André Grétry - Zémire et Azor

"An opéra-comique in four acts, 'Zémire et Azor' premiered on November 9, 1771, at court in Fontainebleau. The first public performance was on December 16, 1771, at the Comédie Italienne in Paris. 'Zémire et Azor' was successful from the beginning and continued to be so for years, raising Grétry's fame to its highest level at home and abroad. As a result, the composer received a royal pension. This success, however, would not last. Several of his subsequent works were failures, and the arrival in Paris of Gluck and Piccini did not help matters.

"On the title page of the first edition of 'Zémire et Azor' (1772), the opera is described as a Comédie-Ballet with a dedication to Madame La Comtesse. The designation reflects the folklike nature of some of the arias and the presence, as was normal in French opera, of a ballet performed by Azor's servant in Act II to attract Zémire.

"For Grétry's opera, Jean-François Marmontel (1723 - 1798) developed an 'oriental adaptation' of Jeanne Marie Le Prince de Beaumont's 'La belle et la bête', published around 1750 and itself probably inspired by Neville de Chaussée's 'Amour pour amour' (1742). Chaussée's play inspired Marmontel's Middle Eastern setting and character names, and the magical transformation of the beast at the end is derived from Favart and Duni's opera, 'La fée Urgèle' of 1765. The result is an effective combination of classical opera, comedy, tragedy, and exoticism, with clearly drawn characters.

"After the first public performance, the Mercure de France described Grétry's music for 'Zémire et Azor' as 'pleasant, always appropriate'. Innovation begins in the overture, a three-part structure depicting the storm that destroys Sander's ship. The opening Allegro is in sonata form and is followed by a larghetto section. When the closing Allegro, depicting the storm, begins, so does the action on the stage, as Sander and Ali take shelter in Azor's deserted castle. Grétry develops the exotic, Middle Eastern flavor through ornamentation in highly embellished vocal and instrumental cadenzas, often employing harmonic minor scales. In this way, he could maintain European harmony and structure and still convey a sense of his location.

"It was Grétry's primary concern that the music should suit the text and characters. Thus, the personalities in the opera are reflected in the music. Ali's arias are comic and very similar to one another, conveying the simplicity of his character. Zémire's solos, however, are greatly contrasted, varying in complexity and intensity as her emotions and predicaments change. Grétry's emphasis on the individual is clear in the predominance of arias over duets, trios, and other ensembles. One of these ensembles, however, is exemplary: In the famous 'picture trio' of Act III, Sander and his daughters are perfectly unified in their sentiment and expression, conveyed through simple musical vocabulary. The lack of differentiation between characters in this number is perfectly suited to the story, for at that moment the three of them are mourning Zémire, who has left them to sacrifice herself at Azor's palace." (Description by John Palmer for AllMusic. See here.)

Performers: Orchestre De La RTB, Chœurs De La RTB, Edgar Doneux, Mady Mesplé, Roland Bufkens

1.1. Ouverture

1.2. Acte I: 'Quell Étrange Aventure'

1.3. Acte I: 'L'orage Va Cesser'

1.4. Acte I: 'Que Dis-tu? L'orage Redouble'

1.5. Acte I: 'Le Malheur Me Rend Intrépide'

1.6. Acte I: 'Oh! Ciel!'

1.7. Acte I: 'Les Esprits Dont On Nous Fait Peur'

1.8. Acte I: 'Le Temps Est Beau'

1.9. Acte I: 'Le Ciel S'éclaire'

1.10. Acte I: 'La Pauvre Enfant'

1.11. Acte I: 'J'ai L'âime Assez Compatissante'

1.12. Acte I: 'Ne Va Pas Me Tromper'

1.13. Acte I: Symphonie Qui Exprime Le Voi Du Nuage

1.14. Acte II: 'Veillons, Mes Sœurs'

1.15. Acte II: 'Ah! Mon Père'

1.16. Acte II: 'Rose Chérie'

1.17. Acte II: 'Ciel! Où M'as-tu Reduit?'

1.18. Acte II: 'Plus De Voyage Qui Me Tente'

1.19. Acte II: 'Ali, Mon Cher Ali'

1.20. Acte II: 'Je Veux Le Voir'

1.21. Acte II: Entracte

1.22. Acte III: 'Ah! Quel Tourment'

1.23. Acte III: 'Ce Bon Père'

1.24. Acte III: 'Rassure Mon Père'

1.25. Acte III: 'Esclave, Éloigne-toi!'

1.26. Acte III: Entre Des Genies Qui Rendent Hommage À Zémire

1.27. Acte III: Pantomime

1.28. Acte III: Passepied

1.29. Acte III: 'Ah! Revenez, Zémire'

1.30. Acte III: 'Du Moment Qu'on Aime'

2.1. Acte III: 'Je Ne Puis Revenir De Mon Étonnement'

2.2. Acte III: 'La Fauvette Avec Ses Petits'

2.3. Acte III: 'Vos Chants Pour Moi'

2.4. Acte III: 'Hélas, Mon Père'

2.5. Acte III: 'Ah! Mon Pere, Ah! Cruel'

2.6. Acte III: Entracte

2.7. Acte IV: 'Quel Malheur Est Le Mien'

2.8. Acte IV: 'J'an Suis Encore Tremblant'

2.9. Acte IV: 'Ah! Ma Fille'

2.10. Acte IV: 'Ah! Je Tremble!'

2.11. Acte IV: 'Le Soleil S'est Caché'

2.12. Acte IV: 'Azor, Azor! En Vain Ma Voix T'appelle'

2.13. Acte IV: 'Zémire, Zémire!'

2.14. Acte IV: 'Amour, Amour'

2.15. Danses Villageoises, No. 1: Ballet Rustique De Richard Coeur De Lion

2.16. Danses Villageoises, No. 2: Gavotte De Colinette A La Cour

2.17. Danses Villageoises, No. 3: Danse En Rond De Colinette A La Cour

2.18. Danses Villageoises, No. 4: Danse Des Compagnes De La Mariee

2.19. Danses Villageoises, No. 5: Gigue De L'Epreuve Villageoise

2.20. Danses Villageoises, No. 6: Entracte De La Rosiere De Salency

2.21. Danses Villageoises, No. 7: Contredanse De L'Embarras Des Richesses

2.22. Cephale Et Procris, Suite De Ballet, No. 1: Tambourin

2.23. Cephale Et Procris, Suite De Ballet, No. 2: Menuetto

2.24. Cephale Et Procris, Suite De Ballet, No. 3: Gigue

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Igor Stravinsky - Petrushka; The Fairy's Kiss

"Provocative and probably previously unreleased reunion of two scores which has been essential for the ballet music in the Paris of before and after World War I. The Russian conductor Evgeni Mravinsky, who stayed in his homeland but remained always impervious to any ukaz, either political or aesthetical, dared to present in a single evening these two scores, both with the same accuracy of interpretation: the exuberance of a street theatre in Saint Petersburg, his native city, and the stylishness of an 'in Tchaikovsky manner' piece, where the Sleeping Beauty's awakening becomes an 'Icy Kiss'... Impressive and without competition!" (From the liner notes.)

Performers: Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeny Mravinsky

1. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: I. First Tableau

2. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: II. Second Tableau

3. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: III. Third Tableau

4. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: IV. Fourth Tableau

5. The Fairy's Kiss: I. First Scene

6. The Fairy's Kiss: II. Second Scene

7. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - By The Mill

8. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Entrée

9. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Adagio

10. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Variation

11. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Coda

12. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Scene

13. The Fairy's Kiss: IV. Fourth Scene - Epilogue

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Rheinhold Gliere - The Red Poppy

"Rheinhold Glière (Reyngol'd Moritsevich Glier), a Soviet composer of Belgian descent, was born in Kiev in 1875, the son of a maker of wind instruments. He played the violin and wrote music at home and studied for three years at the Kiev Conservatory before entering the Moscow Conservatory in 1894. There he studied the violin with Hřimaly and composition with Taneyev, taking lessons in harmony from Arensky and his pupil Konyus and in orchestration from Ippolitov Ivanov. He completed his studies in 1900 with a one-act opera-oratorio after Byron, 'Zemlya i nebo' (Earth and Heaven).

"Glière's first employment was as a teacher at the Gnesin Music School, and he was to spend the summer holidays of 1902 and 1903 as tutor to the eleven-year-old Prokofiev. For two years from 1905 he studied conducting with Oscar Fried in Berlin, makin his first appearance as a conductor in Russia in 1908, while his compositions continued to make a favourable impression. In 1913 he returned to Kiev to teach the composition class at the Conservatory, of which he became director in the following year. In 1916 his former pupil Prokofiev appeared as soloist in Kiev in his own first piano concerto under the direction of Glière.

"From 1920 until his retirement in 1941 Glière taught composition at the Conservatory in Moscow. He showed particular interest in the music of the various ethnic minorities of the Soviet Union, making a detailed study of the music of Azerbaijan that bore fruit in his opera Shakh-Senem, written in 1924 and performed in Russian in Baku three years later, followed by staging in Azerbaijan in 1934. His musicological investigations extended to Uzbekistan and other Soviet republics, while the more familiar music of the Ukraine provided him with another native source of inspiration.

"During his career Glière occupied a number of official positions. In the early years of the Revolution he headed the music section of the Moscow Department of Popular Education and was Chairman of the organizing committee of the Union of Soviet Composers from 1938 until 1948. His work was officially recognised by various state awards, including the title of People's Artist, bestowed in 1938. He died in Moscow in 1956.

"As a composer Glière followed the Russian romantic tradition, something that brought him official praie in 1948 when the music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich was condemned. In particular his ballet music proved popular. 'The Red Poppy', later known, to avoid the connotation of opium, as 'The Red Flower', satisfied political choreographic demans and became a well known part of ballet repertoire from 1926 onwards, while the later ballet 'The Bronze Horseman', completed in 1949, also retained its place in Soviet repertoire.

"'The Red Poppy' ('Krasni mak'), with libretto and original décor by M. Kurilko and choreography by Lev Lashchilin and Vasily Tikhomikov, was first staged at the Bolshoy Theatre on 14th June 1927, when Ekaterina Geltser danced Tao-Hoa and Aleksey Bulgatov the heroic Captain. Set in a Chinese port, the story of the ballet is simply told. The dancer Tao-Hoa falls in love with the captain of a Soviet cargo ship, to whom she gives a red poppy. Li-Shan-Fu, her manager, plots to kill the captain by having her give him poisoned tea, but she refuses. Later, in a coolie uprising, she saves the life of the captain and is later killed in a coolie uprising by a bullet from Li-Shan-Fu. She hands a red poppy to a little Chinese girl, as she dies, as sign of love and freedom. Scope is given for divertissements in the second act, a dream-sequence, set in an opium den. Here Tao-Hoa sees a Golden BUddha, ancient goddesses, butterflies, birds and flowers.

"The ballet starts with an appropriate introduction, suggesting a Chinese setting with its pentatonic melodic material. A more ominous mood appears, suggesting the oppression to which the coolies, dock-workers are subjected, tyranny and suffering that will lead to their revolt. The dancing-girl Tao-Hoa enters, in a more lyrical atmosphere. The restaurant itself has a cosmopolitan clientèle, represented in the various dances that follow, including a 'Boston Waltz' and finally leading to the entrance of the Russian captain and the dance of his sailors. The love of the couple is established in Tao-Hoa's scene and variation, followed by a coolies' victory dance and a celabratory dance by the Russian sailors.

"The second act is set in an opium den. Here there is a dance of Chinese womne and an 'Adagio' for the four goddesses of ancient times. Tao-Hoa dreams of the Buddha, of the fabulous phoenix of legend and of the ship of her beloved.

"Reality returns with a Charleston and a dance in the restaurant, with preparations for the Chinese theatre, followed by an 'Umbrella Dance', a 'Puppet Dance', with xylophone, and a 'Chinese Acrobat Dance'. The coolie uprising is plotted and in this the captain is only saved by the intervention of Tao-Hao, allowing him to sail away with his men. In the aftermath Tao-Hoa is shot, to hand a red poppy to a little girl, as she dies. The flower, by its colour, symbolizes communism, which will bring freedom to the oppressed, a sign of hope of a better world, expressed in the well known Internationale, the Communist anthem.

"'The Red Poppy', its name changed to 'The Red Flower' in 1957, was greeted with some acclaim at its first staging. It seemed innovative, with a clear and acceptable political message, fulfilling the aims of the Soviet cultural establishment. Musically the libretto presented the composer with a number of problems. While the oriental setting provided an exotic background, enabling Glière to make use of characteristic pentatonic melodies, there were inevitable juxtapositions of other musical material, associated with colonial oppression or with the gallant Russian sailors and their captain. It might, therefore, be suggested that the work as a whole lacks something of the unity that might have been found in a more traditional ballet. Whatever reservations might be held about the score, Glière certainly won lasting success with 'The Red Poppy', of which excerpts, such as the 'Russian Sailors' Dance', have become very familiar." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performers: St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, André Anichanov

1.1. Act I: Introduction

1.2. Act I: Coolies' Dance

1.3. Act I: Tao-Hoa's Entrance

1.4. Act I: Restaurant

1.5. Act I: Malik's Dance

1.6. Act I: Boston Waltz

1.7. Act I: Scene Of European Dance. Captain's Entrance And Sailors' Dance

1.8. Act I: Tao-Hoa's Scene

1.9. Act I: Variation With Gold Fingers

1.10. Act I: Coolies' Victory Dance

1.11. Act I: Dance Of The Soviet Sailors. Apple

1.12. Act II: Introduction. Scene In The Smoking Room

1.13. Act II: Scene

1.14. Act II: Dance Of The Chinese Woman

1.15. Act II: Adagio Of Four Goddesses

1.16. Act II: Adagio

2.1. Act II: Prelude

2.2. Act II: Tao-Hoa's Vision

2.3. Act II: Scene: Procession

2.4. Act II: Sword Dance

2.5. Act II: Phoenix

2.6. Act II: Adagio

2.7. Act II: The Rose Ship

2.8. Act III: Charleston

2.9. Act III: Dance In Restaurant

2.10. Act III: Preparation Of The Chinese Theatre

2.11. Act III: Umbrella Dance

2.12. Act III: Puppet Dance

2.13. Act III: Chinese Acrobats' Dance

2.14. Act III: Scene: The Conspiracy

2.15. Act III: Scene Of Confusion

2.16. Act III: Captain's Scene

2.17. Act III: Tao-Hoa's Scene; The Departing Ship

2.18. Act III: Rebellion Scene

2.19. Act III: Tao-Hoa's Death

2.20. Act III: Apotheosis

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Intermedes d'Andromede; Le Ballet de Polieucte

"In 1682 Comédie-Française mounted a full-scale revival of Pierre Cormeille's machine play 'Androméde' (1650), which had not been seen in Paris for 27 years. This revival coincided with the premiere of 'Persée' — Quinault and Lully's operatic version of the same myth — which had been playing at the Paris Opéra for three months (premiéred April 17).

"This spectacular 1682 production of 'Androméde' aimed to re-establish the pre-eminence of the Comédie-Frangaise in lyric theatre. Marc-Antoine Charpentier had been engaged to provide a new musical score, which included an overture, nine instrumental numbers, eight accompanied choruses, five vocal solos, and two sung duos. The cantata-like structuring of the choral and balletic interludes brought Corneille's machine play more in line with the aesthetic of opera. The original aerial flights and spectacular machine effects of Giacomo Torelli were re-created by Dufort, the resident machinist of the Comédie-Frangaise. This new production of 'Androméde' opened on 19 July 1682, and was given a total of 45 performances during the 1682-83 season. The review in the Mercure Galant singled out for praise the climactic battle scene with the sea monster, in which Pegasus, Perseus's flying horse, was played this time by a live horse. Because of Lully's restrictions on theatre music, which limited public theatres to only two singers, the singing roles and the chorus were taken by actors of the Comédie-Frangaise: Monsieurs de Villiers, Guérin, La Grange, Hubert, Verneuil, and Mademoiselles Dyot (perhaps Guyot?) and Hennebaut.

"Charpentier's incidental music for the machine play is remarkable for both its length and its high quality. The Prologue is set at the summit of Mount Pamassus, where Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, meets with the Sun — who arrives after the overture in his blazing chariot. They praise the King, in whose honour the performance is being given, and the Sun invites Melpomene to join him in his chariot to proclaim the rare qualities of this youthful prince throughout the world in a single day. To the music of an instrumental prelude Melpomene flies up and takes her place next to him, and together they sing praises to the Sun King ('Cieux, écoutez; écoutez, mers profondes') — with which the chorus of shepherds joins in ('D'un héros qu'en tous lieux'). Then Melpomene and the Sun depart to a musical envoi in order to spread the news of Louis's fame to the rest of the universe.

"The first act takes place in Ethiopia, in the capital city of the kingdom of Cepheus. Cassiopeia, Andromeda's mother, is en route to the temple with Perseus to decide by casting lots which maiden is to be the next to be sacrificed to the sea-monster that is plaguing the land. The heavens open, and Venus appears on her star. The people sing her a hymn of praise ('Reine d'Erice et d'Amathonte') while Venus slowly descends. Cassiopeia bids the group be silent to hear Venus's prophesy: Andromeda is to be wed this evening, and the gods will join in the festivities. As Venus departs, the chorus sings a song of thanksgiving ('Ainsi toujours sur tes autels'). Phineus, Andromeda's cousin and fiancé, considers Venus's prophecy to be a good omen; Perseus, however, reveals his feelings for Andromeda to the Queen. An instrumental rondeau is played as an interlude while the scene changes.

"The second act is set in a luxurious garden with white marble vases, orange trees, and an arbour. Andromeda is gathering flowers with her nymphs to fashion a floral crown for Phineus. Meanwhile, one of his pages sings a song in anticipation of Phineus's arrival ('Qu'elle est lente, cette journée'). When Phineus arrives Andromeda in turn has Liriope, one of her ladies-in-waiting, sing a song for him ('Phinée est plus aimé qu'Androméde n'est belle'). Afterwards, the page and Liriope sing a musical dialogue, that concludes with the oracle delivered by Venus in Act 1: before the day is out, Andromeda will have married a man worthy of her. This refrain is taken up by the chorus, representing the followers of Phineus ('Joignons nos voix'). Then the King, accompanied by Perseus, suddenly arrives to announce that the lot has fallen upon Andromeda: she is to be the next sacrificial victim. Aeolus and his eight Winds descend to thunder and lightning, fly around above the stage, and carry away Andromeda in one of their clouds. Perseus, left alone with the King and his entourage, vows that he will rescue her. The instrumental air entitled 'The Winds' (which no doubt accompanied Andromeda's enlévement) is performed as an entr'acte.

"The scene changes in the third act to a barren landscape with high cliffs bordering the sea. Two Winds are seen tying Andromeda to the foot of a rock, while the chorus of Ethiopians looks on from the shore and sings a lament (Charpentier's music unfortunately has not survived). The Queen, in despair, vows to throw herself into the sea. The sea-monster approaches, but at that instant Perseus appears in the sky on his winged steed Pegasus. As the chorus urges the hero on in his battle Perseus slays the monster; he then frees Andromeda, and flies away on Pegasus. The Ethiopian people sing a chorus of victory ('Le monstre est mort, crions victoire') in which they acknowledge that Perseus, not Phineus, is the man worthy of Andromeda. The act closes with the arrival of Neptune, who rises from the depths of the sea in a sparkling mother-of-pearl conch shell drawn by two sea-horses. Neptune is incensed by Perseus's interference, and plots his revenge. The instrumental entr'acte that follows is a caprice — an Italianate capriccio comprising a succession of fugal sections in contrasting tempi.

"Act 4 takes place in the vestibule of a stately royal palace. Perseus declares his love for Andromeda, and then departs — lest she mistake feelings of gratitude for love. Andromeda reveals to her nymphs that her affection for Perseus is growing stronger, and she rejects Phineus when he arrives, explaining that if he could leave her to the monster before, he could now leave her to Perseus. Juno then appears in the sky in her chariot drawn by two peacocks, and promises to lend her support to Phineus. At the end of the act, the King and Queen have made ready their wedding preparations, and the chorus sings a wedding song ('Vivez, vivez, heureux amants'). Two airs are played during the interlude: an instrumental repeat of the preceding chorus, and an 'English gigue'.

"The final act is set in a bronze temple, where Phineus pleads with Andromeda for the last time. But when Andromeda and her mother both treat him with contempt he departs to take his revenge on Perseus. It is then reported that Perseus has used the head of Medusa to petrify Phineus and his warriors. Mercury arrives in the sky to announce the imminent arrival of his father Jupiter, and the chorus implores Jupiter to give Perseus and Andromeda his blessing ('Maître des Dieux, hâte-toi de paraître'). Jupiter descends from the sky on his gilded throne situated on a cloud, flanked by two other clouds bearing Juno and Neptune, who have been appeased by the sacrifices made by the lovers. Suspended mid-air on his throne, Jupiter declares that the marriage of Perseus and Andromeda must be celebrated among the gods. Perseus and Cepheus climb onto Juno's cloud, while Andromeda and Cassiopeia climb onto Neptune's, and to the slow and stately song of the chorus ('Allez, amants, allez sans jalousie') they ascend to the heavens to take their places amongst the stars.

"During the 17th century, annual theatrical productions became part of the academic fare of Jesuit colleges in France. Usually drawn from saintly and pious subjects, these student plays were accompanied by balletic interludes of song and dance on allegorical themes. For the Collége d'Harcourt, Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed such a ballet to accompany a production of Pierre Corneille's Christian tragedy 'Polyeucte Martyr'.

"Evidently Charpentier used some precomposed music for this event. His overture was originally composed for Moliére's comedy 'Le Dépit amoureux' — possibly for a given revival at the Comédie-Francaise on 11 July 1679.

"The title page of the composer's manuscript reads: 'Ouverture du prologue / ['du depit amoureux' is crossed out] de Polieucte pour le college d'Harcourt'. Evidently Charpentier added to it the twelve dances that would comprise what he referred to as 'le ballet de Polieucte'.

"Further light on this is shed by Paul Lacroix's catalogue of the 'Bibliothèque dramatique de Monsieur de Soleinne'. Here Lacroix lists a collection entitled 'Recueil de pieces dramatiques représentées dans les anciens colleges de Paris', containing a ballet entitled 'Le Combat de l'amour divin et de l'amour profane' that was performed at the Jesuit College d'Harcourt on 8 August 1680. According to the catalogue, the ballet was 'aprés Polyeucte, de Comeille'. Unfortunately this fivret has not survived, but it seems likely that Charpentier's allegorical dances made up the ballet that was danced for this performance. The titles of the individual movements suggest a spiritual struggle which is acted out in dance-pantomime: 'Profane Love, Games and Pleasures'; 'Pantomimes for the same [dancers]'; 'Sadness', 'Signs of Zeal'; 'Grace and the Virtues"; 'Desperation'; 'The Picklocks', "Noble and Base Feelings'; 'Cupid Blacksmiths', 'Triumphal March'; 'Joy Alone'; 'Combatants'. One dance carries the cue 'Why has the tender heart not returned?', thus translating the feelings expressed in a spoken passage." (John S. Powell. From the liner notes.)

Performers: New Chamber Opera, Gary Cooper, Rachel Elliott, James Gilchrist, Thomas Guthrie, Giles Underwood

1. Andromède: Ouverture

2. Andromède: Prélude Pendant Que Melpomene Vole Dans Le Char D’Apollon

3. Andromède: Récit D’Apollon 'Cieux, Ecoutez'

4. Andromède: Chœur De Bergers (Ensemble) 'D’un Héros Qu’en Tous Lieus A Suivi La Victoire'

5. Andromède: Prélude (Scène III)

6. Andromède: Chœur Des Suivants Du Roi Et De La Reine 'Reine D’Erice Et D’Amathonte'

7. Andromède: Replique De Choeur 'Ainsi Toujours Sur Tes Autels'

8. Andromède: Rondeau (Intermède Du Premier Au Second Acte)

9. Andromède: Petit Prélude De Caprice

10. Andromède: Air D’un De La Suite De Phinée 'Qu’elle Est Lente, Cette Journée'

11. Andromède: Air De Liriope 'Phinée Est Plus Aimé'

12. Andromède: Dialogue 'Heureux Amant!/Heureuse Amant!'

13. Andromède: Chœur De La Suitte De Phinée Et D’Andromède (Ensemble) 'Joignons Nos Voix'

14. Andromède: Dialogue 'Le Ciel Le Veut'

15. Andromède: Chœur De La Suitte De Phinée Et D’Andromède (Ensemble) 'Douce Union Que Chcun Doit Bénir!'

16. Andromède: Les Vents (Intermède Du Second Au Troisième Acte)

17. Andromède: Chœur D’Ethiopiens 'Le Monstre Est Mort'

18. Andromède: Un De La Suite Du Roy 'Quand Le Danger Presse'

19. Andromède: Duo 'Vous Êtes Sa Digne Conquête'

20. Andromède: Chœur D’Ethiopiens 'Le Monstre Est Mort'

21. Andromède: Caprice (Intermède Du 3ème Au 4ème Acte)

22. Andromède: Chœur De Peuple 'Vivez, Vivez, Heureux Amants'

23. Andromède: Premier Air (Intermède Du 4ème Au Cinquième Acte)

24. Andromède: Deuxieme Air — Gigue Angloise

25. Andromède: Chœur 'Maître Des Dieux, Hate-toi'

26. Andromède: Chœur 'Allez, Amants, Sans Jalousie'

27. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Overture

28. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Amours Profanes: Jeux Et Plaisirs

29. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Panthomimes Pour Les Mesmes; Inquietude; Attention Ou Aplaudissement; Tristesse

30. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Marquis De Zelle

31. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Les Graces Et Les Vertus

32. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Le Despespoir

33. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Les Crotcheteurs

34. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Sentiments Généreux Et Lasches

35. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Amours Forgerons

36. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Marche De Triomphe

37. Le Ballet De Polieucte: La Joye Seulle

38. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Pourquoi N'avoit Pas Le Coeur Tendre Retourné

39. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Combattants

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Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring

"The day seems to have passed, thankfully, for at least one development sparked by Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' (1913): the concert review in ersatz, proto-Dr. Seuss-style verse, e.g.:

"Who wrote this fiendish Rite of Spring
What right had he to write the thing,
Against our helpless ears to fling
Its crash, clash, cling, clang, bing, bang, bing?
And then to call it Rite of Spring,
the season when on joyous wing
The birds melodious carols sing
And harmony's in everything!
He who could write the Rite of Spring,
If I be right, by right should swing!

"While lynching the composer — which the anonymous author in the Boston Herald of February 9, 1924 appears to advocate in his last couplet — seems a bit excessive as a pan, one must remember that such vituperations only added to the air of succès de scandale that had surrounded Rite since its Paris premiere some ten years earlier. Certainly, the impact of this legendary event (as well as similarly 'colorful' receptions to the work elsewhere) expedited its recognition as an all-around seminal occurrence and achievement in the social history and art of the twentieth century. In understanding early reactions to Rite, it is worth considering that while Stravinsky was at a relatively early stage in his career, a cadre of older, well-known, more traditionally aligned composers — Strauss, Saint-Saëns, Sibelius, Elgar, and yes, Rachmaninov — remained active and retained a good deal of currency with audiences. At the same time, the scenario adopted by the Rite collaborators — Stravinsky, folklorist and artist Roerich, choreographer Nijinsky, impresario Diaghilev — was far from the usual genteel, sentimental, and romantic themes that had theretofore dominated ballet. This collection of 'Scenes from Pagan Russia' (the work's subtitle) concerns itself with an exploration of nature, both human and that of the earth itself, through the rituals of renewal -- ultimately, human sacrifice -- of an earlier, 'primitive' society.

"The titles of the ballet's two main sections, 'A Kiss of the Earth' and 'The Exalted Sacrifice,' as well as those of their internal divisions, make clear both the ritualistic, sacred, and inviolable progression of events reenacted via music and choreography, and the elements of that progression. Stravinsky skillfully sustains and continually heightens a sense of brutal inevitability over the span of the whole work while encapsulating more specific elements in individual scenes. The Introduction raises the curtain on the earth itself, the distinctive bassoon solo plaintively establishing a hushed, reverent mood. More complex colors — which Stravinsky achieves through extreme instrumental ranges (as in the above instance), special playing techniques, and endlessly changing combinations drawn from his greatly expanded orchestra — gradually emerge and expand, only to be cut off subito by a remnant of the original bassoon theme. 'The Augurs of Spring' begins with one of the most famous chords in music history, a crunching bitonal sonority hammered relentlessly in a constant 2/4 meter metrically undermined by unpredictably shifting accents.

"Comparable instances of such rhythmic and harmonic harshness abound throughout the work, these elements assuming, along with instrumental color, both individual and collective roles in a manner analogous to those of the characters. Like the musical elements Stravinsky uses in their portrayal, the girls, youths, and elders function together within the identity of their society, at the same time assuming and asserting individual roles in relation to one another. The action forges ahead in an increasingly frenzied trajectory, finding culmination — in a sort of primal equivalent of cold logic — in the charged, uncompromising sacrifical dance which ends both the ballet and the cycle of its ritual." (Analysis by Michael Rodman. From AllMusic. See here.)

 

Performers: Philharmonia Orchestra, Igor Markevitch

1. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Introduction

2. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Les Augures Printaniers. Danses Des Adolescentes

3. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Jeu Du Rapt

4. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Rondes Printanières

5. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Jeux Des Cités Rivales

6. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Cortège Du Sage

7. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Adoration De La Terre. Le Sage

8. Part I, 'L'Adoration De La Terre': Danse De La Terre

9. Part II, 'Le Sacrifice': Introduction

10. Part II, 'Le Sacrifice': Cercles Mystérieux Des Adolescentes

11. Part II, 'Le Sacrifice': Glorification De L'élue

12. Part II, 'Le Sacrifice': Évocation Des Ancêtres

13. Part II, 'Le Sacrifice': Action Rituelle Des Ancêtres

14. Part II, 'Le Sacrifice': Danse Sacrale. L'Élue

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Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird; Fireworks; The Song of the Nightingale; Tango; Scherzo à la Russe

"Tamara Karsavina, the first Firebird, stood in the wings of the Paris Opera watching Igor Stravinsky, then a young man of 27, approach the orchestra pit. The director of the Ballet Russe, Serge Diaghilev, said to her: 'Mark him well. He is a man on the eve of celebrity.' 

 

"The course of music in our century would not have been the same without the artistic genius of Diaghilev, and never was his judgment more acute than in the case of Stravinsky. Diaghilev had heard the young Russian composer's early 'Fireworks, Op. 4,' at a Siloti concert in St. Petersburg in 1909. He was so taken with the balletic possibilities of this daring and colorful piece that he gave Stravinsky a commission which led, in fairly rapid succession, to 'The Firebird,' 'Petrouchka,' and 'The Rite of Spring,' the triumvirate which projected Stravinsky into world fame before the First World War and remains the cornerstone of his popularity today. Clearly influenced by his early teacher, the great Russian master of orchestration Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky's four-minute orchestral fantasy 'Fireworks' is an ingenious tour de force, a swirling pyrotechnical display with percussion explosions sending aloft cascades of tutti rhythms and oddly placed accents. Contrasting timbres burst into splendor, and the whole is a wonderful display of purposeful confusion. Here, for the first time, was a piece with distinctly Stravinskyan characteristics

 

"'The Firebird' was the first major composition by Stravinsky to be performed. Earlier Diaghilev had asked the composer Liadov to write a ballet based on the Russian fairy tale of the Firebird, but the composer, habitually dilatory, delayed so long that by mutual agreement they turned the task over to Stravinsky. Fokine, the chief choreographer of Ballet Russe, supplied the scenario. The story is actually a variation and combination of several Russian fairy tales, some recorded by Alexander Pushkin, others by A. N. Afanasiev, whose versions themselves, according to Russian historians, are personal variations of the collector. As none of the recurring figures of the tales, such as Ivan Tsarevitch, Kastchei, and the Firebird, has any counterpart in Russian mythology or folklore, the adventures of these fanciful characters are left largely to the invention of the narrator. Diaghilev and his collaborators thought to select certain children's tales and endow them with a definite moral point, and develop the episodes in a sophisticated manner more in keeping with the new Russian dance.

"Stravinsky arranged the 'conte dance' in a series of set numbers connected by musical transitions—a form abandoned in Stravinsky's later work, except for the formal recitatives in 'The Rake's Progress.'

 

"The ballet, except for the unusual harmonic combinations, erratic rhythms, and instrumentation peculiar to Stravinsky's style, is composed in a conventional idiom, again directly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov. The score, saved by the masterful treatment of the set numbers from being entirely conceived as 'action music,' contains suggestions of the new technique Stravinsky was to use so effectively in 'Petrouchka' and 'The Rite of Spring.' For the most part, however, the ballet is 'orchestral.' The most significant section in terms of his later revolutionary technique is 'The Infernal Dance of Kastchei and His Court.' Stravinsky seemed led into the discovery of this new idiom by his effort to distinguish—in the manner of Rimsky-Korsakov—the human and magical characters of the story. The Prince and Princesses are associated with diatonic themes, some based on actual folk tunes recorded by Rimsky-Korsakov; the music for the supernatural characters is written in an elaborated chromaticism. There was the problem, moreover, of distinguishing between the benign magic of the Firebird and the demonic of Kastchei and his Court. Maintaining his 'magic' idiom for both, Stravinsky distinguishes the two by a curious isolation of instrumental timbres in Kastchei's music, together with an arrogant use of rhythm and percussion, an exciting repetition of short intervals, and a harsh dissonance. What was in 'The Firebird' a literary experiment became an entire musical aesthetic in his later works.

 
"The French composers of the day were struck by the freshness with which Stravinsky had endowed both the traditional Russian technique and that of the impressionists. Claude Debussy, on the occasion of the first performance, came backstage especially to congratulate the composer. Nevertheless, even in this fairly conventional score there were elements that disturbed some listeners. Pavlova herself had refused the title role because the music was, she said, 'nonsense.' Even at so early a date in his career the musical ideas of the young composer proved disquieting. 

 

"At its premiere, 'The Firebird' was a great success. It was to be followed shortly by the revolutionary 'Petrouchka' and the shocking 'Rite of Spring.' Those who had looked forward to a repetition in these works of the shimmering color and the melodic sweetness of 'The Firebird' were disappointed. Firebird was indeed his eve of celebrity, but it was also his farewell to musical impressionism." (Gene Bruck. From the liner notes.)

Performers: London Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati

1. Fireworks

2. The Firebird: Introduction

3. The Firebird: The Enchanted Garden Of Kastchei

4. The Firebird: Appearance Of The Firebird, Pursued By Prince Ivan

5. The Firebird: Dance Of The Firebird

6. The Firebird: Capture Of The Firebird By Prince Ivan

7. The Firebird: Supplication Of The Firebird

8. The Firebird: Appearance Of The Enchanted Princesses

9. The Firebird: The Princesses' Game With The Golden Apples (Scherzo)

10. The Firebird: Sudden Appearance Of Prince Ivan

11. The Firebird: Khorovod (Round Dance) Of The Princesses

12. The Firebird: Daybreak

13. The Firebird: Magic Carillon, Appearance Of Kastchei's Monster Guardians, And Capture Of Prince Ivan

14. The Firebird: Arrival Of Kastchei The Immortal

15. The Firebird: Dialogue Of Kastchei And Prince Ivan

16. The Firebird: Intercession Of The Princesses

17. The Firebird: Appearance Of The Firebird

18. The Firebird: Dance Of Khastchei's Retinue, Enchanted By The Firebird

19. The Firebird: Infernal Dance Of All Kastchei's Subjects

20. The Firebird: Lullaby (Firebird)

21. The Firebird: Kastchei's Awakening

22. The Firebird: Kastchei's Death; Profound Darkness

23. The Firebird: Disappearance Of Kastchei's Palace And Magical Creations, Return To Life Of The Petrified Knights, General Rejoicing

24. Tango

25. Scherzo À La Russe

26. The Song Of The Nightingale: Introduction

27. The Song Of The Nightingale: Chinese March

28. The Song Of The Nightingale: Song Of The Nightingale

29. The Song Of The Nightingale: The Mechanical Nightingale's Game

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Igor Stravinsky - Agon; Symphony in Three Movements; Apollo

"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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Igor Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex; Les Noces

"Stravinsky conducted the first performance of 'Oedipus Rex' (1925-1927) in the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, on 30th May, 1927, in a double bill with 'Firebird,' in which George Balanchine danced the role of Kastchei. Composers—Ravel, Poulenc, and Roger Sessions among them—were the first to recognize it as Stravinsky's most powerful dramatic work and one of his greatest creations. After hearing Ernest Ansermet conduct it in London, February 12, 1936, the young Benjamin Britten noted in his diary: 'One of the peaks of Stravinsky's output, this work shows his wonderful sense of style and power of drawing inspiration from every age of music, and leaving the whole a perfect shape, satisfying eve aesthetic demand [...] the established idea of originality dies so hard.'

 

"Leonard Bernstein may have been the first to identify the principal influence on the music: 'I remembered where those four opening notes of Oedipus come from [...] And the whole metaphor of pity and power became clear; the pitiful Thebans supplicating before their powerful king, imploring deliverance from the plague [...] an Ethiopian slave girl at the feet of her mistress, Princess of Egypt [...] Amneris has just wormed out of Aida her dread secret [...] Verdi, who was so unfashionable at the time Oedipus was written, someone for musical intellectuals of the mid-'20s to sneer at; and 'Aida', of all things, that cheap, low, sentimental melodrama. [At the climax of Oedipus' 'Invidia' aria] the orchestra plays a diminished-seventh chord [...] that favorite ambiguous tool [i.e., tool for suggesting ambiguity] of surprise and despair in every romantic opera [...] Aida! [...] Was Stravinsky having a secret romance with Verdi's music in those super-sophisticated mid-'20s? It seems he was.'"

 

"Bernstein might also have mentioned the debt to Verdi in Jocasta's aria and her duet with Oedipus. A photograph of Verdi occupied a prominent position on the wall of Stravinsky's Paris studio in the 1920s, and on his concert tours he would go out of his way to hear Verdi operas, to the extent of changing the dates of his own concerts, as he did in Hanover in December 1931 for a performance of 'Macbeth.' In the early 1930s he wrote to one of his biographers: 'If I had been in Nietzsche's place, I would have said Verdi instead of Bizet and held up 'The Masked Ball' against Wagner.' In Buenos Aires, in 1936, Stravinsky shocked a journalist by saying: 'Never in my life would I be capable of composing anything to equal the delicious waltz in 'La Traviata'.' 

 

"Other influences besides Verdi's are apparent. The 'Gloria' chorus at the end of Act One, the Messenger's music, and the a cappella choral music in the Messenger scene are distinctly Russian, but the genius of the piece is in the unity that Stravinsky achieves with his seemingly disparate materials.

 

"'Les Noces' ('Svadebka') ranks high in the by no means crowded company of indisputable twentieth-century masterpieces. That it does not immediately come to mind as such may be attributable to cultural and linguistic barriers, and to the ineptitude, partly from the same causes, of most performances, for the piece can only be sung in Russian, both because the sounds of the words are part of the music, and because their rhythms are inseparable from the musical design. A translation that satisfied the quantitative and accentual formulas of the original could retain no approximation of its literal sense. For this reason Stravinsky, never rigidly averse to sacrificing the clarity of sense for sound's sake, abandoned an English version on which he had laboured in the fall of 1959 and again in December 1965. It is also the reason, bizarre as it may seem, that his own first recording of 'Noces' was made in English (1934). No Russian chorus was available in Paris at the time, but in any case he abominated the French version by C. F. Ramuz, which requires numerous changes and adjustments in the musical rhythms. 

 

"Performances are infrequent as well as inadequate. The four pianos and seventeen percussion instruments that comprise the ensemble are not included in the standard instrumentation of symphony orchestras. Then, too, the piece by itself is long enough for only a short half-programme, while the few possible companion works, using many of the same instruments—Varese's 'Ionisation', Bartók's 'Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion', Antheil's 'Ballet mecanique' (an arrant plagiarism)—derive from it too obviously as instrumental example. 

 

"As a result of the obstacles of language and culture, audiences do not share in the full meaning of the work, hearing it as a piece of 'pure' music; which, of course, and as Stravinsky would say, is its ultimate meaning. But Stravinsky notwithstanding, 'Svadebka' is a dramatic work, composed for the stage, and informed with more meanings on the way to that ultimate one than any other opus by the composer. The drama is his own, moreover, and he is responsible for the choice of the subject, the form of the stage spectacle, the ordonnance of the texts. 'Svadebka' is in fact the only theatrical work by him, apart from the much slighter 'Renard,' that combines music with a text in his mother tongue, the only work in which ritual, symbol, meaning on every level are part of his direct cultural heredity. 

 

"It is also the one Stravinsky work that underwent extensive metamorphoses. 'Svadebka' occupied his imagination throughout a decade and, in aggregate, took more of his time than any other work of the same length. The sketches, in consequence, offer a unique study of his processes of growth and refinement. The reasons for the long gestation are, first, that Stravinsky several times suspended work to compose other music, which, in each case, left his creative mind with altered perspectives. Second, he was creating something so new, both musically, in its heterophonic vocal-instrumental style, and in theatrical combination and genre, an amalgam of ballet and dramatic cantata, that he was himself unable to describe it. 'Russian Choreographic Scenes,' his subtitle on the final score, neglects to mention that the subject is a village wedding and that the four scenes depict the ritual braiding of the Bride's tresses, the ritual curling of the Groom's locks, the departure of the Bride for the church, and the wedding feast." (Robert Craft. From the liner notes.)

 

Performers: Philharmonia Orchestra, International Piano Quartet, Tristan Fry Percussion Ensemble, Simon Joy Chorale, Simon Joy Male Chorus, Robert Craft, Edward Fox, Jennifer Lane, Martyn Hill, Joseph Cornwell, David Wilson-Jonhson, Andrew Greenan, Alison Wells, Susan Bickley, Alan Ewing

1. Oedipus Rex: Prologue

2. Oedipus Rex: Introducing Creon

3. Oedipus Rex: Introducing Tiresias

4. Oedipus Rex: Introducing Joacasta

5. Oedipus Rex: Introducing The Messenger

6. Oedipus Rex: Epilogue

7. Les Noces, Scene I: The Tresses (At The Bride's House)

8. Les Noces, Scene II: At The Bridegroom's House

9. Les Noces, Scene III: The Departure Of The Bride

10. Les Noces, Scene IV: The Wedding Feast

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Ottorino Respighi - Metamorphoseon; Ballata delle Gnomidi; Belkis, Regina di Saba

"This recording presents three orchestral works by Respighi [...] [that] they testify to a talent for orchestration that rivalled that of Strauss and to his sense of colour, to his musical invention and to the artistry with which he managed to integrate the various musical influences.

"'Metamorphoseon' was written in 1930 in response to a commission from Serge Koussevitzky for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which Respighi himself had conducted three years earlier. These anniversary celebrations also gave rise to Stravinsky's 'Symphony of Psalms', Roussel's 'Third Symphony' and Prokofiev’s Fourth.

"Respighi’s work is in fact a concerto for orchestra in thirteen continuous sections and is 'pure music' in the sense that it contains no visual or literary references. A theme heard at the outset is followed by twelve 'modes', which correspond to twelve variations. We should not see the term 'mode' as a suggestion of the scales commonly used in the Middle Ages but rather as an allusion to the different ways in which the music can be transformed by allowing various instruments – or groups of instruments – to shine. For his ostensibly classical 'theme and variations', Respighi presents two themes: the first is heard in the very first bar, announced by the strings doubled by bassoons and contrabassoon, whilst the second emerges from the 'counter-melody' heard in bar 9. The first theme is deliberately archaic in style and thus bears witness to Respighi's interest in ancient music, specifically in Gregorian chant.

"[...] The symphonic poem 'Ballata delle gnomidi' ('The Ballad of the Gnomes') was composed in 1920 – chronologically between 'The Fountains of Rome' and 'The Pines of Rome', just when Respighi’s powers were at their zenith. The piece was inspired by a poem published in 1899 by Carlo Clausetti, director of the Milan and Naples offices of Respighi’s publisher, Ricordi. Described as 'a typical product of the golden age of Neapolitan nobility at the turn of the century', Clausetti – who was also a composer and theatre director – numbered not only Respighi but also Puccini and many other Italian composers among his friends. Clausetti’s poem, which is printed in the score, takes its theme from Greek, Roman and Nordic mythology: innocent men are sacrificed by unscrupulous women. The story, told in metaphorical language, is as follows: a poor male victim (a gnome) is abducted by two gnome-women who drag him to a dark chamber and make him perform sexual services in a sort of satanic ritual. Meanwhile, other gnomes wait outside. A cry is heard (here represented by the small E-flat clarinet) followed by silence ('And, in the dark night, a shrill cry rang out, so full of woe, as to chase out the darkness. And then profound silence'). At dawn, the gnome-women take the bloody corpse to the edge of a precipice ('In a flash, the beastly husband was thrown down; thus did the rite conclude'). They hurl the body into the depths, while uttering prayers that resemble curses. The story ends with the wild dancing of the two murderers, like a witches' round dance ('One of them shrieks, another one sneers, one bites, one laughs scornfully; all are seized by a furious mania, like at a sabbath').

"The suite 'Belkis, Regina di Saba' ('Belkis, Queen of Sheba') is derived from a ballet that tells the Biblical story of a visit to Jerusalem, around the tenth century B.C., by the Queen of Sheba – a woman whose sublime beauty was matched by her intelligence and wisdom – at the invitation of King Solomon. Found in 1 Kings, Chapter 10, this story has inspired numerous painters, writers, film directors and composers. Claudio Guastalla wrote an opera libretto on the basis of this historical tale, but no composer was willing to use it. At Respighi’s request, however, he modified the libretto for use as the basis of a ballet. The ballet in question was a full-length work, eighty minutes long, and requiring a massive orchestra including zithers, wind machine, choir, soloists and narrator as well as a brass ensemble behind the scenes. For the music Respighi, always keen to be authentic, started from the melodic contours of ancient Hebrew melodies and certain rhythmic elements from Arabian music. Several hundred performers took part in the first performance, at La Scala on 23rd January 1932, with choreography by Léonide Massine and sets by Nicola Benois, who designed more than six hundred costumes for the occasion. Elsa Respighi said that 'the score is dazzlingly rich and contains many new and beautiful ideas'. The audience received it with enthusiasm and the reviews were positive; a New York Times journalist who was present wrote: 'Respighi has achieved a technical tour-de-force: he strove mainly for colour and spectacle and has achieved his goal brilliantly, immersing his score in vivid oriental atmosphere from beginning to end.' Despite its success, the ballet was performed only eleven times, perhaps on account of its colossal demands. A complete recording of the ballet was not made until the 21st century. 

"Keen to ensure that the work would not fall into oblivion, Respighi planned to prepare two concert suites. Owing to his failing health, however, he only completed one of these, which was published in 1934. The suite omits the vocal parts and makes do without the exotic instruments, but still requires a large orchestra including a sizeable percussion section. In no other work by Respighi is the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov (his ballet 'Scheherazade') so clearly felt. We can also find echos of Borodin's 'Prince Igor', in particular of the Polovtsian Dances." (Jean-Pascal Vachon. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, John Neschling

1. Metamorphoseon: Tema. Andante Moderato
2. Metamorphoseon: Modus I. Moderato Non Troppo
3. Metamorphoseon: Modus II. Allegretto
4. Metamorphoseon: Modus III. Lento
5. Metamorphoseon: Modus IV. Lento Espressivo
6. Metamorphoseon: Modus V. Allegro Vivace
7. Metamorphoseon: Modus VI. Vivo
8. Metamorphoseon: Modus VII. Cadenze
9. Metamorphoseon: Modus VIII. Andantino Mosso
10. Metamorphoseon: Modus IX. Lento Non Troppo
11. Metamorphoseon: Modus X. Molto Allegro
12. Metamorphoseon: Modus XI. Molto Allegro
13. Metamorphoseon: Modus XII. Vivo Non Troppo
14. Ballata Delle Gnomidi
15. Belkis, Regina di Saba: I. Il Sogno Di Salomone. Lento Non Troppo
16. Belkis, Regina di Saba: II. La Danza Di Belkis All'aurora. Moderato
17. Belkis, Regina di Saba: III. Danza Guerresca. Pesante
18. Belkis, Regina di Saba: IV. Danza Orgiastica. Allegro Vivo

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Luigi Dallapiccola - Tartiniana; Due Pezzi; Variazioni per Orchestra; Piccola Musica Notturna; Frammenti Sinfonici dal Balletto 'Marsia'

"'It sometimes takes just one significant event to determine the direction of one’s whole life. Mine was determined on the night of the first of April 1924, when I saw Arnold Schoenberg conduct his 'Pierrot lunaire'. So wrote Luigi Dallapiccola (1904–1975) of the performance he attended in Florence at the age of twenty. Dallapiccola is universally known as an Italian (and Florentine) composer, but he was born a subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Istria, that tiny Adriatic peninsula only ceded to Italy after the First World War. For part of the war he was interned in Graz, where he discovered opera and resolved to become a composer. In many respects he was a quintessential Italian, in love with lyricism, the Romance languages, classical antiquity, Dante, Monteverdi, Verdi. Yet a certain orientation towards Austro-German art led him to follow Ferruccio Busoni (who died just three months after that revelatory performance of 'Pierrot lunaire') in seeking new modes of musical architecture.

"In the 1930s his wish to create works of utter clarity and organic consistency was whetted by hearing music of Anton Webern, whom he finally met in Vienna in 1942. Dallapiccola eventually became the first significant Italian composer to embrace Schoenberg's twelve-note method of composition. But he embraced it from a wholly Italianate direction, deriving his music from twelve- note rows but keeping them subservient to his lyrical and visionary expressive impulses. Though he came to prominence in Mussolini’s Italy, Dallapiccola was a dedicated anti-Fascist, in danger of his life during World War II. Many of his works deal with the themes of persecution, imprisonment, resistance to tyranny, the importance of holding fast to civilised values. For him, art possessed moral force: it is this, combined with the refinement and perfectionism of his technique, that makes him such an abiding inspiration in a later age of cultural relativism. 

"Dallapiccola is especially known as a vocal composer, for example for his operas 'Il Prigioniero' and 'Ulisse', the cantatas 'Canti di Prigionia' and 'Canti di Liberazione', as well as the Michelangelo choruses and many song cycles, often accompanied by a Pierrot-like chamber ensemble. But he did not neglect orchestral music, which forms a significant part of his output.

"Dallapiccola's only ballet is 'Marsia', composed in 1942–43 to a scenario by Aurel Milloss, on the well-known classical legend of the satyr Marsyas, discoverer of the music of the flute (heard at the very start of the 'Danza Magica'). He was so accomplished a musician that he foolhardily challenged Apollo to a contest of skill. At a dramatic moment in 'Danza di Apollo' the god reverses his lyre and continues to play without touching the strings, thus winning the contest; after which, enraged by the satyr’s presumption, he has him flayed alive. The tears of Marsyas' mourners become a river bearing the satyr’s name. Marsia may thus be counted one of Dallapiccola's works on the theme of man struggling against a force much stronger and crueller than he is.

"There was no chance of a production in Fascist Italy, and the ballet was not in fact staged until the ISCM Festival in Venice in September 1948. But much of the music had already been heard six months before. Dallapiccola extracted the 'Frammenti Sinfonici dal Balletto 'Marsia'' in 1947, and this suite – which represents about two-thirds of the total ballet score – was premiered on Belgian Radio on 12 March 1948, conducted by Daan Sternefeld.

"[...] The 'Due Pezzi' for orchestra originated in sketches which Dallapiccola made in 1946 for a proposed documentary film about the Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca. This project remained still-born, and in the winter of 1946–47 he worked up the material into two pieces, which he called 'Due Studi', for violin and piano. He then elaborated them for full orchestra, and this form was premiered in London for a BBC broadcast, conducted by Mario Rossi, on 3 November 1947. In contrast to 'Marsia', 'Due Pezzi is a lean and sinewy twelve-note score, though it makes subtle references to Early Music. The opening 'Sarabanda', a ghostly nocturne, clearly relates to the stately baroque dance with its characteristic rhythm: the great Sarabande from Busoni's 'Doktor Faust' is its clear spiritual ancestor. Its crepuscular orchestral colouring adds greatly to its atmospheric effect over the violin-piano original.

"[...] Dallapiccola's 'Tartiniana' for violin and chamber orchestra was composed in the summer of 1951 on a commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation and was dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky. The first performance was given by Dallapiccola’s close friend, the violinist Sandro Materassi, with the Swiss Radio Orchestra conducted by Hans Rosbaud in November 1952. The work is subtitled 'Divertimento on themes from sonatas of Giuseppe Tartini'. As such, it adds to a line of creative rethinkings of the music of earlier Italian composers by their twentieth-century successors – such as Respighi's ballets on themes by Rossini, or Casella's 'Paganiniana' and 'Scarlattiana' suites. (The ultimate model for this sort of 're-creation' was probably Stravinsky’s ballet after Pergolesi, 'Pulcinella'.) In this tender, brilliant and colourful score Dallapiccola may have felt drawn to Tartini not only for his violinistic artistry but by the fact that he, too, was an Istrian by birth.

"The tonal divertimento of 'Tartiniana' may have been something of a 'holiday' respite. Dallapiccola’s next compositional project, commissioned by the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Festival, was the major piano work 'Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera' (1952), written on an extended trip that took the composer from Canada to Mexico – a 'musical notebook' dedicated to his daughter on her eighth birthday and one of his most searching studies of canonic and contrapuntal techniques in the context of twelve-note invention. The 'Quaderno', which Dallapiccola regarded as his most rigorous twelve-tone composition so far, is based on a twelve-tone series which he also used in his monumental 'Canti di Liberazione'. It consists of eleven movements contrasting free with strict (canonic) counterpoint. Within comparatively modest dimensions – for it is also a study in brevity, in aphorism, in saying the maximum possible without a single wasted note – the Quaderno has justly been considered a modern-day counterpart to Bach's 'Musikalisches Opfer' and 'Die Kunst der Fuge', and it contains many subtle references to Bach's musical techniques. In 1953, fulfilling a commission from the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Dallapiccola reworked the piece for full orchestra as his 'Variazioni per Orchestra'. The premiere took place in Louisville, Kentucky on 2 October 1954, conducted by Robert Whitney.

"[...] Dallapiccola completed the score of the 'Variazioni' in January 1954. His next work was written in a single week three months later and is also for orchestra: 'Piccola Musica Notturna' (the title evokes 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'). It is dedicated to, and had been commissioned by, Hermann Scherchen, the great champion of modern music, for the 1954 'Jeunesse Musicale' Festival in Hanover. As its title suggests, this exquisite piece is a particularly atmospheric nocturne, very much in the tradition of Busoni's evocative orchestral elegies such as the 'Berceuse élégiaque' and 'Nocturne symphonique'. The score is prefaced by some lines from the Spanish poet Antonio Machado, setting a scene where the poet walks a deserted village alone, under the moon, on a beautiful summer night. The instrumentation is of preternatural delicacy even for Dallapiccola (who in 1961 made a reduced version for just eight players). It is also a shining example of truly expressive and poetic twelve-note music, based on a row that does not simply include all twelve available pitches but, in their relation to one another, all eleven available intervals within the twelve-note scale. (Dallapiccola had already experimented with such a row in the sixth of the 'Variazioni'.) Save for one or two tutti outcries, this is among the most serene and mysterious of twentieth-century nocturnes." (Calum MacDonald. From the liner notes.)

Performers: BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda, James Ehnes

1. Tartiniana: I. Larghetto, Molto Espressivo, Ma Semplice
2. Tartiniana: II. Allegro Misurato
3. Tartiniana: III. Molto Sostenuto - Più Mosso E Scorrevole, Ma Sempre Serioso
4. Tartiniana: IV. Allegro Assai, Ma Non Precipitato
5. Due Pezzi: A. Sarabanda. Lento; Flessibile
6. Due Pezzi: B. Fanfara E Fuga. Mosso, Ma Non Tanto
7. Piccola Musica Notturna
8. Frammenti Sinfonici Dal Balletto 'Marsia': Danza Magica
9. Frammenti Sinfonici Dal Balletto 'Marsia': Ostinato
10. Frammenti Sinfonici Dal Balletto 'Marsia': Danza Di Apollo
11. Frammenti Sinfonici Dal Balletto 'Marsia': Ultima Danza Di Marsia
12. Frammenti Sinfonici Dal Balletto 'Marsia': La Morte Di Marsia
13. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione I. Quasi Lento, Misterioso: Appena Più Scorrevole
14. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione II. Allegro; Con Fuoco
15. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione III. Mosso; Scorrevole
16. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione IV. Tranquillamente Mosso
17. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione V. Poco Allegretto, 'alla Serenata'
18. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione VI. Molto Lento, Con Espressione Parlante
19. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione VII. Andantino Amoroso
20. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione VIII. Allegro, Con Violenza
21. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione IX. Affettuoso, Cullante
22. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione X. Grave: Ancora Più Lento, Misterioso
23. Variazioni Per Orchestra: Variazione XI. Molto Lento; Fantastico

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Samuel Barber - Cello Concerto; Medea (Suite); Adagio

"The years immediately following the end of World War II saw a consolidation of the success that Samuel Barber had encountered in the concert hall with his 'Symphony No. 1' and 'Essay for Orchestra' (Naxos 8.559024). While the romantic and expressive traits that inform these works remained at the heart of his idiom, the 'Cello Concerto' and 'Medea' are marked by an increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra, as well as a greater harmonic stringency and emotional variety. 

"The 'Cello Concerto' was written for Raya Garbousova. The short score was completed in November 1945, coinciding with Barber's discharge from the air force, with orchestration taking until December. The premiere, by Garbousova, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Sergey Koussevitzky, took place on 5th April, 1946. Despite initial success, and the receipt of the Fifth Annual Award of the Music Critics Circle of New York, the concerto has established itself only at the margins of the repertoire. Barber revised the score prior to his recording with Zara Nelsova in 1950, and made minor changes thereafter. 

"The opening movement, 'Allegro moderato', begins with an abrupt gesture on strings. An understated melodic complex, rather than a theme as such, now unfolds across the orchestra and the soloist joins in almost matter of factly. Only belatedly is the theme stated as a coherent entity. A slower version of the theme becomes a musing soliloquy for the soloist, but the central development quickly emerges as an incisive orchestral tutti. The soloist responds with brusque pizzicati, and a resumption of the initial mood, broadening as before into the theme's more expressive version. The scene is set for a lengthy cadenza, subjecting the theme's constituent elements to the full panoply of cello techniques. The orchestra re-emerges, growing restive in its response, and leading to an agitated coda. 

"The central movement, 'Andante sostenuto', opens with a plaintive siciliana melody on the oboe, subtly derived from that of the first movement and intertwined with the soloist's barcarolle-like motion. A harmonic shift reminiscent of Vaughan Williams brings a more expressively-wrought continuation, before the initial tonality and melody are restored. The orchestra effects a brief but poignant climax, from where the movement sinks into ominous reverie. 

"The finale, 'Molto allegro e appassionato' , opens with another abrupt tutti gesture, before the soloist leads the way with a vaunting melody, inviting vigorous repartee with the orchestra. An inward second theme involves eloquent passage-work for the soloist, building up dramatically in the orchestra. A short solo passage leads to an atmospheric episode, lightly scored in the orchestra's upper reaches and featuring cello harmonics. The initial momentum is now restored, before the second theme returns in sombre hues to effect the work's expressive climax. A further brief cadenza, follows, after which soloist and orchestra steer the movement towards its fateful conclusion. 

"The ballet 'Medea' has a complex history. Commissioned by Martha Graham for the Second Annual Festival of Contemporary Music in May 1946, Barber began work to a scenario entitled 'Cave of the Heart'. The first version, completed in April and scored for thirteen instruments, was first performed at Columbia University on 10th May, under the title 'Serpent Heart'. The original title was reinstated for the New York premiere on 27th February, 1947, by which time Barber had reworked the score into a seven-movement suite for full orchestra, preferring the title Medea, after the principal character. The suite received its first performance on 5th December, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. In 1955, Barber telescoped the suite into one continuous movement, 'Medea's Meditation' and 'Dance of Vengeance'. This was first heard in New York on 2nd, February, 1956, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. Yet the additional music and greater emotional range of the suite merit revival. 

"'Parodos' introduces the characters with brazen fanfares on brass and xylophone. A melodic sequence unfolds in some of Barber's most tensile orchestration, abounding in subtle harmonic dissonances. 'Choros I' depicts Medea and Jason, though the cool colouring of solo woodwind and brass, later upper strings, offsets any overt expression. The music gains in animation, though the brief climax subsides without inciting a greater emotional response. 'The Young Princess' opens capriciously in solo woodwind and piano. Forceful brass and strings denote the arrival of Jason, the music trying in vain to regain its initial charm. 'Choros II' is a ruminative solo for Medea, her 'meditation', a lilting violin figure punctuating the music's rhapsodic course. 

"'Medea' is the focal point of the suite and, indeed, the whole ballet. The mood is sombre and agitated, tension building gradually and ominously as her 'dance of vengeance' takes shape. A sudden pick up in tempo finds solo wind in an acerbic exchange over a syncopated piano ostinato. The music generates increasing rhythmic aggression, before launching into a tragic climax. 'Kantikos Agonias' follows, an enigmatic and uneasy interlude, before 'Exodos' erupts in violent fashion, aptly evoking Medea's crime, the murder of her children. Gaunt brass and yearning strings provoke a brief climax, enshrining the 'jealousy' underlying her actions, before the music winds down to an equivocal close: human actions are no less real for being the stuff of legend. 

"Few twentieth century pieces have caught the public imagination more than the 'Adagio for Strings'. Barber's original score dates from 1936, when it formed the central movement of his 'String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11'. In 1937, Toscanini heard Barber's 'Symphony No. 1' at the Salzburg Festival and asked the composer to supply a piece for his first season with the newly-formed NBC Symphony Orchestra. Barber offered the 'First Essay' and the 'Adagio', which were both broadcast on NBC radio on 5th November, 1938. The inward nature of the latter probably helped reinforce its public significance, with performances at the funerals of such luminaries as President Roosevelt and Albert Einstein. 

"The hushed but expressive theme, its modal flavour imparting an evocative timelessness, unfolds in a series of dynamic terraces; intensity increasing as the rapt mood is effortlessly sustained. Cellos take up the theme, and the music reaches an impassioned climax. A heartfelt pause, and the melody resumes its elegiac course, resolving as if with a benediction. The extent to which the 'Adagio' overshadowed his other works understandably caused Barber frustration in later years. Yet it is difficult to gainsay Aaron Copland's description: 'The sense of continuity, the steadiness of the flow, the satisfaction of the arch that it creates from beginning to end [...] makes you believe in the sincerity which he obviously put into it.'" (Richard Whitehouse. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop, Wendy Warner

1. Cello Concerto, Op. 22: I. Allegro Moderato
2. Cello Concerto, Op. 22: II. Andante Sostenuto
3. Cello Concerto, Op. 22: III. Molto Allegro E Appassionato
4. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: I. Parodos
5. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: II. Choros. Medea And Jason
6. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: III. The Young Princess. Jason
7. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: IV. Choros
8. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: V. Medea
9. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: VI. Kantikos Agonias
10. Medea Ballet Suite, Op. 23: VII. Exodos
11. Adagio, Op. 11

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