Stravinsky: The Firebird (L'oiseau de feu)

Lydia Jardon’s all-women label Ar-Re-Se sees her perform Stravinsky’s Firebird and The Song of the Nightingale for solo piano. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, she has won many prizes during her career but is perhaps best known for founding the annual chamber music festival on the Breton island of Ouessant which focuses on female composers, performed by female musicians.

This collection brings together four great ballets by Stravinsky – The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring and Apollon musagète, in definitive performances, stunningly recorded, by Antal Dorati and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Also included is the early orchestral work Scherzo fantastique, which was first performed as a ballet by the New York City Ballet in 1972 with choreography by Jerome Robbins.

Stravinsky first made a name for himself with his colourful score for the ballet The Firebird, influenced by his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, but already giving an indication of things to come. His next ballet, Petrushka, showed significant development, but hardly prepared audiences for the premiere of The Rite of Spring in Paris on 29 May 1913, which caused a riot. It was the most significant event in 20th century classical music and the shock of this revolutionary score can still be felt today.

Stravinsky's ongoing Russian inspiration, clad in the opulence of Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration in 1910 and then moving towards a more dodecaphonic writing (1966, Requiem Canticles), not forgetting the consummate Les Noces - "not a ballet but a divertissement...in two parts" (to quote the composer). A unique blend of earthy rusticity, profund humanity and religious faith.

Pierre Boulez’s name has always been closely linked with the three great early Russian ballets of Stravinsky – The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. Here are all three, in outstanding performances with the premier orchestras of Chicago and Cleveland.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste has established himself as one of the most eminent conductors of his generation. His artistic work is equally marked by musical depth and integrity. He has not only done much to firmly anchor the music of Scandinavia in concert life, but has also gained broad acknowledgement for his great affinity with late Romantic and modern classical music.

This release is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of premiere of this wonderful ballet. It was staged in Paris by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The work proclaimed the birth of a new star, Igor Stravinsky who brought the “Russian spirit” to ballet. This performance was recorded in 1985.

After their much lauded CD of Richard Strauss, Stravinsky is the next great composer of the 20th century to feature the CBSO under its music director Andris Nelsons. On this, their third CD with Orfeo, Stravinsky the avant-gardist on his way to world fame is represented by the complete Firebird ballet, while the Symphony of Psalms is testament to the mature composer. Nelsons and the CBSO leave us in no doubt that even at the age of 27, Stravinsky could draw on an embarrassment of compositional riches. By contrast the Symphony of Psalms is steeped in Orthodox austerity and as you would expect, the CBSO Chorus, trained by Simon Halsey, offers a well-drilled interpretation that captivates the listener until the last “Laudate Dominum”.

CONCERT REVIEWS:

“He and they rose brilliantly to the challenge of Stravinsky’s dazzling score The Firebird. As if the build-up in the final sections, superbly paced, were not thrilling enough, three trumpeters appeared in front of the organ to crown the closing bars from on high. Absolutely spine-tingling.” Evening Standard, 29 July 2009 *****

“a triumph of discipline, energy and imagination” The Independent