"Although he had lived in California since 1939 Igor Stravinsky, once the Second World War was over, made regular trips back to Europe in order to promote his career and new compositions. Major works like the 'Mass' (1948) and his first English-language opera 'The Rake's Progress' (1951) received their first performances on European soil, while Stravinsky regularly conducted there. In addition, since his turn towards serialism in the early 1950s, he had become, once more, a darling of the European avant-garde, especially championed by the young conductor/composer/ playmaker firebrand Pierre Boulez who arranged for prestigious Paris premieres of 'Threni,' 'Agon' and other scores at his Domaine Musical concerts.The climax of these transatlantic visits came with Stravinsky's return to his native Russia in September/October 1962 (after an absence of nearly half a century) for concerts in Moscow and Leningrad and a reception with Khrushchev in the Kremlin.
"In 1954 Stravinsky had come to London for the first time since the war — reluctantly and, as he believed, underpaid — to conduct for the Royal Philharmonic Society and to receive its gold medal (subsequently mislaid) and a silver-tipped baton said to have been used by Haydn. In concert he had presented 'Divertimento,' 'Scenes de ballet Petrushko' and 'Orpheus.' But, although his visits to the city now became more regular — and 'Agon' was danced at both the Royal Festival Hall and for the Royal Ballet — it was four years before the capital was to hear an example of Stravinsky's 'new' music under his own baton. This time he again chose a dance-orientated programme — and one that worked backwards in time across his own compositions.
"'Agon' (the classical Greek word for 'contest' and pronounced with a long 'o' to rhyme with 'bone') was commissioned by New York City Ballet's Lincoln Kirstein for the choreographer George Balanchine. The scenario was originally thought of as a dance competition to be given before the ancient gods, but with repertoire ranging from the 17th century (De Lauze's 1623 manual 'Apologie de la Dense' was closely studied) to the modern. Nearly four years passed after the initial composer/choreographer conversations before the completed score — revised by Stravinsky to take account of his development in serial techniques — was given its concert premiere (under Craft) in Los Angeles in June 1957 as part of the composer's 75th birthday celebrations. Stravinsky himself grew tired of waiting for the stage premiere (and left New York just before it) but on I December 1957 Agon's opening — in a bill with 'Apollo,' 'Orpheus' and 'The Firebird' — was, according to The Tribune, 'possibly the most brilliant ballet creation of our day [...] it generates excitement because it concentrates wholly upon the miracle of the dancing body. 'The Symphony in Three Movements' was premiered at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic in January 1946, just after the composer and his wife had become American citizens. Its strident rhythms suggested to some critics that it was a 'war' or 'victory' symphony, while its second movement made use of some of the abortive film scores Stravinsky had attempted for Hollywood. 'Apollon Musagete' (the name was anglicised to plain 'Apollo' when the composer revised the score in 1947), for strings only, was an abstract two-scene ballet about the nature of beauty. Lastly in London, as a sweetmeat, Stravinsky offered three numbers from the 1945 'Firebird.'
"First studio recordings of both the Symphony (in Carnegie Hall) and 'Agon' (at Hollywood's Goldwyn Studios) were made by the composer immediately after their respective premieres; 'Apollo,' with a starry solo string line-up including John Corigliano and William Lincer, followed in 1950 during the time of Stravinsky's brief contract with RCA. Stereo remakes with the ubiquitous Columbia Symphony Orchestra followed in the 1960s and there also exist some European radio recordings of 'Apollo' and 'Agon.'
"The lead-up to the December 1958 concert was anything but smooth for Stravinsky. 'Threni' had been given its world premiere at Venice's Scuola Grande di San Rocco in September and repeated in Hamburg. But these performances had been with the carefully rehearsed North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. The score's Paris debut — with a Lamoureux Orchestra unused to modern scores at an under-prepared Domaine Musical concert (Boulez himself tried to make amends by hiding among the chorus to give important cues) — was an embarrassing near-disaster. No wonder Stravinsky wrote a concerned letter to his London publisher in the middle of November: '1 am starting a little bit to worry about my program in BBC. 1 — two rehearsals the same day which is extremely fatiguing, 2 — two very difficult works never played by BBC orchestra which takes much time to rehearse (Hans Rosbaud last year prepare 'Agon' in 6 rehearsals!) — 'Agon' and the Symphony, 3 — 'Apollo' requiring only strings means a rehearsal apart from these 4 rehearsals, a thing which was never mentioned in my contract... Unfortunately I cannot count on Robert Craft's help this time.'
"While this and the reverberations from Paris were up in the air, Stravinsky's tour of Europe —it also took in a staged 'Oedipus rex' at the Vienna State Opera — continued in a social whirl of artists and intellectuals. His musical assistant Robert Craft's 'Chronicle of a Friendship' notes engagements with Olivier Messiaen (Stravinsky found him and his music 'naïf'), Giacometti, Orson Welles, Graham Greene (whose books Stravinsky and his wife both adored) and T.S. Eliot ('not the most exuberant man I have known but he may be the purest' — he was both a potential collaborator with Stravinsky on an oratorio and the publisher-elect of the first volume of his interviews with Craft).
"Appearing in the London diary in the middle of a sequence of outstanding Beecham concerts and a Lieder recital with Rudolf Kempe at the keyboard, Stravinsky was given nearly a minute's solid applause at his appearance on the platform. Music & Musicians was not alone among the press in being nervous of 'Agon' —'it may be splendid music for the legs for which it was primarily designed; but it grates harshly on the ears, and abrasively on the mind' — but thought that 'even Stravinsky, apostle of clarity, could not complain of the brilliance of the BBC Orchestra's attack or the clean and faultless line of its phrasing. Seized as it was on this night with a sense of occasion, it can play like a band of angels.'" (Mike Ashman. From the liner notes.)
Performers: BBC Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
1. (Applause)
2. Agon: I. Pas De Quatre
3. Agon: II. Double Pas De Quatre
4. Agon: III. Triple Pas De Quatre
5. Agon: IV. Prelude
6. Agon: First Pas De Trois. V. Saraband-step
7. Agon: First Pas De Trois. VI. Gaillarde
8. Agon: First Pas De Trois. VII. Coda
9. Agon: First Pas De Trois. VIII. Interlude
10. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. IX. Branle Simple
11. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. X. Branle Gay
12. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XI. Branle Double
13. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XII. Interlude
14. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XIII. Pas De Deux
15. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XIV. Coda
16. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XV. Four Duos
17. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XVI. Four Trios
18. Agon: Second Pas De Trois. XVII. Coda
19. Symphony In Three Movements: I. ♩ = 160
20. Symphony In Three Movements: II. Andante - Interlude: L'istesso Tempo
21. Symphony In Three Movements: III. Con Moto
22. Apollo: Tableau I. Prologue: Naissance D'Apollon
23. Apollo: Tableau II. Variation D'Apollon: Apollon Et Les Muses
24. Apollo: Tableau II. Pas D'action: Apollon Et Les Trois Muses, Calliope, Polymnie Et Terpsichore
25. Apollo: Tableau II. Variation De Calliope (L'Alexandrin)
26. Apollo: Tableau II. Variation De Polymnie
27. Apollo: Tableau II. Variation De Terpsichore
28. Apollo: Tableau II. Variation D'Apollon
29. Apollo: Tableau II. Pas De Deux: Apollon Et Terpsichore
30. Apollo: Tableau II. Coda: Apollon Et Les Muses
31. Apollo: Tableau II. Apothéose
32. L'Oiseau De Feu: Finale
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