Utwory na płycie:

• Petrushka: First Scene: I. The Shrovetide Fair (Introduction)
• Petrushka: First Scene: II. The Crowds
• Petrushka: First Scene: III. The Conjuring Trick
• Petrushka: First Scene: IV. Russian Dance
• Petrushka: Second Scene: I. Petrushkas Cell
• Petrushka: Third Scene: I. The Moors Cell
• Petrushka: Third Scene: II. Dance of the Ballerina
• Petrushka: Third Scene: III. Waltz (The Ballerina and the Moor)
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: I. The Shrovetide Fair (towards evening)
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: II. Dance of the Wet-Nurses
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: III. A Peasant Enters with a Bear
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: IV. The Gypsy Girls Dance
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: V. Dance of the Coachmen and Grooms
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: VI. The Mummers
• Petrushka: Fourth Scene: VII. Petrushkas Death
• Jeu de cartes: I. First Deal
• Jeu de cartes: II. Second Deal
• Jeu de cartes: III. Third Deal

Igor Strawiński (1882-1971) by synem Fiodora - śpiewaka operowego i gwiazdy petersbur-skiego Teatru Maryjskiego oraz jednym z najbardziej wpływowych kompozytorów XX wieku. A zatem podwójny argument, aby znaleźć się na płycie w prestiżowej serii wytwórni Mar-iinsky. Wyjątkowość tego krążka podkreśla dodatkowo prezentacja oryginalnej wersji baletu Pietruszka z 1911 roku. A także zestawienie tego charakterystycznego i doskonale znanego utworu z mniej znanym baletem Jeu de cartes, którego komponowanie zakończyło się w 1937 roku. Pomysł na ten karciany w tematyce utwór wywodzi się z entuzjazmu Strawińskiego dla kart, szczególnie gry w pokera. Dwa stylistycznie różne dzieła, z różnych okresów, ukazują kompozytora wszechstronnego. Wykonawcy, przyporządkowani do tego cyklu, reprezentują najwyższy kunszt. Doskonałe.

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Part of the Mariinsky Label’s raison d’etre is to shine a light on great Russian works, especially those which Artistic Director Valery Gergiev feels don’t have an adequate selection of top quality recordings. Here he explores the genius of Stravinsky through a theme of ballet, contrasting Petrushka with one of the composer’s lesser known works, the witty Jeu de cartes. Petrushka is one of Stravinsky’s most celebrated works and a product of his famous collaboration with Diaghilev that also brought The Firebird and Rite of Spring into the world. Presented here in the composer’s original 1911 version, it tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets who are brought to life during the 1830 Shrovetide Fair in Saint Petersburg. Its colourful music typifies Stravinsky’s work during the period and is characterised by the famous bi-tonal ‘Petrushka chord’. A ballet in ‘three deals’, 1937’s Jeu de cartes stems from Stravinsky’s life-long enthusiasm for cards; poker in particular. A commission by Lincoln Kirstein and his newly formed American Ballet Company, it was composed during Stravinsky’s neoclassical period. The whimsical music focuses on the deceitful Joker who thinks himself unbeatable, thanks to a chameleon-like ability to become any card. During the work the Joker wages battle with other hands, but after two victorious rounds and the appearance of a third, he is vanquished by a Royal Flush of Hearts. Stravinsky regularly read La Fontaine during the composition of Jeu de cartes, chosing this quote to include in the score: ‘We must wage continual war against the wicked. Peace in itself is a fine thing, I agree, but what use can it be with enemies who do not keep their word?’

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RECORDED: 14 JANUARY 2014 (PETRUSHKA) & 26, 29, 31 DECEMBER (JEU DE CARTES) AT MARIINSKY THEATRE, ST PETERSBURG