BaL 2.03.13 - Stravinsky's Firebird Suite

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am Building a Library
William Mival with a survey of recordings of The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky.

Available recordings:-

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (DVD)
LSO, Claudio Abbado
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, Karl Bohm
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez (DVD)
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sergiu Celibadache
Royal Concergebouw Orchestra , Riccardo Chailly
Bastille Opera Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung
Orchestra Sinfonica RAI di Torino, Andre Cluytens
Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePriest
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer
Kapelle der Staatsoper Berlin, Oskar Fried
Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev (DVD)
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Giuliani
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
French National Radio Orchestra, Jasha Horenstein
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Jasha Horenstein
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
LSO, Neeme Jarvi
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi
Philharmonia Orchestra, Josef Krips
LSO, Sir Charles Mackerras
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene (download)
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy (DVD)
Belgian Radio & Television Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari
LSO, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallish
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Carl Schuricht
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Shaw
LPO, Sir Georg Solti
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
London Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stowkowski
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
CBC Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
Philharmonia Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gunter Wand
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This programme was deferred from a few months ago because the reviewer was ill.

[Nick Armstrong]

Just the Suite, not the ballet in its entirety, is that right? So this stunner won't be in the running?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stravinsky-LOiseau-Feu-Les-Si%C3%A8cles/dp/B00563YIWC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361553166&sr=8-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cw_D0VHcYk

[BBMmk2]

I( was thinking that tooi, Cali because, this being the score that it is, you woiuld think that the CD Reiview team would review the whole ballet?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes. I was surprised too, but that's what it says on the Radio 3 online schedule.

[Bryn]

But which suite? There are at least three by Stravinsky's hand.

[amateur51]

Just the Suite, not the ballet in its entirety, is that right? So this stunner won't be in the running?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stravinsky-LOiseau-Feu-Les-Si%C3%A8cles/dp/B00563YIWC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361553166&sr=8-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cw_D0VHcYk

This one would be in the running

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2geXJ5Oiq60

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Just the Suite, not the ballet in its entirety, is that right? So this stunner won't be in the running?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stravinsky-LOiseau-Feu-Les-Si%C3%A8cles/dp/B00563YIWC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361553166&sr=8-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cw_D0VHcYk

Disappointing not to consider the complete ballet. I'd second your nomination of the Les Siècles disc, which is indeed a stunner. I'd also have added Andrew Litton's Bergen Phil disc, which is foundation-shatteringly wonderful. I've just reviewed their latest disc of Rachmaninov (Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead, The Rock) and am convinced this partnership rivals the Jansons/ Oslo/ Chandos team of the 80s/90s.

[Nick Armstrong]

This one would be in the running

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2geXJ5Oiq60

Typical ammy one-upmanship!!



Fab clip! Thanks! What a document!

And there's a couple of seats free in the stalls! (Mind you, they'd have had to park my pram outside But the youthful amateur could have knotted his sheets together, lowered himself out of his secure reform school, and slipped along for the evening though! )

[Petrushka]

But which suite? There are at least three by Stravinsky's hand.

Yes, I was wondering that.

[seabright]

If two more Stokowski recordings are shown on Amazon, with the LSO from 1967 on Decca, and with his own Symphony Orchestra (a mixture of New York Philharmonic and NBC Symphony players) from 1950 on Cala, do they nevertheless count as being "unavailable"?

[Barbirollians]

I assume it is the 1919 suite ?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

If two more Stokowski recordings are shown on Amazon, with the LSO from 1967 on Decca, and with his own Symphony Orchestra (a mixture of New York Philharmonic and NBC Symphony players) from 1950 on Cala, do they nevertheless count as being "unavailable"?

You are quite right, seabright. And there's another Stokowski version with the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

(And welcome to the forum.)

[BBMmk2]

Welcome eabright

It's a pityt that not all the ballet is being reviewed?

[Gordon]

In addition to the Krips [1963] and Svetlanov listed above the Philharmonia recorded a complete Firebird with Ansermet [issued as Decca 414 141 2 - it may have been a Phase 4! EDIT: NO it wasn't but the 1967 LSO/Stokowski listed was] at Kingsway.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Firebird+ansermet

They also recorded the suite with Giulini in 1956 [SAX 2279, SXLP 30067 or EMI CD 575 462 2] and an excellent stereo recording it is for its time, also from Kingsway with Dennis Brain opening the finale a year or so before his untimely death.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Conductors-Century-Carlo-Giulini/dp/B00006I9K7/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1361786605&sr=1-2

There is also a suite with Galliera/Philharmonia and another from Ansermet and the LPO both from 1946 but somehow I don't think they will get an airing!!