as the best of all in an International Record Review survey 15 or so years ago). I already have the remastered "Ancerl Gold Series" CD but there's too much top end taken off the sound in an attempt to reduce noise so I never was able to click with it. This older CD sounds much better and I am amazed at how awesome this performance is. New overall favorite, maybe. So lithe, striking like a snake, phrasing natural but never draggy, woodwinds just acidic enough. Pow.

Just shamelessly Soulseeking the Karel Ancerl/Czech PO version right now.

You might be happy with the remastered one if that's what you find; I am perhaps too prickly about softened high frequencies

The other week I discovered there's a Joe Hisaishi-conducted release of The Rite of Spring. This week I learned that the primary inspiration for the Mononoke Hime score was, what do you know, The Rite of Spring. So the other night I listened to the Hisaishi release and fell for the piece within minutes. What I'm gathering from this thread is that there's *lots* more wonder to be found in Stravinsky. Can't wait to start exploring.

Side note: never gotten into classical music before. I was exposed to it, of course, and could usually feel a distant, good-will appreciation, but this is the first time a classical piece has grabbed me by the heart.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️