Mojca Erdmann, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Jukka-Pekka Saraste - Stravinsky: Le rossignol (Sung in Russian) (2017) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Le rossignol, Act I: Act I: Introduction
02. Le rossignol, Act I: Act I: Névod brosálnebésnyi duk
03. Le rossignol, Act I: Act I: Akh! S néba vysotý blesnúv zvezdá upál
04. Le rossignol, Act I: Act I: Vot i dostígli my opúshki lés
05. Le rossignol, Act I: Act I: Solóvushko, nash nesravnénneishi
06. Le rossignol, Act II: Act II: Ognyá, ognyá, ognyá zhivéi ognyá
07. Le rossignol, Act II: Act II: Marche chinois
08. Le rossignol, Act II: Act II: Chanson du rossigno
09. Le rossignol, Act II: Act II: Kogdá sólntse zashl
10. Le rossignol, Act II: Act II: Tsk, tsk … Klyu, klyu … Éto shto
11. Le rossignol, Act III: Act III: My vse pred tobó
12. Le rossignol, Act III: Act III: Akh zdes', ya zdes
13. Le rossignol, Act III: Act III: Mne slú' nrávitsy
14. Le rossignol, Act III: Act III: Cortège solenne
15. Pribaoutki: No. 1. Kornílo
16. Pribaoutki: No. 2. Natášhka
17. Pribaoutki: No. 3. Polkóvni
18. Pribaoutki: No. 4. Stárets i záyat
19. 2 Poèmes de Paul Verlaine, Op. 9: No. 2. La lune blanche
20. 2 Poèmes de Paul Verlaine, Op. 9: No. 1. Un grand sommeil noir


Igor Stravinskys later stage works Mavra (1922), Oedipus Rex (1927/28) or The Rakes Progress (1951) are more than matched by his early 'lyrical fairy tale in three acts' Le Rossignol, which occupies a special place due to its brevity at scarcely 45 minutes. It is also unusual for the fairy-tale subject matter, based on a story called The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen; for its language the original was Danish, this recording features the Russian version, yet it was premiered in French in Paris in 1914; and for its style, especially since there was a significant gap in time between the composition of the first and the other two acts, a fact that the composer was admittedly able to justify from a point of view of the shaping of the plot, since the cold atmosphere of the Chinese emperors royal household required a quite different musical approach to that of the beginning and end of the tale. The emperor, who is first enchanted by the birds song, then banishes the real thing when visiting emissaries present him with a mechanical nightingale which he names 'first singer'. When the emperor later falls ill, the nightingale returns to sing to him, and saves his life.Stravinskys sophisticated musical chinoiserie, which - despite the large orchestral formation - always sounds like chamber music, is in the safest of hands with the WDR Symphony Orchestra of Cologne under the baton of Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The singers too deliver a brilliant and incisive performance: above all, Mojca Erdmann, whose lyrical coloratura soprano delivers vocal embellishments, high tessitura and ability to effortlessly hit top notes up to D flat and D, thus perfectly conjuring up the almost inspired twittering of a nightingale to lyrics, no less. The dramatic soprano Marina Prudenskaya as the Cook and alto Mayram Sokolova as Death both lend a darker tone to the story. The Fisherman from the framework plot (tenor Evgeny Akimov) is a convincing idiomatic narrator, while the baritone Vladimir Vaneev gives a fine reading of the Emperor. Six short, finely instrumented songs by Stravinsky, sung by Katrin Wundsam and Hans Christoph Begemann, including two arrangements of poems by Verlaine that exude a Debussy-like flair, complement this CD, adding a real gem to the otherwise modest discography of Le Rossignol.

Mojca Erdmann, soprano
WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Jukka-Pekka, conductor

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [Hi-Res]