Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring and works by Debussy and Rachmaninov

Onyx / 2018

Three works inspired by Spring – Stravinsky’s iconic and revolutionary 1913 ballet The Rite of Spring depicts Russian pagan tribes celebrating the emergence of Spring with frenzied dances and ritual sacrifice. The music has a rhythmic complexity and violence that caused a riot to break out at its premier in Paris. Rachmaninov’s Spring Cantata tells the story of a husband who has struggled through the harsh Russian winter knowing his wife has been having an affair with a younger man. He swears he will kill them, but on seeing the wonder of spring all around him, relents and forgives them both. Debussy’s early ‘Printemps’ of 1885 was said to have been inspired by Botticelli’s ‘Primavera’. Debussy was staying at the Villa Medici in Rome when he wrote this colourful and joyous work.

Debussy: Printemps, suite for piano 4 hands or orchestra, L. 61
I. Très modéré
II. Modéré

Rachmaninoff: Spring, Op. 20

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
I. Adoration of the Earth
II. The Augurs of Spring – Dances of the Young Girls
III. Ritual of Abduction
IV. Spring Rounds
V. Ritual of the Rival Tribes
VI. Procession of the Sage
VII. The Sage
VIII. Dance of the Earth
I. The Sacrifice
II. Mystic Circles of the Young Girls
III .Glorification of the Chosen One
IV. Evocation of the Ancestors
V. Ritual Dance of the Ancestors
VI. Sacrificial Dance

“The RLPO are in cracking shape under Petrenko’s baton, with playing that is both vibrant and urgent … This is a most enjoyable, entertaining disc.” – Gramophone

“One of the finest recordings of The Rite of Spring, as good as those of Doráti and Stravinsky himself. The Debussy is especially welcome – one of the most evocative Spring-like works ever written, in the right hands – and these are the right hands, as they are also for the other works.” – Music Web International