The London Philharmonic Orchestra will release the second volume in its Stravinsky series with Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski on Friday 28 April on its own LPO Label. It was mainly recorded during then Principal Conductor (now Conductor Emeritus) Vladimir Jurowski’s2018 ‘Changing Faces’ festival at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, which surveyed the composer’s works. The works are grouped chronologically, matching the arc of the year-long festival. The first volume of the series was an ‘Editor’s Choice’ in the September 2022 issue of Gramophone.
This volume opens with a rare live recording of excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, arranged by Stravinsky. Stravinsky himself was in the audience as an 8-year-old at the 1890 premiere, later citing it as one of his most formative musical experiences. The other work on the recording is The Fairy’s Kiss; Stravinsky’s one-act ballet inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale The Ice Maiden. It is a work close to Jurowski’s heart, having performed it 17 times with the LPO by the time of this recording. Indeed, the composer featured heavily in his 20-year association with the Orchestra, culminating in him including Stravinsky’s Jeu de cartes in the programme of his final concert as Principal Conductor in August 2021.
Two singles will be released in the lead-up:
Single 1, Friday 14 April 2023 The Sleeping Beauty Entr’acte (Act II)
Single 2, Friday 21 April 2023 The Fairy’s Kiss Pas de Deux: Adagio