Stravinsky: The Firebird (Solo Piano Versions) (2012)

Igor Stravinsky's 1910 ballet The Firebird is best known in its full orchestral version, and it is also quite familiar in the concert suites he extracted from it. Virtually unknown is the piano reduction Stravinsky made for rehearsal purposes. Even though there have been attempts to shape some of the ballet into a suite for solo piano, usually drawing on the music from the Danse infernale, the Berceuse, and the Finale, the full work has rarely been played on piano. Lydia Jardon performs the original reduction on this CD ... Read More

Igor Stravinsky's 1910 ballet The Firebird is best known in its full orchestral version, and it is also quite familiar in the concert suites he extracted from it. Virtually unknown is the piano reduction Stravinsky made for rehearsal purposes. Even though there have been attempts to shape some of the ballet into a suite for solo piano, usually drawing on the music from the Danse infernale, the Berceuse, and the Finale, the full work has rarely been played on piano. Lydia Jardon performs the original reduction on this CD from Ar Re-Se, in a slightly modified version that includes some material from the transcription by the composer's son, Soulima Stravinsky. It is a daunting mass of notes that demands extreme virtuosity and considerable courage to get through, and Jardon does her best to grapple with the material. The central problem that keeps this a utility version, rather than a viable recital showpiece, is the original orchestral conception, which practically defies translation into any other... Read Less