Chez Stravinsky

[ritter]

"Their relationship was complicated by the fact that Boulez tended to be an ass" 

Thanks for this insightful and well-substantiated contribution to the topic, Karl. A pleasure to read. 

Seriously, his quarrel with Abraham and Isaac is that he finds the story (an icon of Western civilization) "repellant";  but presumably he never conducted a Wagner opera whose story in any way offended his fastidious sensibilities.  And what bad tone, "You know, I just prefer Webern."

Sometimes I think the key to thinking the best of Boulez, is to know as little as possible about him apart from the music itself . . . .

IIRC, Karl, you know the Walsh biography as well, or better than, I do. What Walsh quotes is a private letter to Morton, not an article in Die Reihe or an interview in the Gramophone, or something like that. I suppose even you will admit that Boulez can have his likes and dislikes (musical, biblical, literary or even culinary, for that matter  ). And what Wagner has to do in all this, is beyond my comprehension...

But, rereading my long post above, I now realize anyone would be hard-pressed to find a conductor of his stature (bar Robert Craft, of course) who has conducted more late Stravinsky than Boulez, despite the comparative neglect he's given to this part of Igor's oeuvre. Just take a look at the performance annals of the NYPO or the BBC Proms, for instance.

Cheers,

[Karl Henning]

Thanks for this insightful and well-substantiated contribution to the topic, Karl. A pleasure to read. 

Point noted 

[ritter]

Here's the short paean to Stravinsky published by Boulez in the program to the NYPO's memorial concert in 1971 (with the Requiem Canticles on the program):

It should be noted that the erratum (stemming from the original mansucript  ) that describes Pétrouchka as the piece with an "unusual mixture of vigor, aggressiveness, poetry...", when Boulez is clearly thinking of Pulcinella, was corrected when this text was reproduced in the 2nd volume of Points de repère (Regards sur autrui).

[Abuelo Igor]

Wow, ritter, thank you very much. That was a really interesting response to a post I had nearly forgotten.

It's just that I miss recordings of these late pieces, and, well I think that Boulez would have pulled them off really well. I kind of expected something along those lines, since Igor was not very "politically correct" in the Darmstadt years and maybe it was too late for him to be accepted into the fold of the avant-garde once again.

As to recordings of late-period Stravinsky, there's that Oliver Knussen disc on DG that no one has deigned to re-release...

[Rons_talking]

I believe there is greatness in quite nearly every Stravinsky work. Though many here are tired of the overplaying of the early ballets (and I sometimes feel the same way) those works created a sound-world so beautiful, so striking, it's difficult to imagine modern music without them. While I've heard The Firebird countless times and rarely play it now, I'll never forget my first hearings of it. To me it was incredible. The use of the orchestra, the harmonies and rhythms...it seemed so monumental yet very human in its use of simple materials brought to life. I'm sure I'm not the first to say this: hearing Stravinskiy's early ballets was like seeing color TV for the first time. Many English majors discuss the great writers of literature and will often omit Shakespeare from the conversation: His greatness is so absolute some feel they can't say anything new. That's my view of the early Stravinsky ballets. Sure, I'd like to hear Agon, Apollo and Symphony of Psalms more often, but there are people out there hearing Petrushka and the Rite for the first time... I see there's no real point to what I'm saying here, but the new (relatively)must, unfortunately compete with the old.
I don't know why but writing this makes me crave Persephone . hmmm...
It's nice that Boulez give a lot of Stravinsky's work his stamp of approval but his name comes up quite often on this thread. Maybe a little too much...but that's another series.

[Karl Henning]

I believe there is greatness in quite nearly every Stravinsky work. Though many here are tired of the overplaying of the early ballets (and I sometimes feel the same way) those works created a sound-world so beautiful, so striking, it's difficult to imagine modern music without them. While I've heard The Firebird countless times and rarely play it now, I'll never forget my first hearings of it. To me it was incredible. The use of the orchestra, the harmonies and rhythms...it seemed so monumental yet very human in its use of simple materials brought to life. I'm sure I'm not the first to say this: hearing Stravinskiy's early ballets was like seeing color TV for the first time. Many English majors discuss the great writers of literature and will often omit Shakespeare from the conversation: His greatness is so absolute some feel they can't say anything new. That's my view of the early Stravinsky ballets. Sure, I'd like to hear Agon, Apollo and Symphony of Psalms more often, but there are people out there hearing Petrushka and the Rite for the first time... I see there's no real point to what I'm saying here, but the new (relatively) must, unfortunately compete with the old.
I don't know why but writing this makes me crave Persephone . hmmm...

Hearty agreement;  so much of his work is excellent, and practically every score has its distinct character (yet all bearing his fingerprint).  It's a great problem to have, that there are some many fantastic scores, they vie one with another for our attention.

[ritter]

Deutsche Grammophon 30 disc box coming ..

[asin]B013FFSG7U[/asin]

I wonder where DG is going to get hold of recordings of some works, for instance Threni (if this is really going to be a "complete" edition). Can they have managed to get the rights to Robert Craft's recording on Koch (which Naxos didn't bother to reissue, and is unobtainable)?

I haven't managed to find a contents listing for this anywhere 

[Kamisama]

I wonder where DG is going to get hold of recordings of some works, for instance Threni (if this really going to be a "complete" edition). Can they have managed to get the rights to Robert Craft's recording on Koch (which Naxos didn't bother to reissue, and is unobtainable)?

I haven't managed to find a contents listing for this anywhere 

Looks like it:
http://umusicdirect.com/classics/*/Box-Sets/Stravinsky-Complete-Edition/4SXT04G6000

Threni: id est Lamentationes Jeremiae prophetae
Julie Moffat, soprano / Jennifer Lane, mezzo-soprano / Martyn Hill, 1st tenor / Joseph Cornwell, 2nd tenor, David Wilson-Johnson, 1st bass / Martin Robson, 2nd bass
The Simon Joly Chorale / The Philharmonia / Robert Craft

[ritter]

Looks like it:
http://umusicdirect.com/classics/*/Box-Sets/Stravinsky-Complete-Edition/4SXT04G6000

Thanks, Kamisana  ! Despite the duplications (all the stuff conducted by Boulez and Abbado), this appears like a must for me (along with the "Complete Columbia Album Collection" that Papy Oli posted here). This is going to be a very Stravinskian autumn  ...

[Karl Henning]

Huge news.

This is the Chant funèbre, Op.5 in memoriam Rimsky-Korsakov, whereof the composer wrote (in Chroniques de ma vie):

The score of this work unfortunately disappeared in Russia during the Revolution. . . . I can no longer remember the music, but I can remember the idea at the root of its conception, which is that all the solo instruments of the orchestra filed past the tomb of the master in succession, each laying down its own melody as its wreath against a deep background of tremolo murmurings simulating the vibrations of bass voices singing in chorus.

[ritter]

Wonderful news indeed!  Let's hope for a performance (and subsequent recording) soon. I would imagine Gergiev and his St.-Petersburg forces will want to exercise their droit de seigneur on this...

[Kamisama]

Wonderful news indeed!  Let's hope for a performance (and subsequent recording) soon. I would imagine Gergiev and his St.-Petersburg forces will want to exercise their droit de seigneur on this...

An important early orchestral work by one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, thought for more than 100 years to have been irretrievably lost, has turned up at last in a pile of old manuscripts in a back room of the St Petersburg Conservatoire. Igor Stravinsky composed his Pogrebal'naya Pesnya in memory of his teacher, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, shortly after Rimsky's death in June 1908.

Not so wonderful for the compilers of that new Stravinsky Complete Edition box....

[North Star]

Not so wonderful for the compilers of that new Stravinsky Complete Edition box....

[ritter]

North Star alerted us about the passing of Robert Craft (whcih has really not been noticed much in the press  ).

Robert Lawson Craft passed away on Tuesday, November 10th, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Alva Craft and his son, Alexander Craft. He was a renowned author, esteemed orchestra conductor, protege of Igor Stravinsky and a resident of Gulf Stream, Florida.

Published in Sun-Sentinel from Nov. 13 to Nov. 14, 2015

Now the New York Times publishes an obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/arts/music/robert-craft-stravinsky-adviser-and-steward-dies-at-92.html?_r=0

Even if not devoid of controversy, Craft's work as writer and conductor deserves higher recognition than it receives these days IMHO. For those of us who love Stravinsky, the name Robert Craft has accompanied us for many years, and I for one will always remain grateful to him for some very interesting books and some wonderful recordings... Rest in peace.

Sony, are you there? It's time for a Craft box with his Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Varèse et al...

[North Star]

North Star alerted us about the passing of Robert Craft (whcih has really not been noticed much in the press  ).

Now the New York Times publishes an obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/arts/music/robert-craft-stravinsky-adviser-and-steward-dies-at-92.html?_r=0

Even if not devoid of controversy, Craft's work as writer and conductor deserves higher recognition than it receives these days IMHO. For those of us who love Stravinsky, the name Robert Craft has accompanied us for many years, and I for one will always remain grateful to him for some very interesting books and some wonderful recordings... Rest in peace.

Sony, are you there? It's time for a Craft box with his Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Varèse et al...

I merely posted that obit; the rumors of his death were reported well before.

There have been some rumors that the great Robert Craft, Stravinsky's assistant for his last years in California, died a few days ago. Does anybody know?

[ritter]

I merely posted that obit; the rumors of his death were reported well before.

Sorry, saw your post and not what came before it...credit to (poco) Sforzando then 

Have a good day, Karlo! Starting off with some Les Six, I see 

[North Star]

Sorry, saw your post and not what came before it...credit to (poco) Sforzando then 

Have a good day, Karlo! Starting off with some Les Six, I see 

I get my kicks with Les Six... G'day, Rafael.

[Scion7]

Besides his great work as a composer, I admire his conducting of his own pieces.
For example, this stereo 1960 recording:



His own version of the Dumbarton Oaks Concerto is zippier than any other.
Thankfully, a re-issue took his pus off the original 1965 LP cover with something more aesthetically pleasing:

[Scion7]

Another nice re-issue of the stereo 1958 recording by Stokowski & Berlin Philharmonic:

[ritter]

Cross-posted from the WAYLTN thread:

Back home in Madrid, first listen to this new acquisition:

[asin]B00GWS990Q[/asin]
This rendition of Threni: id est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetaeis turning out to be as good as I expected (or even better). Is this the recording this piece so badly needed? I'd say the answer is a resounding "yes!". It clearly is devilishly difficult to perfom, but the soloists, orchestra and, most particularly, the marvelous chorus deliver this with perfect pitch and rythmic accuracy, areas in which the two previous readily available recordings--Stravinsky on Columbia/Sony and Robert Craft on Koch (now in the big DG box) were wanting. The music flows very naturally and transaprently, and this is clearly  Philippe Herreweghe's doing. The notion that this composition fits into a polyphonic choral traditon that stretches back to the renaissance is realized to the full, and there's nothing "arid" or "thorny" here. Highly recommended!!!! The other works on the disc will have to wait until tomorrow, as it's past midnight already...