Stravinsky – Pulcinella | Strauss – Der Bürger als Edelmann
Two neoclassical works inspired by past centuries, performed by the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.
Stravinsky – Pulcinella | Strauss – Der Bürger als Edelmann
Two neoclassical works inspired by past centuries, performed by the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.
Album premiere: 2010
Publishers: DUX, Witold Lutosławski Wrocław Philharmonic
Conductor: Jacek Kaspszyk
Performers: NFM Wrocław Philharmonic
Sergei Diaghilev, an outstanding Russian ballet reformer, was known for organising large-scale artistic events. His Saisons Russes in Paris (a series of painting exhibitions and concerts of Russian music), and especially the famous Ballets Russes (one of the stars of which was V.F. Nijinsky), became the inspiration for the activities of many artists of that time, including Diaghilev’s compatriot Igor Stravinsky. Their meeting resulted in the creation of several ballets, often depicting the history of legendary Russia; the most important of these include The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. (…) In the works created after World War I, the composer turned to the European musical tradition, combining various motifs of the past with innovative compositional techniques. Such works include Pulcinella (1920) – a ballet suite with which Stravinsky initiated the broadly understood idea of musical neoclassicism. Like the previous compositions, this ballet was commissioned by Diaghilev, who – enriched by the experience of several trips to Italy – was at that time collecting materials related to commedia dell’arte and the history of baroque music. (…)
Successful neoclassical attempts to develop works of early music were also made by Richard Strauss; his baroque interests included the works of François Couperin and Jean-Baptiste Lully. Strauss adapted Le Bourgeois gentilhomme from the Molière-Lully pairing, turning the theatrical music composed for this timeless work into a kind of prelude to Ariadne auf Naxos. (…) Between his Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella the German researcher sees analogies regarding the genesis of both compositions (stage provenance), their chamber-sized line-up and the dominance of dances, along with the idea of fusing the baroque style with a new musical language.
Ramona Słobodzian
