Stravinsky - Petrushka, Symphony In 3 Movements (Rozhdestvensky) (1987)

A Russian master conductor conducts a Russian master composer

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Stravinsky - Petrushka, Symphony In 3 Movements (Rozhdestvensky)

Having listened to countless recordings of these two works I feel I can speak with some authority regards interpretations of them. The wonder of Rozhdestvensky's approach is the fact that he locates these works firmly within a Russain tradition that includes Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin et al. Just listen to the opening of the 3rd movement of the Symphony in Three Movements as an example. The wide spaced octave orchestration of the opening passage immediately place this in the same arena as Mussorgsky and The Gates of Kiev (from 'Pictures at an Exhibition'). Perhaps no other conductor I have heard quite appreciates the sheer Russian-ness of passages like this in Stravinsky's music. Rozhdestvensky of course being Russian himself brings to this music a certain authority that other conductors seem to miss. This is probably due to Stravinsky being seen almost always as an international composer (perhaps Russian in his early years, then French and finally American) and therefore hard to locate immediately within a Russian tradition especially with a work from his American period like The Symphony in 3 Movements. But it is there. And it takes a Russian interpreter to bring it out. As Rozhdestvensky does here. Well worth a listen.