Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)
Ballets Russes
Le Sacre du printemps
(The Rite of Spring) (Reconstruction of version of 29 May 1913) [33:51]
Petrouchka
(Petrushka) (1911 version) [34:53]
L’Oiseau de feu
(The Firebird) (1910 version) [44:01]
Les Orientales
Choreographic divertissement by Michel Fokine (music by
Arensky, Glazunov, Grieg & Sinding)
Les Siècles/François-Xavier Roth
rec. October 2010 to September 2013, Cité de la Musique de Paris, la
Cathédrale de Laon, l’Arsenal de Metz, MC2 Grenoble and Alte Oper,
Frankfurt.
Reviewed as downloaded in 24/44.1 sound with pdf booklet from
eclassical.com.
HARMONIA MUNDI HMX2905342.43
[68:44 + 59:57]
This could be a very short review: these refreshing recordings of the three
Stravinsky works for the Ballets russes and the Fokine pastiche received high praise when they
were first released; at their new price, they are even more desirable. In
fact, price is the only reason to have reservations, none of which impinge
on the performances or presentation. The original releases, from Actes Sud,
came on CD, but whereas until not long ago Harmonia Mundi could have
reissued them on SACD, they have abandoned that superior format. While the
reissue can be downloaded in hi-res 24-bit format, that costs more than the
physical discs for no apparently logical reason. As I write, one dealer has
reduced the CDs from £13.75 to £12.37, but is charging £18.44, reduced to
£12.94 for lossless (16-bit) sound and £23.06 down to £16:14 for 24-bit.
Another dealer, even less logically, is asking 50% more for mp3 than for the
CDs - and more for a used copy than for new. For purchasers in US$, eclassical.com is offering 24-bit at the same price
as 16-bit for an initial period, at $19.88.
That’s the statutory grumble out of the way. Now it’s all plus, not least
the fact that the downloads come with a pdf booklet, the lack of which was
Dan Morgan’s reservation in describing the original release of Rite of Spring and Petrushka, CD1 of the reissue, as
‘illuminating and individual’ –
review.
In both ballets Roth and his team of period-instrument performers seek to
recreate the original experiences of 1913, 1911 and 1910 respectively, and in
doing so they produce a sound which allows the listener to cut through to
detail often missed in other favourite recordings, even from Stravinsky
himself (Rite of Spring and Firebird, Sony SMK89875,
download only, or Rite of Spring and Petrushka,
G010003468026K, also download only) or Doráti (Rite and Petrushka, Presto Mercury 4343312, or download) or Monteux (Rite and Petruska Decca Eloquence 4808903 –
review).
That lack of a booklet meant that I couldn’t give a date for the recordings
in
2014/9,
and I still can’t give you exact dates for each of the recordings on the
reissue: Harmonia Mundi list only overall dates and venues. Otherwise, what
I wrote then about CD1 remains applicable: The performance of Rite of Spring aims to reconstruct how the music sounded on that
fateful day in May 1913 before the alterations which Stravinsky thought
necessary thereafter to make the work easier to perform, including dropping
the alternation of plucked and bowed strings. If the music seems to lack
some of the sheer power of classic performances which I admire, from
Stravinsky’s own (originally CBS) and Doráti’s classic Mercury recording
onwards, the gain is in terms of its sheer musicality, with the kinship
with The Firebird, already recorded by this team, clearer than in
most recordings. And from Rondes des printemps (track 4) onwards
there’s plenty of power, too, where required. With a fine account of Petrushka as the coupling, this is an important release.
We seem to have missed CD2 when it was first released on ASM06, but I
alluded to it in
Autumn 2017/1
in the context of a slightly disappointing Firebird from Andris
Nelsons. I referred to the coupling then as ‘a confection ballet with music
by Arensky, Glazunov, Grieg and Sinding, Les Orientales. That’s
merely an interesting pot-pourri but the Firebird, as
close as possible to how it would have sounded when first performed, is as
well worth hearing as the same performers in Rite of Spring’.
I stand by those words in regard to the Firebird, but I now find
myself much more attracted by the colourful performance of Les Orientales. Hearing Roth and his players in the Glazunov Pas de deux from The Seasons makes me wish they had
recorded the whole work, which I fell in love with many years ago when it
was the opening music for a TV current affairs programme. Whatever you may
think of this divertissement, it’s played with real gusto, and there
doesn’t seem to be an alternative version. Indeed, some parts have had to
be reconstructed for this recording.
That leaves me with an unenviable choice for an alternative inexpensive
version of the three Stravinsky ballets. Simon Rattle with the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on Warner 9677112 –
review
– offers Apollo as the fourth work. That recording is now download
only, but it’s slightly less expensive than the Harmonia Mundi in any
format – around £11 in lossless sound. There’s no 24-bit equivalent, but
the late 1980s sound remains good, and the set as a whole is well worth
considering. Overall, however, Rattle’s slightly less than powerful Rite of Spring yields to other recordings, not least to Roth and
his team. Even those who find period-performance of baroque music
unappealing should have no problems with the early twentieth-century French
instruments of Les Siècles – gut strings, narrow-bore trumpets and
trombones and the like.
The clarity of their playing is matched by the quality of the recording –
even better in 24-bit sound now than the mp3 of CD1 which I reviewed
before. You would hardly know it from the lack of noises off – a very
slight stifled cough at one point – and the lack of applause, which Roth
doesn’t like to retain for posterity, but these recordings are live,
sometimes with a blend of the performances at different venues and
sometimes from the dress rehearsal, though the joins are not at all apparent from
the acoustic.
Completists should not overlook Decca’s recent 11-CD Chailly Stravinsky
edition (4851367 –
review). Including two different versions of Rite of Spring, that’s excellent value at under £40 from some
dealers, and deserves to be snapped up – such limited-edition box sets have
a habit of disappearing. Overall, however, if asked to recommend a
recording of just the three Stravinsky Ballets russes, this would
rank very high on the list, irrespective of its special appeal in getting
back as close as possible to the original performances – that’s an added
bonus.
Brian Wilson
Les Orientales
(1910)
Divertissement chorégraphique de Michel Fokine (1880-1942)
Alexander GLAZUNOV (1865-1936)
Raymonda
(Acte II):
Entrée des Sarrazins
[0:52]
Danse orientale
[1:41]
The Seasons, Op.67:
Pas de deux, Bacchanale
[3:16]
Christian SINDING (1856-1941)
Orchestration (2010) Charlie Piper
Danse orientale, Op. 33/5 [3:14]
Anton ARENSKY (1861-1906)
Nuits égyptiennes:
Danse égyptienne
[1:29]
Charmeuse des serpents
[1:16]
Danse des Ghazies
[2:15]
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Orchestration (2010): Bruno Mantovani
Lyric pieces, Op.71/3 Småtroll (Le Djinn) [1:58]
