Cleveland Orchestra at the Arsht Center, Miami.

[cubanmiamiboy]

On saturday 2 i went to see the Cleveland Philarmonic Orchestra at the Arsht Center. In january this wonderful ensemble , under the direction of Franz Welser-Most, started a 10 years residency in Miami, and i just hope they keep their beautiful job and wish them the best. The program presented included 2 Stravinski's works: The Suite from "Pulcinella" and the Suite from "The Firebird".

"Pulcinella":

The music of this ballet can be tricky for those without prior knowledge of this Stravinski's work. I myself never had the chance to listen to the whole Suite live, and i must say sometimes it was hard for me to even identify the century in which this score was written. The melody sounds so "classical' , yet one can tell something is clearly "not right"-(there are what seems to be "wrong notes" here and there, and the orchestration sounds definitely nothing like that of works from the "classical" period of the XIX Century). He made some openly creative appropiations from the history of music, which are central to his so called "neo-classical" period. I did some researching and found some answers on this particular Suite, which seemed to have borrowed its tunes from a much more older work by the italian composer Giovanni Pattista Pergolesi (1710-1736). Overall, i certainly enjoyed enormously the "old fashiohned" feeling of this ballet music, taken from XVIII Century material.

"The firebird":

The musical vocabulary of "The Firebird" oscilates between heavy chromatism to depict the supernatural creatures and folkson simplicity for the human characters. Low strings introduce us to the magic realm of Kashchei, where Prince Ivan encounters the Firebird. The thrilling outburst of musical radiance that goes with the Firebird appearences shows Stravinsky's most lavish and opulent orchestration. Then follows a lenghty passage of pastoral calm with expecially gorgeous wind scoring. The next two sections involve violent chords that set off a sequence of frenzied rythms as they are compelled to an infernal dance to the point of exhaustation, which goes down to a dreamy soft tune first heard in the basson. At the end, we can hear a signal from the horn, marking the rising of the sun over the kingdom while mentally visuallizing Prince Ivan's celebration over the infernal beings. What a beautiful music. It seems to me that Stravinsky's own imagination caught fire from the bird and produced a music of incredible brilliance that draws not only on the orchestral wizardy he had learned first-hand from Rimsky-Korwakov, but obviously from a great knowledge of traditional Russian folk tunes. Also i want to mention that the version presented by Welser-Most is Stravinsky's 1919 arrangment-(He rearranged the score three times after its 1910 premiere, in 1911, 1919 and 1945). I only wish i could see the whole ballet live, being Liepa's 1992 reconstruction "The return of the Firebird" with Ananiashvili my only clue to this lovely creation.

[dirac]

Thank you so much for that report, cubanmiamiboy.

I love "The Firebird" too.

[Anthony_NYC]

Lucky you to have such a great orchestra in residency! I wonder, did they do the complete Pulcinella, or the suite? (There would be three singers if the former, and I'm wondering who they were.) I hope Villella was in the audience, because I keep wishing he would revive the version of the ballet that Balanchine and Robbins choreographed for him at NYCB. I'd love to hear reminiscences of it if anybody here saw it.

On the other hand, I have seen revivals of the original Firebird on several occasions, and while it's always kind of enjoyable, it seems dated now and never lives up to the magic of the score for me. I'll take the Balanchine/Robbins Firebird (to the 1945 suite) any day, which may be as much spectacle as ballet, but I just adore it, with that trippy Chagall decor that seems just the perfect visualization of the music.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Lucky you to have such a great orchestra in residency! I wonder, did they do the complete Pulcinella, or the suite? (There would be three singers if the former, and I'm wondering who they were.) I hope Villella was in the audience, because I keep wishing he would revive the version of the ballet that Balanchine and Robbins choreographed for him at NYCB. I'd love to hear reminiscences of it if anybody here saw it.

On the other hand, I have seen revivals of the original Firebird on several occasions, and while it's always kind of enjoyable, it seems dated now and never lives up to the magic of the score for me. I'll take the Balanchine/Robbins Firebird (to the 1945 suite) any day, which may be as much spectacle as ballet, but I just adore it, with that trippy Chagall decor that seems just the perfect visualization of the music.

Anthony, the orchestra is sublime. Yes, we're lucky to have a symphonic ensemble considered to be among today's most revered in the world. I really hope that, with their first class allure, they continue to set standards of performing excellence and imaginative programming that serve as model for the audience and other orchestras alike. Now Michael Tylson's "New World Symphony",Eduardo Marturet's "Miami Symphony Orchestra" and Elaine Rinaldi's "Orchestra Miami" will have a strong competitor...It's also worthy to note that under the clever conduction of Mr. Franz Welser-Most, the orchestra has launched, besides Miami, other successful residencies in the United States and Europe, including Vienna and Lucerne.

In reference to "Pulcinella", they did the Suite (1922), which is , as you know, majorly reduced from the ballet score (about 20 minutes being left). Also, what i find amazing about this beautiful composition is Stravinsky's choice to return 200 something years back in time to rewrite the works of a late Baroque composer, which to me is something of a shock from a composer who, with his "Rite of Spring" had earned a reputation as the most radical of all musical revolutionaries only a few years earlier. Oh, i would love to see the Balanchine/Robbins revival. Maybe Villella one day...

[dirac]

On the other hand, I have seen revivals of the original Firebird on several occasions, and while it's always kind of enjoyable, it seems dated now and never lives up to the magic of the score for me.

I've never seen a production that I really, really liked. Maybe it's one of those ballets that's better in the theatre of the mind, or perhaps I just like the score a little too much.

I hope Villella was in the audience, because I keep wishing he would revive the version of the ballet that Balanchine and Robbins choreographed for him at NYCB. I'd love to hear reminiscences of it if anybody here saw it.

I would, too.