Stavinsky: A genius Composer?

[FrantzM]

Hi

I have been listening to Classical Music even before I liked it .. My father was a fan it and played all the time. In reaction I went to Rock then Jazz... Later i went back to Classical and have been hooked .. on music ...
My favorite composers remain Bach. I can listen to Bach all day and cannot stop marveling at the man composition power, harmonic structure and timing prowess ... Then comes Beethoven and from there many different composers from different eras even contemporary... And I have come to discover some non-Western Classical Music,namely Indian ...

Which brings me to the subject of this thread.. Igor Stravinsky. The first time I cared to pay attention to Stravinsky was with an old audiophile friend who's unfortunately no longer with us, the father of one of my good friends when I was teenager. An audiophile who did buy one of the first Infinity Servo Statik and later the Quantum Referendum and then Acoustat 6 and a long list of great equipment up to a Genesis 2 or 200 can't remember ... He sat me to listen to the Firebird ... Oooookaaaaay .. I thought, what was that all about ? Musical sounds (Noise? ) with a semblance of harmony and then some harmony then some more musical sounds, I preferred to listen to his large collection of Elgar LPs from EMI Lyrita and other labels but that thing ..well I am not sure what he got from it ... Until recently ...
I don't know how it began ... I was listening on a French composers mood, ( a subject from another thread!! Ravel, Debussy, Faure , Poulenc, Saint-Saens, Mlihaud, occupy a special place in Western Classical Music and let's not forget the iconoclast but wonderful Eric Satie, as I said another thread ...
So I was listening to Ravel Bolero from Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra:

and the CD (sorry people ) had Stravinsky on it: Le Sacre Du Printemps (Rites of Spring) ... I could have stopped it but I was caught and spooked ... Okay who's that .. Check on Tablet (well yeah I control foobar through a tablet) and this is Igor Stravinsky ..Oh Well let's give me more of a listen ... Hooked now the music is different but sublime ... The structure is not what I am used to but I can see it. I can feel the power of Nature re-awakening in this music. I don't have to read any explanations it is there, it tells me The introduction in particular is descriptive... Nature awakening in all its glory, majesty and power and you can feel the blooming of plants, flowers, animals re-awakening ... I prefer by the way the Pierre Boulez rendition on Sony the one with Petrouchka an all Stravinsky CD). Thus more Stravinsky including Petrouchka from the aforementioned Pierre Boulez

... to the Symphony of Psalms this one has some dynamics and serious low bass and it has one of my Favorites Composers too : Francis Poulenc
Performance is ok , I prefer the Solti but the sound of this is very good verging on the Spectacular
I would say this at the outset. Stravinsky pieces for the most part require full range systems... Much will be lost if the system is not full range and can't convey adequate dynamics .. of course the music will be felt even on a Bose Wave Radio but to penetrate the music of Stravinsky if One doesn't have access to a way to listen it Live, One is helped a lot by a Full range system capable of wide dynamic swings ... He uses huge orchestral forces in his music especially the early and latest output. One interesting thing I found in Stravinsky is that his music is sparse and to me short. The pieces are usually a few minutes not dozens of minutes a la Mahler or Wagner ( I have no problem with these guys by the way nor their deliberate way of getting the music across) but Sravinsky is short, to the point, at least those pieces I am listening to .. Highly recommended

Now I am hooked, my library has a few Stravinsky CDs maybe 10, he deserves much more. I am inviting my fellow members to post their thoughts on Stravinsky and what pieces they like, Albums they recommend what conductors do they think had a great grasp of Stravinsky. Sonics are of course important but the interpretation takes precedence for me...

 

[RBFC]

Frantz,

Here's a few great ones (IMO):

http://www.amazon.com/Stravinsky-Ba...TF8&qid=1352038609&sr=1-1&keywords=stravinsky

http://www.amazon.com/Stravinsky-Pe...2038782&sr=1-31&keywords=petrushka+stravinsky

http://www.amazon.com/Stravinsky-Fi...352038874&sr=1-6&keywords=firebird+stravinsky

If you can find the SACD, it has the original three-channel mix, which I feel is superior.

Lee

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I have the Mercury on CD .. Not yet a fan of Music on DVD or Bu -Ray the watching distract me from the musical performance so not yet ... Maybe I will start listening/watching operas and ballets on these media.

Thanks

 

[RBFC]

Frantz,

I've found in the past that visuals have often "diluted" the music for me as well. However, I've thoroughly enjoyed many concert/performance events on Blu-ray recently. The combination of better production values and higher resolution (both audio & video) have made many of these discs really good. I'd encourage you to revisit some of them, as they are becoming more prevalent. One look on www.blu-ray.com and its list of upcoming releases will demonstrate how much classical music is being released on Blu-ray. The penetration of the format into the home markets is stimulating studio interest for issuing more music!

Lee

 

[RBFC]

Also, the Petrushka on SACD is a sonic pleasure, probably not the "finest" performance. Boulez is a high-ranker here!

Lee

 

[microstrip]

Frantz,

Thanks for bringing Stravinsky - one of my favorites (and we also share the love for Bach). The CBS Boulez LP of Petrushka has long been one of my favorite recordings - I bought it the first time I went to London, still a student, at the large HMV shop of Oxford Street.

At that time I became fascinated with Stravinsky, and as our country best orchestra was going to play Petrushka, I persuaded many friends and colleagues to attend the performance. The concert started with a delightful performance of a Mozart piano concerto - and after a small break the anticipated Petrushka first bars were heard. But, unbelievable, the orchestra played Stravinsky exactly with the same style as they had been playing Mozart - polite playing, but lifeless and without rhythm. The emotion and dance feel of the puppets was missing. Really a boring performance, the disillusion of everyone was great. My popularity decreased faster than what I experienced after a debate on subjective matters in WBF. But the night was not lost for all - a small group accepted my defiance and we had a great time at my space listening to Boulez conducting Petrushka.

It is why today I find disturbing reading Stravinsky opinions about live performances and recorded music - he is known to have said "“How can we continue to prefer an inferior reality (the concert hall) to ideal stereophony?” How did he guess?

 

[Soundminded]

I'm not generally a fan of ballet but I can't remember enjoying anything more than seen the New York City Ballet perform Petrushka many years ago. I first heard Le Sacre when I was about 16 years old. It sounded so strange but the driving rhythms captivated me and the ending blew me away. Over the years I've heard it countless times. Once after I hadn't heard it for many years, I heard it again and it sounded so familiar which surprised me. Yes, IMO he was among the handful of greatest composers of the 20th century. His story about Le Sacre is interesting. He says he didn't compose it, it composed itself. He was just the instrument through which it happened.