"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Sunday Classics: In "The Firebird," Stravinsky's genius exploded on the international stage
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The composer conducts the New Philharmonia Orchestra in the final eight minutes or so, the "Berceuse" and "Final Hymn," from his Firebird (in the form of his 1945 suite), in London's Royal Festival Hall in 1965.
"Mark the young composer well. He is a man on the brink of celebrity."
-- Sergei Diaghilev, legendary impresario of the Ballets Russes, during June 1910 rehearsals for The Firebird
by Ken
You can read the history books to learn how young Igor Stravinsky came to be commissioned to compose The Firebird. The result certainly bore out the prediction of Diaghilev, who went on to commission two more ballets from the young composer: Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. And in the process the history of 20th-century music was changed.
Musically and temperamentally The Firebird undoubtedly looks backward as much as forward, steeped as it is in the passionate Russian Romanticism of Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. And so it's not always considered entirely reputable by ardent Stravinskyites. I love the piece unabashedly and unapologetically, though, and hope I've whetted your appetite for it with our previews: Friday night's, focusing on how the ballet starts (with Fireworks thrown in as a bonus), and last night's focusing on how it ends (with the Scherzo à la russe as a bonus).
Today we're just going to plunge into the thing, using as a rather sneaky point of entry the various paths Stravinsky himself laid out for audiences: in addition to the complete ballet, which he didn't think really suitable for concert purposes, the second and third of the three suites he arranged from it.
I'm not a dance person, and really don't think of Stravinsky's ballets in dance terms. But I thought it might be interesting to start out with a reminder that this music was after all written to be danced to.
The opening of The Firebird,with Nina Ananiashvili as the Firebird and Andris Liepa as Ivan Tsarevich, from a film performance by Liepa's dance troupe with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra conducted by Andrei Chistiakov, which is available on DVD and complete-in-chunks on YouTube. On the other side of the click-through we're going to see the other end of the ballet.
Sunday Classics preview: In which we hear "The Firebird" come to its rousing close
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Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony play the "Infernal Dance" and "Berceuse" ("Lullaby," or "Cradle Song") from Stravinsky's Firebird.
by Ken
For our Stravinsky tidbit tonight, we have the utterly joyful little Scherzo à la russe, or Scherzo Russian-style, which sounds like it might date from the period of Fireworks (1908), which we heard in last night's preview, and The Firebird (1910), of which we heard some lovely chunks last night, but in fact was composed a good deal later, in 1944 -- and originally for jazz orchestra, specifically that of Paul Whiteman, who doesn't seem to have had much use for it, for reasons that may not be all that mysterious listening to it. The following year the composer produced the full-orchestra version we know.
The publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, provides this description: "An aborted film score, for a wartime story with a Russian setting, resulted in this Russian-sounding scherzo." Here's a student orchestra treading carefully through it:
Travis Jürgens conducts the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky's Scherzo à la russe, December 2008.
Sunday Classics preview: In which we ease our way into Stravinsky's "Firebird"
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Pierre Boulez conducts Stravinsky's Fireworks, composed two years before The Firebird.
by Ken
I don't remember what exactly got me to thinking about the first of the three great ballets Stravinsky composed in the breakthrough years of 1910-13, The Firebird. It was the composer's own 1961 recording of the complete ballet that I targeted, and while I've never stinted in my enthusiasm for those composer-conducted recordings of his "basic" ballets (which for many happy years in the LP era filled a pair of wonderful three-for-the-price-of-two boxes), I still wasn't prepared for how thoroughly I enjoyed hearing the Firebird again. So that's where we're headed Sunday.
We're going to hear a couple of luscious chunks from that recording, but first I think we should hear the composer's own recording of Fireworks.
STRAVINSKY: Fireworks
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded in New York, Dec. 17, 1963
Now we're going to here the wonderfully atmospheric opening sequence of The Firebird, and then the soaringly songful "Khovorod (Round Dance) of the Princesses."
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird: Opening Sequence -- Introduction; Kashchei's Enchanted Garden; The Firebird enters, pursued by Ivan Tsarevich; Dance of the Firebird
Khorovod (Round Dance) of the Princesses
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded in Hollywood, Jan. 23-25, 1961
More Firebird (including one of music's all-time great conclusions) and another Stravinsky miniature bonus, en route to Sunday's post, when it's all Firebird.
[12/5/2010] In "The Firebird," Stravinsky's genius exploded on the international stage (continued)
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And the end of the piece --joined in mid-"Berceuse" -- again with Ananiashvili as the Firebird, whose magic bests the evil Kashchei's, and Liepa as the Prince who then saves the day
I didn't make an issue of it in the previews, but the recordings I drew on were all from performances of the complete Firebird rather than either of the familiar suites, about which more in a moment. I hoped eventually to connect this to the reason I made a point of starting, in our previews, from recordings of the complete Firebird rather than the suites -- about which more in a moment -- is to suggest why a lot of listeners still enjoy hearing the score this way, even though the composer himself seems to have been dubious on this score. He didn't object to performances of the whole thing, but he seems to have thought both performers and audiences would have a better experience with his final (1945) suite, which includes about two-thirds of the score.
You'll note that on Friday night, after the Introduction, we heard music that doesn't appear in any of the suites, and again last night, rather than plunge us right into the "Infernal Dance," I included the tiny bit (under a minute) of the dance of the evil demigod Kashchei's retainers enchanted by the Firebird. The fact is that, while there may be a certain amount of music in the full score that Stravinsky thought of as "filler," a composer of his genius doesn't really write "filler" music. I daresay there's music that theoretically falls into this category, music that was left out of even the significantly more expansive 1945 suite, that is some listeners' favorite Firebird music.
BUT FIRST, THE SCENARIO
I suppose at this point we really ought to lay out the "plot" of The Firebird, though it's important to remember that this was changing all the time Stravinsky was composing, and all the time its first choreographer, Mikhail Fokine was staging it, and it can be changed at will by every choreographer who takes it on.
Stravinsky's longtime assistant and later collaborator Robert Craft, an important conductor of the composer's works in his own right, included in his excelelnt notes for his MusicMasters recording of The Firebird this rendering of the program note from the June 25, 1910, Paris premiere of the ballet by the Ballets Russes:
The theme for this ballet fantasy is taken from one of the most popular Russian folk tales, one which best demonstrates the power of the poetic vision of the creators of the old legends of Slav mythology. One day Ivan Tsarevich sees a marvelous bird of flaming gold. He pursues but fails to catch it, and only succeeds in snatching one of its glittering feathers. The chase has taken him into the domain of Kastchei the Immortal, demi-god of evil, who attempts to capture him and, as he has already done with many valiant knights and princes, turn him to stone. Kastchei's daughters and thirteen princesses intercede for Ivan Tsarevich and try to sve him. Finally the Firebird appears, breaks Kastchei's spell, and rescues everyone. Ivan Tsarevich and the knights, delivered from their fate, seize the golden apples from Kastchei's garden.
[Note: "Kastchei" is the standard French spelling of the villain's name, and Craft sticks to it. I'm using "Kashchei" as closer to the traditional Russian form.]
Craft adds:
This neglects to say that the ballet concludes with the coronation and wedding of Ivan Tsarevich, which was Stravinsky's idea, possibly because the program note was written before the final scene had been completely worked out, and it does not explain that the Firebird's supernatural powers are stronger than the demonic powers of Kastchei.
He then appends two lengthy paragraph's worth of plot detail gleaned from the memoirs of Michael Fokine, the original choreographer, and a good deal of other information as well. I think, though, that this will do for our purposes.
1. SHORT AND SUITE: THE 1919 SUITE
As early as 1911, the year after the premiere of The Firebird, Stravinsky made a suite for concert performance. It was supplanted in 1919 by the relatively compact suite that's still played with some frequency, appreciated for its compactness and for its use of the full original orchestration. (When the composer produced his final "version" of The Firebird, the 1945 suite, he not only included a good deal more music but subjected the orchestration to an overhaul.)
The 1919 suite is so compact that, unless I've missed something here or there (entirely possible the way I've been jumping around among versions and recordings), we've actually heard, in the course of our two previews, everything that's in it. We're going to start by hearing this version section by section. (They're not really "movements.").
General note on Firebird nomenclature: I apologize that the section designations I've used in various places in this post don't sync up well. Stravinsky himself used, or more likely accepted, different terminology at different stages of the work's history, and the nomenclature is further confused by intermingling of French, Russian, and familiar English forms.
STRAVINSKY: Suite from The Firebird (1919)
i. Introduction
ii. Dance of the Firebird
iii. Khorovod (Round Dance) of the Princesses
iv. Infernal Dance
v. Berceuse
vi. Finale
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. EMI, recorded Oct. 13-15, 1969
Now we're going to hear the whole thing strung together, in a performance by probably the dominant Russian conductor of the 20th century, the longtime music director of the country's foremost orchestra, the then Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Philharmonic, Yevegeny Mravinsky.
STRAVINSKY: Suite from The Firebird (1919) (contents as above)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeny Mravinsky, cond. Leningrad Masters, recorded 1962
2. MORE MUSIC, AND STREAMLINED ORCHESTRATION: THE 1945 SUITE
As noted above, for the 1945 suite Stravinsky not only packed in more music -- roughly two-thirds of the whole -- but streamlined and tweaked the original orchestration. Although he didn't oppose the idea of performing the complete ballet, he clearly thought that this was the way most listeners would prefer to take their Firebird, and in 1967 he made a new Firebird recording, this time of the 1945 suite. We're going to hear it section by section, with a bit of combining.
STRAVINSKY: Suite from The Firebird (1945)
i. Introduction; ii. Prelude and Dance of the Firebird; iii. Variations (The Firebird)
iv. Pantomime I; v. Pas de deux (The Firebird and Ivan Tsarevich)
vi. Pantomime II; vii. Scherzo: Dance of the Princesses; viii. Pantomime III
ix. Round Dance (Khorovod) of the Princesses
x. Infernal Dance
xi. Berceuse
xii. Final Hymn
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded in Hollywood, Jan. 18, 1967
Now, once again, we're going to hear the whole thing put together -- in a terrific 1996 recording by Yuri Simonov (born 1941), who made a tremendous impression on New Yorkers at the time of the Bolshoi Opera's historic first visit, in 1975, when (still in his early 30s) he was the composer's precocious chief conductor (1970-85), and then seemed to more or less disappear from view. But this coupling of the 1945 Firebird Suite and The Rite of Spring, one of a number of recordings he made with the RPO, is spectacular, combining a native feel for the music, with its folk origins, and considerable orchestral sophistication and virtuosity.
STRAVINSKY: Suite from The Firebird (1945) (contents as above) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov, cond. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Intersound, recorded 1996
3. AND FINALLY, THE WHOLE SHEBANG
I'm not sure anything more needs to be said, except to explain that I've picked a relatively harmless break point (the roughly 45-minute ballet is continuous) at which we're going to switch recordings, just to mix things up a little. The Ansermet recording of the first half isn't the late one with the New Philharmonia Orchestra from which we heard the score's final numbers last night; it's the Decca early-stereo one with his own Suisse Romande orchestra. I think the Craft recording completes it rather well.
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird [Note that the numbering within each of our "halves" of the ballet has no significance except to reflect the track divisions carried over from the respective original CDs.]
1. Introduction 2. Kashchei's Enchanted Garden 3. The Firebird enters, pursued by Ivan Tsarevich 4. The Firebird's Dance 5. Ivan Tsarevich captures the Firebird 6. The Firebird begs to be released; Entrance of the 13 Enchanted Princesses 7. The Princesses play with the golden apples (Scherzo) 8. Sudden appearance of Ivan Tsarevich 9. Khorovod (Round Dance) of the Princesses Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, cond. Decca, recorded 1955
10. Daybreak 11. Ivan Tsarevich, entering Kashchei's palace, sets off the Magic Carillon, thereby alerting Kashchei's Monster-Guardians, who capture him 12. Entrance of Kashchei the Immortal 13. Dialogue between Kashchei and Ivan Tsarevich 14. The Princesses plead for mercy 15. The Firebird enters 16. Dance of Kashchei's retinue under the Firebird's magic spell 17. Infernal Dance of Kashchei's subjects under the Firebird's magic spell 18. Berceuse of the Firebird 19. Kashchei awakens 20. Kashchei's death 21. Scene 2: Kashchei's spell is broken, his palace disappears, and the petrified knights return to life; General thanksgiving; The marriage and coronation of Prince Ivan and the Princess of Unearthly Beauty as tsar and tsarina Philharmonia Orchestra, Robert Craft, cond. MusicMasters, recorded c1996
ABOUT STRAVINSKY'S 1961 FIREBIRD RECORDING
That recording, which we sampled in the previews, still seems to me clearly the Firebird to have if you're having only one. It's been issued on CD a bunch of times; this disc also includes the recordings of Fireworks and the Scherzo à la russe we heard in the previews, and the Scherzo fantastique as well.
[12/4/2010] Preview: In which we hear "The Firebird" come to its rousing close (continued)
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Like it says up top, The Firebird comes to a rousing close. We've ditched MTT and the SFSO, who really don't manage a terribly rousing close, in favor of Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony, who do better -- presumably around December 1992, when they made their audio recording of the complete ballet for DG. The horn solo is played, as a YouTube commenter notes, by the remarkable Dale Clevenger, who has been the orchestra's horn principal since 1966 -- yes, he's still on the job! UPDATE: I just watched the clip again and noticed that at the end it identifies the source as Cologne's MusikTriennale 2000.
We're actually going to work our way step by step through the final sequence of The Firebird, but first we still have to hear the composer's recording of the beguiling little Scherzo à la russe.
STRAVINSKY: Scherzo à la russe Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded in New York, Dec. 17, 1963
Now we jump to the three major final events of The Firebird, which we're going to hear first separtely. Since I want to save the composer's recording for a traversal of the complete final sequence, for the separate sections we're going to hear the last of the three Firebirds recorded by one of the great Stravinsky conductors, Ernest Ansermet.
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird: Dance of Kashchei's retinue enchanted by the Firebird; Infernal dance of Kashchei's subjects
Berceuse (Lullaby); Awakening of Kashchei Death of Kashchei
Scene 2: Disappearance of the palace and Kashchei's spells; Animation of the petrified knights; General rejoicing
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet, cond. Decca, recorded November 1968
Now let's put it together.
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird: Concluding sequence (contents as above) Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, cond. Columbia/CBS/Sony, recorded in Hollywood, Jan. 23-25, 1961
As promised, it's all Firebird-- in all three familiar forms, the compact 1919 Suite, the longer (as well as orchestrally revised) 1945 Suite, and the complete ballet.
