Stravinsky's Ballets

Yeah Mike, me too. If you take them in order you can hear him changing and going more rhythmic. Petrushka is amazing and then Rite of Spring is minimal melody and maximum rhythm, strips it all down to a wild non repeating beat.

I'm sure more than a few have been caught dancing and flailing around their place. Hope they keep their clothes on.

Mike, strange but true - I do not think I have ever listened or watched these other than a brief exposure through a music history / theory class maybe 25 or 30 years ago. It was a textbook with about 8 LP's with a small track for each composer they talked about.

So I'm almost 100% green horn here. Out of the Firebird, Pulcinella, Petrushka if I was to start with one which would you suggest. Is this a visual necessity (something you would go with DVD only) or is CD going to do this justice?

Thanks,
Doug

Florestan, I would get the 2 cd set by Abaddo/London on DGG and learn the music first.

From what I've seen The Firebird is most beautiful, but my ear responds best to Petrushka and Pulcinella.

Florestan, the Abbado/London set contains the Firebird, Pulcinella and Petrushka, and it is only $18 or so. They are my favorite performances.

I had to write some words that give a hint of why I am so taken by Petrushka.

Of course, it is completely program music, as it is a ballet. As often happens in this sort of music, each character in the plot has a unique theme. In this ballet, these themes may be in the same key or not, in fact often not. There are numerous passages in Petrushka where two themes will be presented in dialog and without accompaniment. To my ears, this juxtaposition of keys is quite unique.

And what themes they are. Each seems beautifully molded to the instrument they were written for, and are unforgettable, making an imprint on the memory from first hearing.

What an orchestrator Stravinsky is, with the golden ear for melody, and with a rhythmic imagination as rich and diverse as any spoken language.

Stravinsky at his most unique, on his first outing as himself.

Highly recommended.

The Pollini performance of the piano reduction of Petrushka is pretty amazing too.

quote:

Originally posted by Oldnslow:
The Pollini performance of the piano reduction of Petrushka is pretty amazing too.

Yes, that is a favorite. The Prokofiev on the other side of the disk is quite amazing as well.

are those suites or full ballets? I like Pulchinella also. I like everything Stravinsky did The Nose is a bit strange. Symphony in C, wonderful stuff.

I always get disappointed in the shortened suites. Same with Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, once I heard the full versions i felt I missed some nice breathing room instead of packing it all in so fast.

My homie Esa-Pekka Salonen has a live performance CD of the Rite and another I was there for. I gave it to a good friend so can't remember except it has the original Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mtn, no church bells at the end, Just the devil's feast.

I enjoy the suites and the full performances.

On the Abbado/London DGG set, Petrushka is complete, as is Pulcinhella. Can't really say for anything else.

Give me Stravinsky till I'm dead.