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Whatever happened to Petruchka?


David Ayers

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It seems so rarely to get played. Lots of recordings. But. For example, Salonen has a Stravinsky series in 2015-6. 17 pieces in five concerts. But no Petruchka. No Firebird either, but that is a staple here in London and like the Rite you can hear it twice or more a year (and sometimes do). Boulez conducts it and I think I remember hearing him do it, but otherwise it comes up very little.

I know it well from record and for that reason I've always thought of it as a staple. But is it?

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Didn't he get killed by The Moor?

Don't think I've ever heard this live - one I'd like to hear. Very colourful score. In many ways still of the Rimsky world yet the rhythms and/or accents are already looking well ahead. Very singable/whistleable tunes throughout...except I get caught out by the irregularity.

I heard the suite from The Firebird in Oxford a couple of years back but don't recall a performance of the full ballet. To be honest, I only play my full recording occasionally - a lot of it is very quiet. Perhaps needs the visuals. Whereas Petrushka seems to me to be able to stand alone in a concert performance.

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Magnus Lindberg by contrast does not quote Petrushka, but it was his Feria which prompted my thoughts. Feria means holiday, in the sense of market-day, and Petrushka open with an evocation of a market day. Lindberg's piece is based on a fanfare which vaguely put me in mind of the trumpet entry in Petrushka. Not even close, really, but that was the line of thought. A terrific Lindberg piece...

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Not a ballet but I always hear The Song of the Nightingale alongside Petrushka/Firebird. It has a similar late-19thC exoticism/Orientalism.

One of the joys of the big complete Stravinsky box is the full performance of the original opera of The Nightingale. You can also hear Les Noces in some of the vocals there - think it came from around the same time.

I could imagine a very nice 'Total Immersion' weekend based around Stravinsky - mixing up well known things like Petrushka with the unfamiliar; large orchestral with chamber and vocal; early, neo-classical and post WWII. Would be delightful.

Edited by A Lark Ascending
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