Stravinsky: Later Ballets

Featuring

Robert Craft
Mark Wait
Philharmonia Orchestra
Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble
Orchestra of St. Luke's
London Philharmonic Orchestra

Igor Stravinsky

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Composition History

Stravinsky composed "Scènes de Ballet" in a great hurry for Broadway entrepreneur Billy Rose, completing it on the day of Paris's liberation from German occupation in August 1944.

Performer Biography

Robert Craft, the conductor on this album, had a historic association with Igor Stravinsky, serving as his constant companion, co-conductor, and musical confidant for over twenty years.

Composition History

Stravinsky's "Danses concertantes" was the first large-scale piece he composed entirely in his Hollywood home, where he would live for the next 24 years.

Composition History

Stravinsky's ballet "Jeu de cartes" (Game of Cards) was based on a poker game, a concept that delighted the composer so much he invited his fiacre driver for an aperitif.

Compositional Technique

The "Danses concertantes" features American-flavored tunes, including an allusion to "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in the Pas-de-deux, and incorporates musical humor like a game of musical tag.

Composer's Artistic Vision

For "Jeu de cartes," Stravinsky attached an epigraph from La Fontaine's fable "The Wolves and the Sheep" to convey a moral message about conquering evil, reflecting the political crisis in Europe.

Composer Biography

Igor Stravinsky, the composer, loved chess and card games, especially poker, and habitually played solitaire as a relaxation during breaks from composing.