Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Poulenc: Biches by BBC National Orch.& Chorus of Wales / Fischer

Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky

BBC National Orch.& Chorus of Wales / Fischer

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Poulenc: Biches

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212020524
Catnr: SIGCD 205
Release date: 01 May 2011
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Label
Signum Classics

UPC
0635212020524

Catalogue number
SIGCD 205

Release date
01 May 2011

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

The conclusion to a three part-series of Igor Stravinsky's ballets from Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes (following records of The Firebird and Petrushka), performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Thierry Fischer. These recordings capture the excitement and vibrancy of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in live performance at their home of BBC Hoddinott Hall, Wales. Almost no musical work has had such a powerful influence or evoked as much controversy as Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring.

The work's premiere on May 29, 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, was scandalous. The ballet tested the patience of the audience to the fullest with outrageous costumes, unusual choreography and a bizarre story of pagan sacrifice. This album also features Francis Poulenc's ballet Les Biches, premiered at the Ballet Russes in 1924. Originally commissioned by Diaghilev to write a piece based on Glazunov's Les Sylphides, Poulenc instead chose to base his piece on the paintings of Watteau that depicted Louis XV and various women in his 'Parc aux biches'.

Het laatste deel uit een driedelige serie met werken voor Ballets Russes
Dit album besluit de driedelige serie met balletten die Igor Stravinsky voor Sergej Djagilevs balletgezelschap Ballets Russes componeerde (volgend op opnames van De Vuurvogel en Petroesjka), uitgevoerd door het BBC National Orchestra of Wales onder leiding van Thierry Fischer. Deze opnames vangen de opwinding en levendigheid van het orkest in een live-uitvoering in hun thuisbasis in BBC Hoddinott Hall in Wales.

Bijna geen enkel werk heeft zoveel controversie opgeroepen of heeft een dergelijke krachtige invloed gehad als Stravinsky’s balletmuziek voor Le Sacre du Printemps. De première van het werk op 29 mei 1913 in het Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Parijs was schandalig. Het geduld van het publiek werd tot het uiterste op de proef gesteld door het ballet met buitensporige kostuums, een ongebruikelijke choreografie en een bizar verhaal over een heidense opoffering.

Daarnaast bevat het album Les Biches, een ballet van Francis Poulenc dat in 1924 in première ging bij Ballets Russes. Djagilev gaf Poulenc oorspronkelijk de opdracht om een werk te schrijven dat gebaseerd was op Glazoenovs Les Sylphides, maar Poulenc koos ervoor om zich te laten inspireren door de schilderijen van Watteau die Lodewijk XV en verschillende vrouwen in zijn ‘Parc aux biches’ afbeeldden.

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.
Stravinsky's compositional career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). The last of these transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure and was largely responsible for Stravinsky's enduring reputation as a musical revolutionary who pushed the boundaries of musical design. His "Russian phase" which continued with works such as Renard, The Soldier's Tale and Les Noces, was followed in the 1920s by a period in which he turned to neoclassical music. The works from this period tended to make use of traditional musical forms (concerto grosso, fugue and symphony), drawing on earlier styles, especially from the 18th century. This style was often referred to as Neoclassicism. In the 1950s, Stravinsky adopted serial procedures. His compositions of this period shared traits with examples of his earlier output: rhythmic energy, the construction of extended melodic ideas out of a few two- or three-note cells and clarity of form, and of instrumentation.

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Francis Poulenc

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. Poulenc's wealthy family intended him for a business career in the Rhone Poulenc family company and did not allow him to enrol at a music college. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc soon came under the influence of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. This group of French composers from the 1920s aimed to clear music of the impressionism of Claude Debussy, and German influences such as the Romanticism of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Their motto was 'L'art pour l'art': they composed music for the sake of...

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. Poulenc's wealthy family intended him for a business career in the Rhone Poulenc family company and did not allow him to enrol at a music college. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc soon came under the influence of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. This group of French composers from the 1920s aimed to clear music of the impressionism of Claude Debussy, and German influences such as the Romanticism of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Their motto was "L'art pour l'art": they composed music for the sake of music, without any 'meaning' or extramusical intents. In his early works Poulenc became known for his high spirits and irreverence. During the 1930s a much more serious side to his nature emerged, particularly in the religious music he composed from 1936 onwards, which he alternated with his more light-hearted works.

BBC National Orch.& Chorus of Wales / Fischer

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Poulenc: Biches

About the album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Igor Stravinsky

Francis Poulenc

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