Search - Igor Stravinsky, Josep Pons, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada :: Stravinsky: L'Oiseau de feu; Jeu de cartes

Excellent Stravinsky from Spain

M. C. Passarella | Lawrenceville, GA | 10/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who would have thought you'd find a good Stravinsky orchestra in Spain? Good playing, yes, but an orchestra that would respond as naturally to the Russian master as to Turina or Rodrigo? Well, the Orquesta Cuidad de Granada seems to be such an orchestra. As recorded, it has a small but well-drilled string body, a brass section capable of full-throated declamation, piquant winds--just right for this music, whether the colorfully Rimskyesque Firebird or the instrumentally spare Jeu des cartes



Conductor Josep Pons emphasizes the danceable qualities of both pieces. He'll slow down for numbers that should be slow, not race as some conductors do, so that the elegant little dance at around the 4:30 mark of the "Deuxieme donne" in Jeu des cartes is just as elegant as it wants to be. Mostly in this music, Stravinsky shows a Haydnesque wit, but there are moments of grace such as this amidst all the syncopated jitter of the score.



Though the Firebird comes from a radically different period in Stravinsky's musical life, both works evince Stravinsky's life-long attraction to rhythm and faith in suave, long-limbed melodies. Only much later did he betray his Slavic soul to the rigors of twelve-tone technique (but that was one of the sins of his old age).



The Firebird--even filtered through the musical mind of Stravinsky as it was in 1945, when the ballet suite played on this disc was created--is a late-Romantic creation, of course, as lush as they come. In this recording, orchestra and conductor emphasize the color of the score and the long melodic line. This is a very attractive reading.



The recorded sound is excellent, too, with a good bit of punch (listen for the bass drum) as well as nice attention to detail and a pleasing sense of air around the instruments. Given that the price is nice, this is a fine way to acquire two works that though very different sit well together on disc.

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