Stravinsky's uncharacteristic, but exciting (and fascinating) early symphony comes in a splendid rendition by the Zagreb Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitayenko on the Oehms label:
https://www.mdt.co.uk/stravinsky-symphony-no-1-zagreb-philharmonic-dimitri-kitayenko-oehms.html (https://www.mdt.co.uk/stravinsky-symphony-no-1-zagreb-philharmonic-dimitri-kitayenko-oehms.html)
The CD's rather short measure, but is worth buying for the symphony - of which this just might be one of its best-ever recordings.
I really like this piece and was a bit disappointed they didn't record it on the recent CD that had the premiere of Funeral Song -- there's an interview with Riccardo Chailly (I believe) who talks about how since Funeral Song is Op. 5 they added Op. 2 to 4....the Symphony is Op. 1. But they went with the Rite instead....
For the curious, it's also on Spotify. (https://open.spotify.com/album/3ti8vEiP85Y2HrYGKiIDnH?si=x9DT-RvvQSqn_S1lTG1aFg)
Fun symphony to play "Name the composer" with for people who think they're Stravinsky experts. Usually they guess it's unknown Tchaikovsky or some other Russian romantic. It's also a son of a gun to play. I read it in a reading session a few months ago and it gave us a devil of a time. And yes, it was the obvious disk mate for the rediscovered Funeral Song. The last thing we need is another Rite, unless Chailly was willing to go back to the original score without any retouchings, rewriting and simplifications.
This is a delightful work, rather in the style of Glazunov- I have a performance by Antal Dorati, which is excellent. Happy to hear that it continues to get attention.
Yes, I've ordered a copy of the great Dorati's performance. Looking forward to hearing it.
I have the Dorati version (also the Stravinsky's one) . Maybe the excellence of the Dorati prevented other recordings (maybe there was one by Alexander Gibson).
QuoteThis is a delightful work, rather in the style of Glazunov- I have a performance by Antal Dorati, which is excellent. Happy to hear that it continues to get attention.
Thanks a lot for bringing Dorati's recording to my attention.
Quote from: alberto on Wednesday 18 April 2018, 10:00
Maybe the excellence of the Dorati prevented other recordings
That's probably the last thing I'd ever say about classical music, in general...
Not a favorite of mine. Stravinsky is a hit or miss for me.
Do you actually know the work, Tom? You'd never know it was Stravinsky...
To quote Wikipedia (Taruskin's book on Stravinsky also seems to go into very very great detail about the symphony, judging from the Google-preview index) "It was composed in 1905–1907 and revised in 1913." His first work for orchestra, and dedicated to Rimsky. What about it don't you like, sdtom? (And are the recordings you have of the original version or of the 1913 revision? Not that I believe it actually matters so much in this case... I suspect the revisions affected craft more than style. I don't care for much Stravinsky myself- with some very, very odd exceptions.)
Dorati's recording is a much grander affair than Kitayenko's, so it depends which approach you prefer. I rather like Dorati, but I would understand anyone who would prefer Kitayenko's greater athleticism.
I'm very grateful for this thread. I've always overlooked him as I based my judgment of his music on oft-played Firebird-type works, which just aren't my thing at all. Now I have been prompted to listen to this symphony, the Funeral Song etc...and there is music there for me after all! Does this mean I also need to explore early Prokofiev?!
Not really! Do you know the 1st Violin Concerto (1917)?>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywTNhMrR9vk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywTNhMrR9vk)
...or his lush Autumnal Sketch (1910, rev.1915, 1934)>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NpadKhXHM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NpadKhXHM)
I've been playing and re-playing Dorati's magnificent recording over recent days - and I've come to a heretical thought, i.e - Stravinsky's work is usually spoken of in the context of, say, Glazunov or Rimsky-Korsakov, and yet as a symphony I'm inclined to say it's better than any work in that genre written by either of his predecessors. It's not up to Tchaikovsky's standard, but, my goodness, what a fine piece it is. No wonder Dorati - great conductor that he was - thought it was worth devoting so much care and attention to it.
Is this heresy? Do shoot me down in flames...
It's certainly better than any of Rimsky-Korsakov's attempts. I'm not sure that I'd say it was better than the best of Glazunov's symphonies - Nos.4, 5 and 6 are such strong and individual works. Of course, Glazunov can sound very humdrum in the wrong hands...
I think the Stravinsky's more memorable overall than any symphony by Glazunov: No.6 has a brilliant first movement, but the rest is at a much lower level of inspiration.
Told you I was being heretical...
I'll have to listen to the Stravinsky again, but as to Glazunov I've generally preferred no.3 (except maybe for the slow movement) to no.6; at the very least no.3 sticks strongly in the mind from the opening...
I think Dorati's magnificent performance has a lot to do with my revised opinion of the piece.
Here's a very interesting book which features an analysis of Stravinsky's Symphony in E flat - and its multiple pilferings!!
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_ZUkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA172 (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_ZUkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA172)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Friday 20 April 2018, 13:28
Not really! Do you know the 1st Violin Concerto (1917)?>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywTNhMrR9vk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywTNhMrR9vk)
...or his lush Autumnal Sketch (1910, rev.1915, 1934)>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NpadKhXHM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NpadKhXHM)
Thanks for these recommendations Alan, I will give them an attentive (re-)listening to.
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Saturday 21 April 2018, 15:47
It's certainly better than any of Rimsky-Korsakov's attempts. I'm not sure that I'd say it was better than the best of Glazunov's symphonies - Nos.4, 5 and 6 are such strong and individual works. Of course, Glazunov can sound very humdrum in the wrong hands...
I must have only ever heard him in humdrum hands...feel free to suggest the right hands Mark (in another thread I guess!)
In a word: Serebrier.
Absolutely.
This listener seems to recall RK's 3rd symphony (in at least one of its two versions) being rather good and tries to beware excessive certitude :)
Although I have a high opinion of the Stravinsky symphony, it is (in my opinion) not a flawless work; the endless repetition of the main theme in the first movement, in particular, does get on my nerves after a while. Still, I enjoy the whole work more than I do most of Rimsky or Glazunov – which is not a verdict on musical quality, of course.
By the way, if you don't like Dorati's take, Pletnev (DG) offers a very different version. The fact that the piece stays together in two such contrasting approaches must mean something, I think.
Edit: thinking a bit more about it, perhaps my opinion of the piece isn't that high. This still feels like a beginner's work, stylistically somewhat unbalanced and very backward-looking. If one were to compare it to the first symphony of his contemporary Nikolai Miaskovsky, composed around the same time (and a graduation piece as well), there really is no contest in my view. In the Miaskovsky we hear someone clearing an artistic path for himself, trying and succeeding in finding his own voice. Stravinsky of course did the same, but not here. (and yes, I realize I'm being a bit of a hypocrite in light of the motto I've used for the past years)
To be fair, does the first, unrevised version of the Myaskovsky exist anymore? (I am a great Myaskovsky fan, but like Stravinsky, he revised his graduation piece- in this case 13 years later rather than 6 (1908 rev. 1921 rather than 1905-7 rev. 1913) - and in Stravinsky's case substantial comparison seems to be still possible based at least on manuscripts (as a couple of us have noted) whether or not the 1905-7 version is still performable/performed/recorded. (Have the two versions both been published? Are published scores clear on which version is being published, as with those later works by the composer that underwent revisions?)