Search - Stravinsky, Craft, London Symphony Orchestra :: Orpheus / Fairy's Kiss

Stravinsky was often at his best when borrowing tunes from other sources, and The Fairy's Kiss is a case in point. The source of the melodic material was Tchaikovsky, a curious choice given Stravinsky's anti- Romantic musical philosophy. But like most of us, he was a sucker for Tchaikovsky, and this ballet based on some of the composer's more obscure piano pieces is both a loving tribute and vintage Stravinsky. The music for Orpheus, by contrast, is wholly original, and it's one of the composer's most purely beautiful late works. Robert Craft, a friend of the composer, knows this music as well as anyone, and conducts with authority and affection. -- David Hurwitz