Stravinsky: Finale from The Firebird

The iconic Igor Stravinsky conducting his own works ‘live’ is a major event, and the 1958 gala event was no exception.

‘Music and Musicians’ wrote “even Stravinsky, apostle of clarity, could not complain of the brilliance of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s attack or 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.”

Both the ballet scores, ‘Agon’ and ‘Apollo’ (formerly named ‘Apollon Musagète), were recorded by Stravinsky in the studio after their respective premieres in 1957 and 1950, and then again in the 1960s. The ‘Symphony in 3 Movements’ was first recorded in the studio by Stravinsky in 1946.

There are some European air-checks of ‘Agon’ and ‘Apollo’ but the BBC’s own master tapes are of superb quality.

Stravinsky concluded the concert with three excerpts from the 1945 ‘Firebird’, but timing only permitted the Finale to be included here.

This collection has been prepared with three main aims: firstly to prove that the so-called boundaries between light and classical music are not as insurmountable as some people seem to imagine; secondly to illustrate that many composers, who may usually be associated with more serious works, also had their lighter moments; and thirdly to offer several examples of the tasteful way in which arrangers of the 20th century adapted the classics to make them more instantly appealing to their audience. For many years such ‘tampering with the classics’ was banned by the BBC in Britain, although commercial recordings could be freely purchased. However a lack of broadcasts obviously affected sales, which partly explains why such recordings were more common in the United States than in Britain. Among the leading US musicians who often strayed into classical territory were David Carroll, Andre Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, Clebanoff and even Ray Conniff. They are joined by Charles Williams, Angela Morley and other familiar figures on the UK scene.

Six mid-price audio releases extend the Keeping Score brand, made popular by the pioneering partnership of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

The live recordings – also included in the DVD documentaries – feature the popular repertoire which is so engagingly depicted by MTT in the visual programmes. These affordable CDs are the perfect companions to the acclaimed DVD programmes.

“charismatic musical evangelism … genuinely fresh ideas about the presentation of classical music to a mass audience” International Record Review

“SFS remains one of the world’s most immaculate ensembles.” The Guardian

Since winning the Arthur Rubinstein Competition and the Sidney Piano Competition, Alexander Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Bashmet and Paavo Jarvi and orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, the Kirov, Israel Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic. He has also given many recitals with renowned violinist Vadim Repin. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Korsantia has lived in the United States since 1992. He now resides in Boston where he is Professor of Piano at the New England Conservatory. Enjoying great popularity in his country of birth, he performed at the inauguration of Georgian President Saakashvili in 2004.

Korsantia’s live recordings, on two discs, present an attractive programme carefully chosen from recitals he has given since 1995 in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Toulouse, Boston and New York. The first CD features arrangements of Bach by Busoni, Egon Petri and Myra Hess’s famous version of the chorale Jesu, Joy of Men's Desiring, two Piano Sonatas by Haydn and Mozart’s Sonata in C major, KV330 and 20th century Russian and Georgian music. Korsantia has rearranged Gwido Agosti’s magnificent 1934 piano transcription of the last three pieces from The Firebird Suite to reflect more of Stravinsky's original orchestral sound. Stravinsky’s Tango is followed by Giya Kancheli’s Instead of Tango originally written in 1996 for violin, piano, bandoneon and double bass. Kancheli’s own piano arrangement is dedicated to three Georgian pianists, one of them Alexander Korsantia. The second disc is devoted to Sergei Prokofiev: his Pastoral Sonatina and Vision Fugitive, No 11, Op 22 bookend the Piano Sonata No 7 in B flat major and the substantial Piano Sonata No 8.