Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird; The Rite of Spring; Perséphone (Kent Nagano)

Information

Composer: Igor Stravinsky

• Symphonies of Wind instruments
• The Rite of Spring
• Perséphone
• The Firebird

Anne Fournet, narrator

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Tiffin Boys' Choir

London Symphony Orchestra

London Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra

Kent Nagano, conductor

Compilation: 2005

Label: Virgin

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Review

It’s useful, if not essential, to keep faith with composers’ original versions of their works, and in the case of Stravinsky’s first ballet score, The Firebird, the three suites culled from the complete score in 1911, 1919, and 1945 prove the point emphatically enough. If you want to experience the full, glittering scenario as it was delivered to Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1910, you’ll want to hear the full score, not one of the abridged suites, even though these convey enough of the action to give a reasonable overview of the work.

Conductor Kent Nagano has a highly developed sense of theatre: the opening has great mystery and allure; the deliciously orchestrated scenes involving the enchanted princesses are sculpted with tremendous sensitivity; and the dreamlike stasis Nagano achieves during the Lullaby (the solo bassoonist is wonderful here) is certainly very special. The closing peroration, with its scenes of general rejoicing, is thrilling, and throughout this performance, Nagano never lets us forget that this is music primarily associated with physicality and movement. In this regard it also summons up memories of Stravinsky’s own recording of the work with the Columbia Symphony on Sony. Nagano’s Virgin reissue, incidentally, also includes a finely calculated performance of Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments, placed before the ballet itself.

— ClassicsToday

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Igor Stravinsky (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian composer. Son of an operatic bass, he studied privately with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from 1902 to 1908. Soon after the impresario Sergei Diaghilev commissioned Stravinsky to write three ballets for the Ballets Russes: Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). The last of which, with its shifting and audacious rhythms, was a landmark in music history. Later Stravinsky also adopted Neoclassicism and serialism in his composition. His major Neoclassical works include Oedipus rex (1927) and the Symphony of Psalms (1930).

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Kent Nagano (born 22 November 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Educated in California and Paris, he has held prominent roles with leading ensembles worldwide, and will assume the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in 2026. He is also Principal Artistic Partner of Filarmonica Toscanini. Nagano has led major productions, premiered contemporary works, and collaborated internationally. A Grammy-winning recording artist and published author, he has received numerous honors, including the Order of Canada and Germany's Order of Merit.

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