Poulenc (Les) biches; Stravinsky (The) Rite of Spring
High-definition performances of two scores for the Ballets Russes
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Signum
Magazine Review Date: 9/2011
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: SIGCD205
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(The) Rite of Spring |
Igor Stravinsky, Composer
BBC National Chorus of Wales BBC National Orchestra of Wales Igor Stravinsky, Composer Thierry Fischer, Conductor |
(Les) Biches |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
BBC National Chorus of Wales BBC National Orchestra of Wales Francis Poulenc, Composer Thierry Fischer, Conductor |
Author: Edward Seckerson
The precision of the Welsh orchestra is impressive, the clarity and vitality of the sound throwing up detail that one thought had long since stopped being surprising. But here it is – freshly minted, vivid, and always with the footwork and bodily gyrations of the score as prime motivator. Yes, there are performances of rougher hue and bloodier thunder (Gergiev, for instance) but few invoking tales of the Ballets Russes in such high definition. The harmonic dissonance is always seductive in Fischer’s hands – making the coupling of Poulenc’s Les biches all the more appropriate and provocative.
Listening to the little wind chorales that punctuate the Poulenc, it’s almost as if Stravinsky’s primitive chants have been groomed for the salon. An altogether more titillating rite ensues. The complete score is afforded the luxury of the BBC National Chorus in the three numbers setting 17th-century texts. If they sound incongruous, they are – a kind of fashion accessory in a score that it was decreed should include singing. It was/is a kind of Sylphides for the 1920s, full of trendy allusions: the dapper Rondeau with its jazzy syncopations, the delicious insinuations of the Adagietto, and the Rag-Mazurka (with its naughty Chopin F sharp minor Polonaise quote) which is only a whisker away from a charleston. Fischer and his orchestra are again properly bracing and audacious, and the fact that both these performances were recorded live is further testament to the thorough preparation and high quality of the work.
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