Stravinsky Symphony in E flat

[Alan Howe]

Stravinsky's uncharacteristic, but exciting (and fascinating) early symphony comes in a splendid rendition by the Zagreb Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitayenko on the Oehms label:
https://www.mdt.co.uk/stravinsky-symphony-no-1-zagreb-philharmonic-dimitri-kitayenko-oehms.html
The CD's rather short measure, but is worth buying for the symphony - of which this just might be one of its best-ever recordings.

[TerraEpon]

I really like this piece and was a bit disappointed they didn't record it on the recent CD that had the premiere of Funeral Song -- there's an interview with Riccardo Chailly (I believe) who talks about how since Funeral Song is Op. 5 they added Op. 2 to 4....the Symphony is Op. 1. But they went with the Rite instead....

[Ilja]

For the curious, it's also on Spotify.

[MartinH]

Fun symphony to play "Name the composer" with for people who think they're Stravinsky experts. Usually they guess it's unknown Tchaikovsky or some other Russian romantic. It's also a son of a gun to play. I read it in a reading session a few months ago and it gave us a devil of a time. And yes, it was the obvious disk mate for the rediscovered Funeral Song. The last thing we need is another Rite, unless Chailly was willing to go back to the original score without any retouchings, rewriting and simplifications.

[mjmosca]

This is a delightful work, rather in the style of Glazunov- I have a performance by Antal Dorati, which is excellent. Happy to hear that it continues to get attention. 

[Alan Howe]

Yes, I've ordered a copy of the great Dorati's performance. Looking forward to hearing it.

[alberto]

I have the Dorati version (also the Stravinsky's one) . Maybe the excellence of the Dorati prevented other recordings (maybe there was one by Alexander Gibson).

[mjkFendrich]

 

This is a delightful work, rather in the style of Glazunov- I have a performance by Antal Dorati, which is excellent. Happy to hear that it continues to get attention.

Thanks a lot for bringing Dorati's recording to my attention.

[TerraEpon]

Maybe the excellence of the Dorati prevented other recordings

That's probably the last thing I'd ever say about classical music, in general...

[sdtom]

Not a favorite of mine. Stravinsky is a hit or miss for me.

[Alan Howe]

Do you actually know the work, Tom? You'd never know it was Stravinsky...

[eschiss1]

To quote Wikipedia (Taruskin's book on Stravinsky also seems to go into very very great detail about the symphony, judging from the Google-preview index) "It was composed in 1905–1907 and revised in 1913."  His first work for orchestra, and dedicated to Rimsky. What about it don't you like, sdtom? (And are the recordings you have of the original version or of the 1913 revision? Not that I believe it actually matters so much in this case... I suspect the revisions affected craft more than style. I don't care for much Stravinsky myself- with some very, very odd exceptions.)

[Alan Howe]

Dorati's recording is a much grander affair than Kitayenko's, so it depends which approach you prefer. I rather like Dorati, but I would understand anyone who would prefer Kitayenko's greater athleticism.

[Christopher]

I'm very grateful for this thread.  I've always overlooked him as I based my judgment of his music on oft-played Firebird-type works, which just aren't my thing at all.  Now I have been prompted to listen to this symphony, the Funeral Song etc...and there is music there for me after all!  Does this mean I also need to explore early Prokofiev?!

[Alan Howe]

Not really! Do you know the 1st Violin Concerto (1917)?>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywTNhMrR9vk
...or his lush Autumnal Sketch (1910, rev.1915, 1934)>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NpadKhXHM