Chez Stravinsky

[snyprrr]

Stravinsky's use of the instrument is more about 'the bones' that anything fancy from a pianistic standpoint. I like all of it.

I have Martin Jones's survey on Nimbus .. which is pretty serviceable. He doesn't compare to Pollini's technical polish/control on the rhythmically insane stuff ..

2 recent surveys I have to check out sooner or later are Jennifer Lin and Giacomo Franci ... should be some good stuff there, check Amazon.

Check out Jenny Lin's 'The Eleventh Finger', Kampela, Ligeti, Gervasoni, Tenny, Sharp, Vivier....

[James]

Check out Jenny Lin's 'The Eleventh Finger', Kampela, Ligeti, Gervasoni, Tenny, Sharp, Vivier....

With the exception of Ligeti, I have no interest in those composers. Found these .. (great music)

https://www.youtube.com/v/T376ywJa2Oo

https://www.youtube.com/v/3C1PueA1WvM

[snyprrr]

With the exception of Ligeti, I have no interest in those composers. Found these .. (great music)

https://www.youtube.com/v/T376ywJa2Oo

https://www.youtube.com/v/3C1PueA1WvM

wow, look at Jenny Lin's pinky!! a mind of its own!!! wow

[Karl Henning]

Well, only the music that James is interested in is great music, that is clear.

[Drasko]

.. or even Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter. Oh well.

Concerto for 2 Pianos
with Vassili Lobanov (Tours, 7 July 1985) on Philips 420157 (CD)

Movements for Piano and Orchestra
with Yuri Nikolayevsky, Orchestra of the Moscow State Conservatoire
(22 December 1984) on Revelation RV 10093 (CD)

Piano Rag Music
(Vienna, 20 Feb 1989) on Decca / London 436451 (CD) or 458807 (CD)

[Spineur]

Concerto for 2 Pianos
with Vassili Lobanov (Tours, 7 July 1985) on Philips 420157 (CD)

Movements for Piano and Orchestra
with Yuri Nikolayevsky, Orchestra of the Moscow State Conservatoire
(22 December 1984) on Revelation RV 10093 (CD)

Piano Rag Music
(Vienna, 20 Feb 1989) on Decca / London 436451 (CD) or 458807 (CD)

I agree with James, Stravinsky does not write idiomatic piano pieces.  Interesting nevertheless.
Listening to the concerto for 2 pianos, 5 easy pieces (2 pianos), Three easy pieces (4 hands), Les cinq doigts, Ragtime, Valse des fleurs and Tango by the Labèque sisters from this box

[snyprrr]

I agree with James,

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???!!!???

[bhodges]

On Dec. 2, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will give the first performance of Funeral Song (1909, op. 5) in 107 years in St. Petersburg. Apparently the orchestral parts were discovered used to reconstruct the 12-minute score.

Boosey & Hawkes' press release here:

http://www.boosey.com/cr/news/Stravinsky-s-rediscovered-Funeral-Song-restored-to-life-in-St-Petersburg/100911

--Bruce

A reminder for those interested, Funeral Song will be live-streamed tomorrow at 2:00 (EDT) on medici.tv, with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. Also on the program:

Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (this should be great, too)
Stravinsky: The Firebird

Watch here:

http://www.medici.tv/#!/valery-gergiev-stravinsky-chant-funebre

--Bruce

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Classical CD Of The Week: Scandals Once Upon A Time


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/12/01/classical-cd-of-the-week-scandals-once-upon-a-time/#60fe57256973

[bhodges]

A reminder for those interested, Funeral Song will be live-streamed tomorrow at 2:00 (EDT) on medici.tv, with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. Also on the program:

Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (this should be great, too)
Stravinsky: The Firebird

Watch here:

http://www.medici.tv/#!/valery-gergiev-stravinsky-chant-funebre

--Bruce

Just finished watching the resurrected Funeral Song, Op. 5, and mostly enjoyed it, though perhaps it's not the composer's best work -- a little unfocused, at least, on first hearing. Parts sound very Debussy-esque, and the title might lead one to expect something more somber. It feels more like a rhapsody for orchestra. Nevertheless, it probably deserves to be heard more often than every 107 years! Gergiev and the Mariinsky crew sounded terrific, and the audio and video from medici.tv were up to their typically high standards.

The entire concert (Firebird on now) will probably be available for viewing for a few weeks or months.

--Bruce

[Mahlerian]

Just finished watching the resurrected Funeral Song, Op. 5, and mostly enjoyed it, though perhaps it's not the composer's best work -- a little unfocused, at least, on first hearing. Parts sound very Debussy-esque, and the title might lead one to expect something more somber. It feels more like a rhapsody for orchestra. Nevertheless, it probably deserves to be heard more often than every 107 years! Gergiev and the Mariinsky crew sounded terrific, and the audio and video from medici.tv were up to their typically high standards.

The entire concert (Firebird on now) will probably be available for viewing for a few weeks or months.

--Bruce

Having heard it not long after listening to his earliest published works, I can say that the piece certainly marks a step forward in Stravinsky's command of orchestral timbre and harmonic material, though there are still the odd Wagnerisms (I was thinking a lot of Siegfried's Funeral with those chromatic string lines).  I'll certainly want to listen again when more conductors start to take up the score next year, though Gergiev seemed to do quite well both here and in the luxuriant reading of Firebird that followed.

[bhodges]

I should do exactly that: listen to the even-earlier pieces and then revisit this one -- excellent idea. (Also, I hope a recording will be forthcoming.) And yes, The Firebird was gorgeous -- when these forces are "on," they do it like no one else -- and I also very much enjoyed the Rimsky-Korsakov suite that opened the concert.

--Bruce

[Spineur]

-- and I also very much enjoyed the Rimsky-Korsakov suite that opened the concert.

--Bruce

I found the comparison between the orchestration of Rimsky City of Kitezh suite and Stravinsky Funeral songs quite interesting.  After all it was composed to honor his teacher for his funeral.  The "timbre" sound similar, but Stravinsky is so much more rythmic.  Even more so in the ensuing Firebird.

Anyway this is my impression of the moment.

[James]

Concerto for 2 Pianos
with Vassili Lobanov (Tours, 7 July 1985) on Philips 420157 (CD)

Movements for Piano and Orchestra
with Yuri Nikolayevsky, Orchestra of the Moscow State Conservatoire
(22 December 1984) on Revelation RV 10093 (CD)

Piano Rag Music
(Vienna, 20 Feb 1989) on Decca / London 436451 (CD) or 458807 (CD)

Thx for this .. I have 2 'Movements' performances with him, the one you list, and a really special one with Boulez conducting - really great.
Piano certainly isn't center stage here though, more outlining things.

I was thinking more of the solo piano stuff, Richter would have been great with it .. wish there was a lot more.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Who saw/heard Funeral Song op. 5 and what did you think?

Really lovely work I think!

[Mirror Image]

Who saw/heard Funeral Song op. 5 and what did you think?

Really lovely work I think!

It was okay. Nothing really special.

[Mahlerian]

Why is it that the general view is that Le Sacre was just a one off that he turned his back against?

I hear Le Sacre in Petrushka (Pre-rite I know), Song of the nightingale, Agon, Variations for Huxley, Symphonies of wind instruments and parts of Requiem Canticles, especially 

And Symphony in Three Movements, parts of Threni...

Far from disowning the work, he absorbed all of the lessons he learned from it.  While he never did something that was quite in the same vein throughout, there are certainly echoes of the work throughout his later career.

My comparison is with Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire.  Also wildly successful and a work that was much-admired and much-imitated by contemporaries (including Stravinsky), but one which the composer never tried to replicate by way of duplication.

[snyprrr]

Persephone

First Listen Ever: Liked it from the get-go!


Hey, I didn't really take to 'Oedipus Rex' (S ;)lonen)... I had been hoping for that "icy" Igor, but I just didn't get what I thought I was going to get there, so I hesitated about a decade with 'Persephone'.

BUT!!

The French helped for me. And the music was the "right" Igor I was looking for, sounding more like 'Orpheus' than 'Le Sa ;)re'.





Anyhow... Davis looks like TopChoice?

[snyprrr]

Persephone

First Listen Ever: Liked it from the get-go!


Hey, I didn't really take to 'Oedipus Rex' (S ;)lonen)... I had been hoping for that "icy" Igor, but I just didn't get what I thought I was going to get there, so I hesitated about a decade with 'Persephone'.

BUT!!

The French helped for me. And the music was the "right" Igor I was looking for, sounding more like 'Orpheus' than 'Le Sa ;)re'.





Anyhow... Davis looks like TopChoice?

anyone? Persephone...

[Karl Henning]

Persephone

First Listen Ever: Liked it from the get-go!

Good!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk