Stravinsky - Symphonies ; Rhearsals and Talks

Igor STRAVINSKY(1882-1971)

Symphonies: Rehearsals and talks

Disc 1 

Symphony in E flat*

Stravinsky in rehearsal

Stravinsky in his own words

Disc 2

Symphony in Three Movements*

Symphony in C**

Symphony of Psalms**

Columbia Symphony Orchestra*

CBC Symphony Orchestra**

Festival Singers from Toronto

Igor Stravinsky (Conductor)

Stravinsky showed little real interest in symphonic form although there are things called 'symphony' in his worklist. The closest is the very early and Glazunov-like Symphony in E flat op. 1 here to be found on CD 8. It's a little gem and rather unconsidered. Try springing it on your friends sight-unseen and see who can identify it. Listen to that finale for more of the Glazunov redolence.

After that Symphony on CD 1 comes a sequence of recordings made of Stravinsky in orchestral rehearsal. The composer benevolently persuades and instructs his artists. His attention to minuscule detail is memorable - listen to him coaching the singer in tr. 7 with grace and determination. He enchants magically and self-effacingly in tr. 8. We hear the composer conceding with sly grace when it proves impossible to make a good splice for the recording of Pulcinella. This is a great place to start your exploration of the set. You will be won over by the composer's personality first though I grant you that this sequence may well have been chosen to create a certain impression rather than to be candidly representative; fascinating nonetheless. On tr. 11 we get a miniature documentary with John McClure as commentator framing the composer's reminiscences and music and the memories of others who knew Stravinsky.

With CD 2 we come to the composer's three most characteristic symphonies. Interesting that, rather like Britten, they were never numbered. The Symphony in Three Movements is there with its violence and scar tissue yet deep rhythmic fibre and inventive spitfire clarity. The composer has a little fun at Beethoven's expense at the start of the Symphony in C - a smiling and uncruel humour is at work here. One can also pick up the influences Stravinsky had on Piston and Copland. In the Symphony of Psalms Stravinsky is sensitive and measured yet finding his grand Orff-like tread and stride in the third section at 5.03 (tr. 10 CD9). Interesting that the monumental side of this work is given a back-seat.

From reviw of The Complete works of Igor Stravinsky (Musicweb)