
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major Op. 35
Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
MusicAeterna
Teodor Currentzis conductor
Igor Stravinsky: Les Noces
Nadine Koutcher soprano · Natalya Buklaga mezzo-soprano
Stanislav Leontieff tenor · Vasiliy Korostelev bass
MusicAeterna Chorus
Vitaly Polonsky, Arina Zvereva chorus masters
Mikhail Mordvinov, Artem Abashev, Alexander Osminin, Oksana Pislegina pianists
Nikolay Dulskiy, Roman Romashkin, Igor Grishkin, Andrey Nikitin, Vladislav Osipov, Vadim Yashin, Alibek Kabdurakhmanov percussion
TEODOR CURRENTZIS conductor
Testament to Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna’s versatility and broad musical command, this album brings together two diverse masterworks from two giants of Russian music – Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto Op. 35 and Stravinsky’s Les Noces – and presents the exhilarating fruits of their very first musical collaboration with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.
Known for their instinctive and ground-breaking interpretations across an extensive range of musical eras, Currentzis, Kopatchinskaja and MusicAeterna have performed together several times since this first project and consistently garnered audience and critical acclaim. Spiegel Online recently wrote: “No matter whether it is Mozart or Stravinsky, there is nothing that Teodor Currentzis cannot do at present. And things get even better when the conductor works with the idiosyncratic violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja – together they make a heavenly duo.”
The album also presents a rarer Russian masterpiece: Stravinsky’s Les Noces, for solo voices, choir, pianos and percussion which celebrates a peasant wedding. Currentzis again employs the authentic Russian folkloric influences that were central to his recent interpretation of Le Sacre du printemps and which he considers fundamental to understanding Stravinsky’s music.
Listen to excerpts here:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major Op. 35
I Allegro moderato 17:31
II Canzonetta. Andante 6:17
III Finale. Allegro vivacissimo 10:01
Igor Stravinsky: Les Noces
Russian choreographic scenes with song and music for soloists, chorus, four pianos and percussion
Text by the composer after Russian popular texts
PART I
Scene 1: At the Bride’s House (The Tresses)
Scene 2: At the Bridegroom’s House
Scene 3: The Departure of the Bride
PART II
Scene 4: The Wedding Feast