Chez Stravinsky

Started by karlhenning, April 09, 2007, 08:24:18 AM

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karlhenning

Yes, ere long I shall want to re-read the Walsh!

Wanderer

Boxset alert! The following is due for release on 4-1-2010.  8)



Boulez conducts Stravinsky



CD1 Chicago Symphony Orchestra

The Firebird

Fireworks

4 Studies



CD2 The Cleveland Orchestra

Pétrouchka

Le Sacre du printemps



CD3 The Cleveland Orchestra

Le Chant du Rossignol

L'Histoire du Soldat

Scherzo fantastique

Le Roi des étoiles



CD4 Berliner Philharmonic

Symphony of Psalms

Symphony in Three Movements

Symphonies of Wind Instruments



CD5 Ensemble Intercontemporain

Ebony Concerto

3 Pieces for Clarinet solo

Concertino for String Quartet

8 Instrumental Miniatures

Concerto "Dumbarton Oaks"

Elegy for Viola solo

Epitaphium

Double Canon for String Quartet



CD6 Ensemble Intercontemporain

Songs

snyprrr

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on December 07, 2009, 12:37:56 PM
Yes, ere long I shall want to re-read the Walsh!

ah, Georgia font. It looks like newsprint. is that what you were after (or, typewriter?)?

I've been studying fonts this year. Honestly, this font is a bit hard to read, which highlights the readability of whatever is the default font here,...mmm, lry me guess...

eras, or arial???

what font would stravinsky have liked?

The new erato

Quote from: Wanderer on December 07, 2009, 12:38:19 PM
Boxset alert! The following is due for release on 4-1-2010.  8)



Boulez conducts Stravinsky

Isn't it strange how Boulez never came around to recording the late, (sometimes) serialist masterpieces of Stravinsky? This box is very tempting, but would be absolutely essential if it included works like Agon, Threni, Mass etc, etc.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: James on December 09, 2009, 08:09:44 AM
I asked him about this a number of years ago, and he told me that he would have certainly loved to record works from Stravinsky's 3rd period for Deutsche Grammophon but that it's a matter of business that he couldn't. Not much commerical potential in otherwords.

That's rather strange, given that Boulez has recorded plenty of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and other such composers, and given that Stravinsky is a "name" composer.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Ugh

Quote from: Brahmsian on December 07, 2009, 09:30:05 AM
Took a break from 'the big box', and now went back to it yesterday and today.

New discoveries (first listens) are:

Disc 11 - Miniature Masterpieces  (Loved all of these)
Disc 10 - Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (loved these)
Disc 10 - (5) Movements for Piano and Orchestra (did not enjoy)

The more I'm diving into this box, the following is becoming glaringly clear:

I virtually love to bits and pieces all of the works of Stravinsky's pre-serialist late phase.   :)
I do not enjoy the later works from the so called serialist stage.   :(

Which miniatures were featured on disc 11?
"I no longer believe in concerts, the sweat of conductors, and the flying storms of virtuoso's dandruff, and am only interested in recorded music." Edgard Varese

snyprrr

HELP!

I have spent all day listening to Late IS on YouTube, and, finding that I'm liking it a lot, am horrified to find a dismal (bear with me) selection of extant recordings.

The pieces in question would be:

Cantata

Canticum Sacrum

Threni*

Requiem Canticles



(and, to a lesser extent)

Variations "Aldous Huxley" (plenty of versions)

in Memoriam Dylan Thomas*

Introitus (TS Eliot)*

Elegy JFK



I know that the Mass/Noces and Mass/Noces/Cantata pairings are pretty common (any favs?), but the rest are just scattered all over the place, with Threni practically unavailable :o. This piece really impressed me.

The rest of this music all deserves to have at least three classic recordings a piece (and I mean all 8 pieces,...together!,...plus the Late Chamber Works!), but, as I'm checking, it's pffft.

Why hasn't anyone recorded Threni and the Requiem Canticles on DG or something, with,...or,....I mean, why not, at least, those 4 main works together? ??? It seems to make no sense.

There's a Philips disc (de Leeuw), a Koch disc, the Hyperion/Noces-Wood disc, the Knussen disc,...and,....what else?,...but that's really about it. And they just have 1-3 of the pieces per disc, usually with the rest of IS's choral works.

So,...what's up with this? :(

Mirror Image

#347
Quote from: James on December 09, 2009, 08:09:44 AM
I asked him about this a number of years ago, and he told me that he would have certainly loved to record works from Stravinsky's 3rd period for Deutsche Grammophon but that it's a matter of business that he couldn't. Not much commerical potential in otherwords.

And that is the beef I have with the "Big 3" (Universal, EMI, Sony). They don't seem to ever cater to the hardcore classical fan, but that's why we have labels like BIS, Naxos, Hyperion, and Chandos. :D

Franco

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 16, 2010, 05:05:08 PM

And that is the beef I have with the "Big 3" (Universal, EMI, Sony). They don't seem to ever cater to the hardcore classical fan, but that's why we have labels like BIS, Chandos, Hyperion, and Chandos. :D

Yes, and don't forget Chandos.
:)

Mirror Image

Quote from: Franco on August 16, 2010, 05:06:36 PM
Yes, and don't forget Chandos.
:)

Lol...whoops I meant to put Naxos instead of typing Chandos twice. I guess I just have this great label on my mind. :D

Dax

Those interested in late stuff might find something to their interest at

http://highponytail.blogspot.com/search/label/Stravinsky

not edward

For the Cantata, I'd suggest Ancerl:



For Canticum sacrum and Requiem Canticles, Gielen hits the spot:



I would love a more solid recommendation for Threni. I imagine Naxos can't be far away from rereleasing Craft's, but I'd love to hear a Boulez or Gielen recording of this one.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

karlhenning

Quote from: snyprrr on August 16, 2010, 03:49:18 PM
There's a Philips disc (de Leeuw), a Koch disc, the Hyperion/Noces-Wood disc, the Knussen disc,...and,....what else?,...but that's really about it. And they just have 1-3 of the pieces per disc, usually with the rest of IS's choral works.

My favorite recordings of Свадебка (Les noces) are (in no particular order) Craft (must be reissued on Naxos, right?), the Hyperion/Wood disc you note (with the Voronezh Chamber Choir as core guests) and — I suspect this will cross with Edward's post ; ) — the Ančerl Gold disc.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: edward on August 17, 2010, 05:32:13 AM
For the Cantata, I'd suggest Ancerl:

For Canticum sacrum and Requiem Canticles, Gielen hits the spot:

Yes, yes, yes! Amen to both of these suggestions. Especially the Gielen, which convinced me of the greatness of Requiem Canticles.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

snyprrr

Is it that you can't fit Canticum Sacrum, Threni, and the Requiem Canticles all on one disc? I guess the Naxos is the wait for Threni, then. :(

Haitink does the two last pieces, on some massive Box.

I'm still in shock that there's no "official" masterpiece recording for all three (like,...soooooomeone in the '70s,.....oh, nevermind ::)). Can you just hear the Karajan (or, whomever the classic would belong to)?



I have borrowed the Hyperion disc with Symphony of Psalms, Mass, and Cantata before. I'll see if the library still has it. But,...these Late Pieces are really something else! Stravinsky is one creepy old man! :-\

Herman

Apart from the Firebird and the Sacre I think it's fair to say that Stravinsky is really out of it now. The number of recordings made, especially of his very unpopular serialist works, pretty much reflects the market. And with market I don't mean money but ears eager to hear.

Stravinsky used to be the top dog for a long time, and we're looking at the inevitable reaction now. And it remains to be seen whether his reputation will recover, or whether the more confessional DSCH type of music has triumphed.

It is useful to remember that a lot of Stravinsky music is getting performed not in the concert hall or studio, but in ballet theatres all over the world on a pretty frequent basis. I may have said this before, but I have heard one or two really awful concert performances of Agon, with world famous conductors, and they just couldn't get it right (in the limited rehearsal time world-famous conductors have, per definition), whereas various good ballet orchestras can play this piece sleeping.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Herman on August 18, 2010, 12:00:04 AM
Apart from the Firebird and the Sacre I think it's fair to say that Stravinsky is really out of it now. The number of recordings made, especially of his very unpopular serialist works, pretty much reflects the market. And with market I don't mean money but ears eager to hear.

Stravinsky used to be the top dog for a long time, and we're looking at the inevitable reaction now. And it remains to be seen whether his reputation will recover, or whether the more confessional DSCH type of music has triumphed.

There was a thread around here a year or so back that basically expressed this view - that Stravinsky had become a classic but in a very narrow sense, with his reputation based on a mere handful of works.

On the other hand, it's not just the early ballets that get played; some other stuff, like Symphony of Psalms and Symphony in Three Movements, do get played fairly often. But those late works have been neglected ever since they were new - so maybe not much has changed after all.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

snyprrr

Quote from: Herman on August 18, 2010, 12:00:04 AMor whether the more confessional DSCH type of music has triumphed.

Great point.



I guess just hearing, what I thought was (and I thought I wasn't going to find any more) an outright Hidden Super Masterpiece in Threni, and then seeing  it's history of neglect, especially in the all encompassing '80s (as far as recording goes), makes me really have to go back to the shed and rethink a few things. Not even Harmonia Mundi? No.

Threni is brand new music to me, and, I guess I just ASSumed :-[,...haha I thought it sounded like perfected Webern.

I just find it really odd, but, then, perhaps they all just forgot, and "they";re only getting around to Late Stravinsky now. However, a nice box of it, a la the Chailly/Varese set,....now!, that would be nice!

SALONEN! :o

One Stop Shopping, that's me!

bhodges

Just FYI, there's a very fine Threni (or seems to be, since I've not heard others) in this box set of Haitink live recordings:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Radio-Recordings-14-CD-Boxed/dp/B00000K0P8/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1282163416&sr=1-18

--Bruce

snyprrr

Just listened again to Craft's Threni on YouTube. Der flugelhorn is really nice and fruity, and... what are those bass stabs?,...is it the contrabass?,... it has a growl almost like a brass instrument.

This piece is just really awesome sounding, IMHO!,... that Stravinskian rhythmic swagger,... like Marlon Brando as a Satanic Priest! :o