Chez Stravinsky

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Apollon Musagete
Agon
Orpheus
Jeu de cartes
Ebony Concerto
Dumbarton Oaks
Violin Concerto

These are definitely some of my favorites, along with Petruskha, ROS and all the symphonies.  I'm not as keen on some of the vocal works.  For sure, Abraham & Isaac is my least favorite of all Stravinsky compositions.

I'm not too fond of Stravinsky's more vocal oriented music either, but I don't mind the occasional vocal part like in the ballet Pulcinella for example.

[karlhenning]

Oh, but the Mass and the Symphony of Psalms, lads! (To my mind, the Canticum sacrum, too, for that matter . . . .)

[Brahmsian]

Symphony of Psalms

Oh, absolutely, Karl. 

[Scarpia]

Oh, absolutely, Karl. 

Eh, I've yet to hear a recording that made much of an impression.  The latest was Shaw, in truly wonderful Telarc sound.  So drab and colorless compared to the miraculous Poulenc Gloria it shared the program with.

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That's not to say I won't.

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Oh, but the Mass and the Symphony of Psalms, lads! (To my mind, the Canticum sacrum, too, for that matter . . . .)

I love Symphony of Psalms, what Stravinskian wouldn't? 

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Eh, I've yet to hear a recording that made much of an impression.  The latest was Shaw, in truly wonderful Telarc sound.  So drab and colorless compared to the miraculous Poulenc Gloria it shared the program with.

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That's not to say I won't.

Nobody can convince you about a piece of music, but the only Symphony of Psalms that made a direct impact to me was Stravinsky's own performance of it:

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[not edward]

Have you heard Ancerl's Symphony of Psalms? Of the recordings I've heard, it'd be my choice for a canonical recording. (I love the Markevitch one, but I think it's very much an acquired taste.)

Of the lesser-known works: Orpheus--Hans Werner Henze rated it as his single favourite Stravinsky work, and I find this view easy to understand--and the Concerto for Two Pianos stick out massively; I'm also a big admirer of many of the late works (perhaps Requiem Canticles above all). In addition, I wouldn't want to omit the Mass, a masterpiece of musical restraint.

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Have you heard Ancerl's Symphony of Psalms? Of the recordings I've heard, it'd be my choice for a canonical recording. (I love the Markevitch one, but I think it's very much an acquired taste.)

Of the lesser-known works: Orpheus--Hans Werner Henze rated it as his single favourite Stravinsky work, and I find this view easy to understand--and the Concerto for Two Pianos stick out massively; I'm also a big admirer of many of the late works (perhaps Requiem Canticles above all). In addition, I wouldn't want to omit the Mass, a masterpiece of musical restraint.

I have not heard the Ancerl recording, but, then again, I don't have much interest in acquiring another Symphony of Psalms performance. Orpheus is a fantastic ballet. I love it. Have you heard Craft's recording of the three Greek ballets? It truly is outstanding. Craft, along with Boulez, Salonen, and Abbado, are really my Stravinsky conductors of choice. For me, it doesn't get much better than their recordings. Stravinsky made some good recordings as conductor, but not outstanding. The only performance that's still a favorite is his Symphony of Psalms. I prefer technical brilliance in Stravinsky. I like clean cut rhythms and articulation. I also like clarity in this music.

[snyprrr]

Elegy
Dylan Thomas In Memorium
Canticum Sacrum
Threni

Movements

Epitaphium
Double Canon

Variations

Elegy for JFK
Introitus
Requiem Canticles


...you know, all the cheerful pieces! ...

[not edward]

This is a good one for the songs ..

Agreed. I don't think it's available as a single disc any more, unfortunately, but it has been reissued as part of the DG Boulez conducts Stravinsky box,

[mjwal]

I totally agree with Edward about the Ancerl recording of the Symphony of Psalms - as Ancerl's recordings of Les Noces, Le sacre du printemps, Petrushka and Édipe Roi (for which he employs the brilliant actor Jean Desailly to speak Cocteau's narration, which is why I give it the French name) are also at or very near the top of my list, I give him my accolade as best all-round Stravinsky conductor of the 20th century.

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And Naxos has another Craft/Stravinsky volume coming out next month.

Do you have a link to the recording, James? I would like to find out what's on it. Thanks.

[snyprrr]

http://www.naxos.com/SharedFiles/pdf/rear/8.557532r.pdf#
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557532

Requiem Canticles with the Duo Concertante? I can't waaait to see what a mishmash their last Vol. will be, hee hee!!

[karlhenning]

Requiem Canticles with the Duo Concertante? I can't waaait to see what a mishmash their last Vol. will be, hee hee!!

Like many Stravinsky discs, there is a broad range of his career represented.  You pick those two pieces out to make a joke (and, sure) but of course there are also the Sonata for two pianos and Abraham & Isaac.

Curiously, this is one reissue which does not overlap much (possibly not at all) with the Craft recordings I've already got . . . .

I wonder if the Requiem Canticles and Tchaikovsky Pas de deux are from that long-ago initial two-CD set that Craft did?  That's one of a number of recordings which I fetched in back when I was in upstate New York, but which passed out of my life.

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Has anybody watched this documentary?

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I bought it tonight and I've heard it was excellent. Any thoughts?

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I'm not as keen on some of the vocal works.  For sure, Abraham & Isaac is my least favorite of all Stravinsky compositions.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Mass today and really studied it. It has vocals, but it's so damn infectious. Pulcinella, obviously a well-acknowledged Neoclassical masterwork, in its complete form has vocals as well, which I think are lovely.

[karlhenning]

The Mass is marvellous. And I'll repeat: Canticum sacrum, especially for us Agon enthusiasts.

I hadn't heard of the Tony Palmer film, MI . . . nor am I certain that I've seen any of his work other than 200 Motels  ; )

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The Mass is marvellous. And I'll repeat: Canticum sacrum, especially for us Agon enthusiasts.

I hadn't heard of the Tony Palmer film, MI . . . nor am I certain that I've seen any of his work other than 200 Motels  ; )

I wrote a review on Amazon about Palmer's RVW film which I was hugely disappointed in:

"O Thou Transcendent: The Life of Ralph Vaughan Williams" has to be one of the worst documentaries I've seen in a long time. From start to finish, there was nothing of remote substance found. The interview segments made absolutely no sense and didn't even pertain to the subject matter about 99% of the time. The editing, or lack of, was terrible as it was completely cut-up and very erratic. The entire documentary didn't follow any kind of timeline at all. The stories told from the various people being interviewed made absolutely no sense and were more of a personal nature and not much in the way of Vaughan Williams' actual history. The images involved throughout were very distasteful, which I'm sure this has been mentioned, but there were several images that were totally uncalled for like the images of a dead child and not to mention stacks of dead bodies, which are out-of-place in this type of documentary, which is supposed to be about Vaughan Williams and not trying to provoke controversy.

That said, I can't possibly think of one good thing to say about this pathetic excuse for a documentary other than I wish I had the 2+ hours back from watching this film. If you are expecting a documentary that follows a timeline and that deals with Vaughan Williams' life in a competent way, then do not watch this. I would have been ashamed to have even released this garbage for people to see. It surely doesn't do any justice to this man's beautiful music, if anything, it makes a mockery of it.

But, however, I did enjoy his documentary on John Adams immensely. I suppose he's very much hit or miss in his films. I hope his Stravinsky documentary is as good as people have said it is.

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For those who haven't heard the Hyperion discs with Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, don't hesitate to pick these up at some point. Fantastic performances. Volkov really understands this music and his feel for the rhythmic complexities is nothing short of amazing. As I've mentioned on two other threads, I hope he continues this series on Hyperion. Of course, we have enough recordings of Rite of Spring, Petrushka, and Firebird, but I think it was highly inventive for Volkov to start the series off with three seldom discussed ballets, but incredible ballets Jeu de cartes, Orpheus, and Agon. Ultimately though, no matter what he chooses to do, Volkov is up against some stiff competition (Abbado, Craft, Salonen, Gielen, Chailly, Stravinsky himself, etc.), but while it's easy to defend our favorites, we must give this young fellow a chance to shine and we must also thank him and Hyperion for bringing us this music.

[karlhenning]

Hey, at 22 pages, I should call this thread respectfully populated ; )

Day before yesterday I saw an old friend I hadn't seen (let alone played together with) in quite a while.  He is back to playing, and playing more diligently than he had in a while . . . so we are talking of reviving a trio, and specifically of having a proper lash at the trio suite from L'histoire.