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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Igor Markevitch conducts Ravel, Stravinsky & Honeggerlive in Berlin 1952
In a second audite production Igor Markevitch leads works that remained a substantial challenge for any orchestra in the 1950s. Markevitch was considered the most accomplished conductor of The Rite at the time for he, like no other, was able to master the rhythmical and technical complexities of this score. A special relationship with the young RIAS Symphony Orchestra is also demonstrated by the immaculate, virtuoso interpretations of Daphnis et Chloé and Honegger's Fifth Symphony, which Markevitch introduced to Berlin, less than a year after its world-première in Boston. | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes
Stravinsky: | The Firebird Ekaterina Kondaurova (Firebird), Ilya Kuznetsov (Ivan Tsarevich), Marianna Pavlova (The Princess) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Kachtcheï the Immortal) The Rite of Spring Alexandra Iosifidi (The Chosen One), Elena Bazhenova (300-Year-Old Woman) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Shaman) |
The Firebird: Choreography & libretto: Michel Fokine (1910) reconstruction Isabelle Fokine, Andris Liepa; Set & costume design:Anna & Anatoly Nezhny after original sketches by Alexander Golovin, Léon Bakst & Michel Fokine The Rite of Spring Choreography after Vaslav Nijinsky (1913) Scene plan: Igor Stravinsky & Nicholas Roerich, reconstructed and staged by Millicent Hodson; Set and costume design: Nicholas Roerich, reconstructed and supervised by Kenneth Archer; Lighting: Vladimir Lukin
Subtitles: Fr, Eng, Booklet: 16 pages, Fr, Eng, Ger Filmed in High Definition at the Mariinsky Theatre June 2008 Duration: 2h03' Bonus: documentary 1909-2009 Ballets Russes & interviews with Millicent Hodson & Kenneth Archer (38') Today it is difficult to imagine the impact on audiences at the beginning of the 20th century of Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) and his Ballets Russes. In celebration of the debut of the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1909, this wonderful Stravinsky evening at the Mariinsky Theatre showcases the original Nijinsky version of The Rite of Spring for the first time on DVD along with The Firebird, both conducted by Valery Gergiev. Thanks to the relentless work of Millicent Hodson, Nijinsky's original choreography has now been recreated, performed by the lead dancers and Ballet Company of the Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre conducted by Valery Geriev, known the world over for his interpretation of Stravinsky's works. See also Blu-ray version. | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| | | Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes
Stravinsky: | The Firebird Ekaterina Kondaurova (Firebird), Ilya Kuznetsov (Ivan Tsarevich), Marianna Pavlova (The Princess) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Kachtcheï the Immortal) The Rite of Spring Alexandra Iosifidi (The Chosen One), Elena Bazhenova (300-Year-Old Woman) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Shaman) |
The Firebird: Choreography & libretto: Michel Fokine (1910) reconstruction Isabelle Fokine, Andris Liepa; Set & costume design:Anna & Anatoly Nezhny after original sketches by Alexander Golovin, Léon Bakst & Michel Fokine The Rite of Spring Choreography after Vaslav Nijinsky (1913) Scene plan: Igor Stravinsky & Nicholas Roerich, reconstructed and staged by Millicent Hodson; Set and costume design: Nicholas Roerich, reconstructed and supervised by Kenneth Archer; Lighting: Vladimir Lukin
Subtitles: Fr, Eng, Booklet: 16 pages, Fr, Eng, Ger Filmed in High Definition at the Mariinsky Theatre June 2008 Duration: 2h03' Bonus: documentary 1909-2009 Ballets Russes & interviews with Millicent Hodson & Kenneth Archer (38') Today it is difficult to imagine the impact on audiences at the beginning of the 20th century of Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) and his Ballets Russes. In celebration of the debut of the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1909, this wonderful Stravinsky evening at the Mariinsky Theatre showcases the original Nijinsky version of The Rite of Spring for the first time on DVD along with The Firebird, both conducted by Valery Gergiev. Thanks to the relentless work of Millicent Hodson, Nijinsky's original choreography has now been recreated, performed by the lead dancers and Ballet Company of the Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre conducted by Valery Geriev, known the world over for his interpretation of Stravinsky's works. “For those who only know the black-and-white pictures of the original production of The Rite of Spring, the colours of Roerich's designs are a revelation, while the vision of Nijinksy's revolutionary choreography can be experienced in its full glory, allowing a proper appraisal of his vision. The three principals are mesmerising... it is the company as a whole that thrills. Add Gergiev's ability to unleash the searing power of the music, not forgetting two useful bonus features, and the result is an exhilarating feast for eyes and ears.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2009 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Herbert von Karajan conducts Mozart & StravinskyBBC broadcast: 15 May 1972, Royal Festival Hall, London
These performances, given in London and Paris in May 1972, can best be described as ‘work in progress’. In the months that followed, Karajan switched the orchestra’s modernist repertoire away from Stravinsky to the music of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. The Stravinsky ensemble, he concluded, needed better horns and better support in the subsidiary wind sections. Not that the orchestra had disappointed in London. “Perhaps no passage showed more remarkably the near-perfection of the playing than the exchanges between muted trumpets and divided strings in the Introduction to Part 2,” noted Martin Cooper, the exacting chief music critic of the Daily Telegraph. “The overwhelming experience was of a precision, a range of colour and of dynamics, wholly suited to the music. Karajan was able to give even the thickest textures a vibrant clarity, and the split-second timing and sureness of attack in the ‘Dance of the Earth’ and the ‘Glorification of the Chosen One’ showed not only the players’ skill but their extraordinarily intimate knowledge of the work.” Reviewing the 1977 recording in The Gramophone, Arnold Whittall echoed Glenn Gould’s thinking about the importance of alternative views of Le Sacre by noting that what Karajan brought to the piece was a “riveting realisation of the monolithic formal principles which give this score its coherence and its enduring radicalism”. This live London performance may have been work in progress. What is fascinating, however, is the uninterrupted view it provides of the blueprint to which Karajan was working. From the booklet note Richard Osborne, 2009 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring & Petrushka (one piano – four hands)
Stravinsky: | The Rite of Spring composer’s version for one piano – four hands Petrushka composer’s version for one piano – four hands |
David Nettle & Richard Markham (piano) At last, this recording is available again. Originally released by Saga on LP in 1985 and then lost in the mist of time following the labels closure. Now digitally re-mastered from original analogue sources, it is available on CD for the first time. This release will be much sought after as there is no listed competition in the current Muze Classical Catalogue for The Rite of Spring. David & Richard are currently celebrating their 30th anniversary season as Britain’s foremost piano duo and continue to tour the world enthralling all who attend their many concerts. “...the transcription restores a sense of danger to a work at risk of losing its explosiveness through overfamiliarity...the Rite remains the ultimate piano duet.” Sunday Times, 29th November 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps+bonus documentary: Soulscapes
Staging, Choreography, Sets, Costumes, Lighting Design & Film by Uwe Scholz Uwe Scholz, former director of the Leipzig Ballet, was hailed as one of the most brilliant choreographic minds of his generation and one of the most important German choreographers at the time of his untimely death in November 2004 at the age of 45. Scholz took up his first position as a choreographer with Marcia Haydée in Stuttgart when he was 22. He saw himself as a mixture between his teacher John Cranko and the influential George Balanchine, and the magically beautiful and extraordinarily musical choreographies that he created for houses such as the Opera in Vienna, La Scala, Zurich and Leipzig owe much to neoclassicism.This DVD recording focuses on the two interpretations of Le Sacre du Printemps that he created for 'his' Leipzig Ballet, the company that he led to international fame from 1991. The evening opens with a legendary solo interpretation, danced by Giovanni di Palma to Stravinsky's own adaptation for two pianos of the ‘Rite’. Often seen as Scholz's autobiographical legacy, this choreography shows a dancer's loneliness and despair in heartbreaking images.An emotive ensemble interpretation to the original orchestral version of the same piece forms the second half of the evening. Here Kiyoko Kimura takes the leading role among the 56 dancers on the stage.The staging proves the ensemble to be one of the best contemporary ballet companies worldwide. Günter Atteln's insightful documentary Soulscapes is a full-length homage to Uwe Scholz showing excerpts of his most important works.The film offers a warm and detailed account of a thoroughly fascinating life and includes some very personal interviews with a man consumed by his art until his last breath. | | | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. |
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| |  | Pierre Boulez
Booklet Notes:Tracklisting in English, French, German. This first DVD release of Boulez' most famous interpretations is a must-have! His ground breaking Debussy interpretations Nocturnes: Fêtes Jeux - Poème dansé and Images freed Debussy from cliché. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (1913) and Schoenberg's Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene (1930) confirmed Boulez as the authority on 20th century music. A composer himself, Boulez conducts with precision and a deep understanding of the sound worlds of the composers: he "thinks music". Includes film footage of Boulez' conducting Images and working on Fêtes Jeux. "Pierre Boulez is arguably the most influential, and controversial, figure in the world of music today. Boulez is known as the young Turk of post-war avant-garde composition who has steadily transformed himself into one of the most authoritative interpreters of standard 19th and 20th-century music." The Guardian “These concerts, spanning 30 years, show Boulez's consistency in achieving precision, colour and clarity. The Debussy and Schoenberg performances are classics, the Stravinsky too civilised.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Le SacreDebussy - Stravinsky
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| |  | Stravinsky - Rite of Spring & Card Game
These ballet scores, written respectively in 1913 and 1937, have continued to sound fresh and new throughout the years and these are tremendously exciting performances from the USSR Symphony Orchestra and Evgeni Svetlanov. Recorded in 1966 and 1970 they were the first recordings made inside Russia of these pieces following the lifting of the ban on Stravinsky’s music. “Stravinsky was not perhaps natural Svetlanov territory, the but conductor inspires some surprisingly lyrical playing in the slower sections of Rite, whilst Jeu de Cartes is projected with wit and considerable virtuosity.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Stravinsky - L'Oiseau de feu & Le sacre du printemps
Recording dates 7, 8 June, 14 December 2007 (L'oiseau de feu);
15, 16 November 2006, 25 June 2007 (Le sacre du printemps) “A Jansons performance has all the comfort and security of travelling in a high-class limousine. There's still much to admire, of course, especially the woodwind playing in The Firebird, while The Rite is just a little too well manicured. If you didn't know the ballet, you'd hardly guess that this is a depiction of a pagan ritual that ends in a human sacrifice; one longs for something a bit more visceral, more dangerous.” The Guardian, 4th July 2008 *** “The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has always traded on the subtleties of its instrumental sounds, which has made it ideal for interpreting such widely diverse music as Bruckner and Ravel. It puts this distinctive colour to good use in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, reminding us that there is far more to the work than the crash, bang and wallop of its climactic dances.” The Telegraph, 12th July 2008 “The luminous colours and weightless harmonies of the Firebird sit more comfortably with the cultured Concertgebouw than the hard-edged primitivism of the Rite of Spring. The fragrance of the "Ronde des princesses" with its leading oboe and echoing cello and bassoon lines is exquisite.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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BBC Music Magazine Awards 2010
