Stravinsky - The Rite Of Spring [Dutoit-Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal] 

I hated this work the first time i listened to it [Abbado DG i think], it frustrated me with a few good ideas, but instead of repeating and unfolding such ideas, it kept chopping and changing, Stravinsky almost seemed to not want to play a nice tune, so whenever something melodious would surface in this soup, he would immediately quash it with some dissonant rhythm, but in delving into Jazz, i've learnt that rhythms [even without melody] are still music, and to highlight the primeval and tribal 'drumming', we get this vision that Stravinsky had for some uncivilised society, and deep down it's great stuff, very percussive, even the strings, this disc appeared in my Blog very early on [25th February 2010].

Charles Dutoit is Swiss, he's now 76, and he made this recording in 1984, the front cover shows a painting by Henri Matisse called 'La Danse', it looks to be three naked girls , and two naked guys dancing in a circle, the warm colours of their bodies are offset by the cold colours of the background, usually i give paintings for booklet covers a bit of a thumbs down, but i really like this painting, it's primeval like the music inside, they perfectly go well together.

Where to start in explaining my thoughts about what i really liked!, The Rite is so involving, there's so many things going on, on this recording it only has two tracks for part A & B, this can be quite annoying when you want to zoom in on a certain section, so here's my synopsis of the best parts,

4A Spring Rounds [8:09-11:54] the warbling woodwinds at the beginning are very evocative, but it's the bass tread of the whole piece that gets me [8:36+], of course it's very incremental the way it's built up, Stravinsky shows a great use of woodwinds here, warblings galore, then out of nowhere the crash of the drums, and the superb grating dissonance of the brass [10:14+], and tacked on the end a frantic and scary forte [11:04-11:21], preceded by some alarmed woodwind birdcalls, and it brings us back to the beginning of those warbling sad birds, again even more evocative.
3B Glorification Of The Earth [8:02-9:39] one of my most favourite moments of the whole work, it's packed full of the most incredible rhythms and forces, the relentless pounding of the tribal drums before the beginning is superb [7:56-8:01], and the whoops of those whipped up clarinets are great, shrieking brass [8:34+], but it's the rhythms afterward that's really great [8:50+] pizzicato strings with i believe a bass clarinet bleating out.
4B Evocation Of The Ancestors [9:39-10:24] the last half of Part Two is the best, and this is just a short piece, loud rolling timpani, woodwind rhythms,
5B Ritual Action Of The Ancestors [10:24-14:14] the noise subsides, and there's a plaintive oboe and flute duo, and in the background the brass dissonance appears [11:39+], and then it explodes [12:16+] in a brass melee, but nothing seems to last for long, Stravinsky throwing all sorts of things into the concoction, i love the huge outburst with the tam tam [13:00+], and at the end deep warblings from the woodwind [13:43+], and i guess it's a bass clarinet,
6B Sacrificial Dance [14:14-19:00] and onto its apotheosis, the final sacrifice, the longest section, bringing together a lot of the ideas previously heard throughout, a real cacophony of sound, i love the way Stravinsky gets the different instruments to 'agree in their discord'!, the superb use of drums.

Here's Charles Dutoit conducting The Rite Of Spring On YouTube, Part One, and Part Two.

Glazunov - The Seasons [Svetlanov-Philharmonia Orchestra] 

I don't play this work all that often, and i only have a couple of recordings of it, it's a 40 minute Ballet, roughly along the lines of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, though not as memorable in the tunes department, it was clever of Glazunov to start with Winter, it means he ends with Autumn, which is a nice season to finally rest at, unlike Vivaldi's Seasons which rest in an icy wilderness, Glazunov is clever at these short tone poems, each representing something pictorial, Winter is portrayed as glissandos on the strings, Spring is of course very dance-like, Summer is lazy and languid, while Autumn is very much nostalgic, a time of remembering all the other seasons, there's 19 individual tracks, so that each number lasts an average of 2 minutes, enough to convey a mood, and then it's gone, individual numbers stand out from others, and i'm sure you'll develop some favourites like i have, Glazunov is certainly an underestimated Composer.

Yevgeny Svetlanov was a Russian Conductor [1928-2002], he made this recording in 1978, the front cover picture is not credited, i think it's a Sycamore or a Maple leaf, covered in water droplets, a nice idea, the EMI logo is well placed.

The two big slow numbers are the sweetest and softest centres in this array of chocolates, the Adagio from Autumn, and especially the Barcarole from Summer, a short introduction, and then the sweet violins serenade us with the main tune [0:26+], it's a truly gorgeous moment, the music slightly swells [0:58+], creating a dark cloud on the otherwise sweetness, and there's this sort of culmination that Glazunov creates, and there's this moment which just sounds so perfect [1:20+], it's hard to use words to how i feel, Glazunov uses piccolos towards the end [2:17+], Glazunov could have used this for a whole slow movement, enlarged it out, or made a larger Tone Poem out of it, but here it is tucked away in the middle of Summer, 3 minutes of rhapsody.

Here's Stephen Michael Smith conducting Summer by Glazunov on YouTube, the Barcarole starts at 4:55.

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite [Previn-London Symphony Orchestra]

It's so good to have a full disc of the Ballet music of Tchaikovsky, and his wonderful triptych of these three giants, all equally represented here, a suite / selection of each, with the most famous numbers included, especially Swan Lake and the Sleeping Beauty can seem overlong in their full formats, this is the best way to hear this music, there's a certain sweep and vista about Tchaikovsky's Ballets, full of waltzes and swing and swagger, but also tenderness and sadness, something to move everyone.

Andre Previn is now 82, born German but now an American citizen, he made the Nutcracker recording in 1972, again this is one of those 'Studio Plus' discs from EMI, a great little series, and this one has a pink / peach colour, a thoughtful side profile of Previn on the front cover [by Christina Burton], pencil in hand, and a nice sharp photo, these are a joy to own.

I played the whole of this disc in the order that it's presented, i know the Nutcracker Suite very well, certainly the other Ballets less so, so it was so enjoyable to be stunned by the Swan Lake Suite, especially the second track Dance Of The Swans, what a tremendous piece of music, and i would be writing extensively about that Ballet were it not for the 'tears in my eyes' feelings of listening to the Nutcracker Suite, it's a work of melodious genius, plus Tchaikovsky got to incorporate many non western ideas / phrases into the dance section,  

Here's Volker Hartung conducting the Waltz Of The Flowers on YouTube.

Glazunov - The Seasons [Jarvi-The Scottish National Orchestra]

This is the first time Glazunov appears in my Blog, he is somewhat of an unknown Composer to me, i've never warmed to his Symphonies, they're so average, nothing special at all, but i do rate his Stenka Razin!, a colourful Symphonic Poem that has some lovely rhythms and orchestration to it, and his Piano Concertos too.

Neeme Jarvi is Estonian, born in 1937, he seems to have recorded a cycle of discs on every major Composer, mainly for Chandos, he recorded this disc back in 1987.

The Seasons is a Ballet, roughly akin to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Winter has glitter to it, shorter pithy scenes / dances that sparkle, it's only in Summer and Autumn that there's a real Symphonic glow to the work, and it's the Barcarolle of Summer that i liked the best, it's barely over 2 minutes long, but it has a pastoralness to it, almost waltzy-like, the truly sweet and beautiful violins steal in [0:16+], so memorable, like Tchaikovsky at his very best, it's over almost before it's started, you can see that Glazunov copied the essence of the Nutcracker to produce this lovely Ballet, which is well worth hearing.

Here's Jarvi conducting Summer on YouTube, the Barcarolle starts at 3:52.

Stravinsky - The Rite Of Spring [Dutoit-Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal]

When i first heard this work many moons ago, i was not ready for it, i thought Classical music was about tunes and melodies, something you can whistle, but this is full of rhythms and dynamics, seems like the first audience at the premiere weren't ready for it either, but once you get into those primeval beats, then you're hooked all the way to the Sacrificial Dance.

On the cover of the booklet is a painting by Henri Matisse, called 'The Dance', painted in 1910, roughly three years before the premiere of Stravinsky's work, it fits in perfectly, Art and Music make perfection.

Of course Stravinsky's Ballet is a visual as well as audio, but the music stands up on its own, the section i really did enjoy is in Part Two, 'The Naming And Honouring Of The Chosen One' [7:56-9:40], starts off with pagan beats on the drum [7:56-8:01], very effective, and then there's this sharp quick upward shrieks from the woodwind, while the strings use this pulsating rhythm [8:01-8:33], the brass comes in screaming, while the strings pizzicato an ominous pulse, with what sounds like the bassoon muttering monotonous notes [8:34-9:14], and then the beginning returns [9:14-9:38], it's an aural tour de force, and tremendously exciting.

Here's Dutoit conducting Part Two on YouTube.