tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post6218256638086577381..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Stravinsky: Context and Development, part 1Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-89950696233270996842020-01-03T21:07:29.372-06:002020-01-03T21:07:29.372-06:00I'm back to Taruskin on Stravinsky and trudgin...I'm back to Taruskin on Stravinsky and trudging my way through his volume II. It really is great stuff. Looking back at this post, I'm afraid my rather bald summary of many pages of the text is rather too compressed. It is really the detail that makes the Taruskin so worthwhile. Yes, there is still a lot of Russian folklore in RK's operas at least.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-91205644501678273222020-01-03T18:56:41.170-06:002020-01-03T18:56:41.170-06:00My opinion of Glazunov has steadily increased over...My opinion of Glazunov has steadily increased over the last 25 years. Part of the problem with his music is that it is very well constructed and flows easily. So most conductors just sort of autopiloted through his works which made them sound very bland. The Russian conductors like Svetlanov were much more vigorous but were hampered by poor recording and Soviet indifference. (Glazunov left the Soviet Union quite soon after the Revolution for "health" reasons and never returned.) I view him as sort of the anti Mahler with very non tendentious music that nevertheless has variety and good melodies if played with a bit of energy. Serebrier did a worthy cycle about 10 years ago. His best works were the symphonies concertos and ballets; he was quite poor with more dramatic tone poem type material.<br /><br />As for Rimsky, while it is true that he resisted Debussy etc he never really abandoned the Russian folklorist interest in his operas right up to the end of his life eg The Golden Cockerel, the Invisible City.Maurynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-89815116084743408142017-07-26T21:18:41.245-05:002017-07-26T21:18:41.245-05:00Am finally catching up to your Stravinsky posts; h...Am finally catching up to your Stravinsky posts; have been listening to <i>L'Oiseau, Pétrouchka,</i> and <i>Le Sacre</i> quite a lot since the weekend, hearing this and that. It was the case years ago that I did listen to Stravinsky a few times but it was more because I felt I ought to rather than that I took any particular aesthetic delight in any of it. And of course I have a bit of prejudice about <i>Le Sacre du Printemps</i> simply because it was 'sold', as it were, as this great and glorious event, <i>Pagans Aroused Usher in the Modern Age!</i>, whatever its intrinsic musical merits.Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.com