Customer Reviews

Stravinsky: Les Noces

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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No vocal recording of any type exceeds the impact this recording had on me. I realize that is quite a subjective statement, so let me explain.

My first hearing of this recording was in May 1998 when it was used as the music for the premiere production by the New York City Ballet of Stravinsky's Les Noces, in lieu of the more conventional score. Rarely does the New York City Ballet dance to recorded music. I cannot imagine a more effective interpretation of this ballet as it was performed to this recording. The dance was faithful to the concept of the folk origins of this music.

I sang Stravinsky's "Les Noces" myself some years ago, and I didn't have a clue what it was all about (even though we sang in French, which I understand). If only I had listened to this CD! This performance puts the music in the context of Russian folksongs (which Stravinsky used extensively, although he refused to admit it), and the singers sing the music in a full-throated, "folky" way miles removed from the classical style usually found in performances of this work. The mix is more like a pop song than a classical record, making the voices even more immediate and intense. Only two complaints: the dynamic range of the recording is small, and there is no Russian text in the notes, so it's hard to follow while you listen.

This music comes from an early period is Stravinsky's long career. He had escaped the early tone-poem style of his teachers, and was working productively in the sound-world that included "Rite of Spring", "Nightingale" and other well-known pieces. "Les Noces" was something of a problem child. He tried and abandoned a player piano version. He orchestrated one tableau with a very large group. But the version we know best is the four-piano version here. It is Stravinsky's take on a Russian peasant wedding. It's important to note that although folk music was a source for Stravinsky, he seldom made use of it in a raw form. He was a man of greater refinement and he always fiddled with the material.

The Pokrovsky version imagines the piece with the sound of Russian folk singers. The style is interesting, with open throats and a considerable volume level. Stravinsky may well have been horrified--he never staged a piece in this manner, preferring more trained voices. Still, setting aside the composer's unspoken reservations, it's an interesting way to hear a familiar piece.

I'm less enamored of the accompaniment. Instead of using four live pianists, four digitally-controlled pianos are employed. While this undoubtedly makes the piece easier to tour, the dynamic range is compressed and there is no interaction between players and singers. It's metronomic and eventually becomes fatiguing.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from listening to this. Anyone with a love for Stravinsky will have an interest in such an unusual performance. But "Les Noces" is a fine piece, and this shouldn't be the first--or only--way to hear it.

This recording has held a place in the library for some years (recorded in 1994 when Dimitri Pokrovsky was still living) but always seemed to be a bit lacking in intensity in the 'Les Noces' performance. All that has changed and the recording is now a special reminder of the magic this young group of Russian singers possesses. Currently the Pokrovsky Ensemble is participating in the Thomas Adès Composer in Residence series of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the reason why Adès requested this group for his performances of 'Les Noces' is quite evident. The big sound of a massed chorus, the usual presentation, at times collides with the all percussion ensemble Stravinsky (four pianos, many percussive instruments). But here on this recording and in the concert hall, the Pokrovsky Ensemble (about 16 singers) present the sound of Russian peasants with that particular edge that is so entirely suitable for the work as Stravinsky conceived it. Diction is crisp, individual voices are exposed, and while there are no operatic stature big voices, the characteristic Russian sound is conveyed beautifully. It is a fresh sound to the Stravinsky piece we all know.

The remainder of the recording presents a collection of folk songs gathered form the research of the Pokrovsky Ensemble as they have performed and heard the music of all parts of Russia. It is full of charm and celebration of the peasant life. This is an album very much worth owning. Grady Harp, April 11

While I have only one other performance of Les Noces in my collection, I could imagine countless others like that one. It seems to be performned along the same lines of other Stravinsky works.

The Pokrovsky ensemble is different. Stravinsky based this work on Russian wedding songs. The use of folk material in classical works is not unusual, however these materials are usually performed with a restraint or "distance" in comparision to the way the indigenous performers create their work.

This performance seems to have the original energy of the village performers. Even if this is not true, I cannot imagine any other "regular" classical group performing this work with such energy. It has the type of emotional intensity that one would more likely find in the John Coltrane Quartet than a chamber ensemble.

Anybody who likes Les Noces simply must check this out.

One of the most powerful versions of this piece I know. Not to everyones taste maybe, as The Pokrovsky Ensemble take no prisoners. Its very in your face and powerful.

For those not familiar with the work, it is subtitled "Scenes of Pagan Russia" and is Stravinsky's portrait of several tableaus from a traditional Russian pagan wedding. I found this recordng years ago after performing the work with a mid-sized university choir. While our performance was correct, this one captures the "pagan" sound which, in retrospect, seems every bit as important as the notes and rhythms. Here we find an energetic, gutsy vocal sound which now seems inseperable from the musical structure. While originally orchestrated for four pianos and percussion, this recording is sequenced using computers, and it seems to work reasonably well (i.e. it doesn't come off sounding mechanical, but the tone is not that of real instruments). There is plenty else on this recording that is not Stravinsky but is equally exciting, all on the theme of Russian wedding music. This is the best recording of Les Noces that I have come across.

After listening to this recording of Les Noces, I can NOT bear to listen to any others with multiple variable pianos, muddy chorus, and bloated soloists. The Pokrovsky Ensemble natural singing which includes shouting and nasalization really adds style and excitement that is totally missing in other recordings. The pianos here have been replaced by a Macintosh and I totally agree with the liner notes that the computer's tonal and rhythmic precision and the simplicity of timbre works very well with this music and that Stravinsky would have been pleased with it. The Macintosh is reasonably audible but I wish it was louder.

The truly folk pieces on the CD are interesting and some of them (depending on the listener's mood) are hypnotic or repetitive.

My only real complaints are that the post production editing work could have been a little better and the liner notes do not contain the original Russian lyrics ... only the English translations.

I heard the Pokrovsky Ensemble just days ago and I am thoroughly impressed. Their sound was absolutely mesmerizing and beautiful. truthfully, I don't have this CD, but I intend to buy it. When I heard this group the female voices came singing in from the back of the auditorium, it was incredibly haunting and so beautiful. What's even more amazing was I heard them before Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and you can genuinely hear the folk implications in that piece. BTW, if you've never heard Rite of Spring go hear it! It will truly move and inspire you. Also, if anyone knows of any other recordings the Pokrovsky Ensemble has done, let me know. I want to know the songs they sang before the Rite of Spring and i can't find them anywhere!

The recording that Stravinsky would have possibly made had the technology existed in his lifetime.