CKD 330

Igor Stravinsky Apollon musagte & Pulcinella Suite

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Alexander Janiczek director

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The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is supported by the European Union Culture Programme.

Igor Stravinsky

(1882~1971)

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Alexander Janiczek director
Recorded at glise Maronite Notre-Dame Du Liban,
Paris, France from 19th~21st November 2008
Produced and engineered by Philip Hobbs
Post-production by Julia Thomas, Finesplice, UK
Cover painting:
The Ballet (oil on plywood) by Grace Cossington Smith, (1892~1984)
Private Collection/Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Australia/The Bridgeman Art Library
Photographs of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe by Mario Proenca
Photographs of Alexander Janiczek by Colin Dickson
Design by the Art Surgery

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15

Stravinsky and the Past:

director

Though born in Russia, Igor Stravinsky spent most of his long life in exile. From
1914 he lived rst in Switzerland, then in France, then in America. He was not to
return to his homeland for almost half a century, and then only for a brief visit in
1962. The novelist and essayist Milan Kundera, himself a long-time migr from
the communist rgime in his native Czechoslovakia, understood all too well the
consequences of this separation from the land of birth:

Alexander Janiczek, highly sought after as a director, soloist, guest leader and
chamber musician, was born in Salzburg to a musical family of Polish and
Czech descent. He studied with Helmuth Zehetmair at the Mozarteum and also
in masterclasses with Max Rostal, Nathan Milstein, Ruggiero Ricci and Dorothy
Delay.

Without a doubt, Stravinsky bore with him the wound of his

emigration [H]is only home was music, all of music by all
musicians, the very history of music He did all he could to feel at
home there: he lingered in each room of that mansion, touched every
corner, stroked every piece of the furniture; he went from the music of
ancient folklore to Pergolesi, who gave him Pulcinella , to the other
Baroque masters, without whom his Apollon musagte would be
unimaginable.
(Testaments
estaments Betrayed,
Betrayed trans. L. Asher)

While Stravinsky swiftly became a cosmopolitan composer, speaking the

international language of modern Western music, the sting of his estrangement
never left him. His roots remained planted in Russian soil.
The initial idea for Pulcinella was suggested to Stravinsky by Sergey Diaghilev,
impresario of the famous Ballets Russes company, and the man responsible for
bringing Stravinsky his rst international success via his commission of the music
for The Firebird. All Diaghilev wanted on this occasion was arrangements of
some music by as he thought at the time the 18th-century Italian composer
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. The choreographer Lonide Massine had devised the
4

Alexander Janiczek

Pulcinella and Apollon musagte

Alexander established his name as a concert violinist at the age of nine when he
won rst prize in the National Competition of Austria. From the age of twenty
he developed a close association with Sndor Vgh and the Camerata Salzburg.
This led to tours across Europe and the Americas as leader, director and soloist
and in recordings including Haydns Sinfonia Concertante and Mozarts G Major
Concerto played on Sndor Vghs famous Paganini Stradivarius.
He is a regular guest director with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with whom
he has toured extensively for many years throughout Europe and the Far East.
In 2008 he directed the Orchestra in a European tour with Mitsuko Uchida in a
programme of Mozart and Stravinsky. A previous programme of Mozart, Strauss
and Wagner with Uchida was toured across Europe in 2007. Of his direction of
Strauss Metamorphosen it was said, we witnessed the phenomenon of twentythree musicians linked as telepathically as a quartet (Intermezzo) which seemed
to emerge through internal combustion (The Times).
Alexander Janiczek also has a close relationship with the Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, whom he led from 1999-2002 and continues to be invited back to
as director and soloist on tours throughout Scotland and Europe. He currently
directs the Orchestra in the highly acclaimed series of Mozart recordings for Linn
Records (Linn CKD 273, 287 and 320).
13

bars and moving them around, adding new harmonies and shifting downbeats,
resulting in a rhythmically energised music that is categorically Stravinskian and,
one might say, almost as Russian as it is Italian.
Pulcinella was Stravinskys discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the
whole of my late work became possible. It was a backward look, of course the
rst of many love affairs in that direction but it was a look in the mirror, too.
Despite its obvious dependence on the music of the past, Pulcinella represented
an important turning point in Stravinskys artistic development. Just as, after the
First World War, Picasso had felt the need to seek a rapprochement with the
traditional forms of art he had once rejected so that he could move forward,
equally Pulcinella revealed to Stravinsky the possibilities of engagement with all
kinds of earlier music in order to renew his own musical language. Crucial, though,
was not the material he took (it could come from anywhere he described himself
as suffering from a rare form of kleptomania!) but his attitude to it. Everything he
touched he made his own.
If Pulcinella was the epiphany, then Apollon musagte must surely be the apogee
of what became known as Stravinskys neoclassicism. Commissioned by the
American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Stravinsky chose, as he explains
in his autobiography, to compose a ballet founded on moments or episodes
in Greek mythology plastically interpreted by dancing of the so-called classical
school. He wanted to create what he termed a ballet blanc
blanc, a score of great
purity and unity, in which violent contrasts were avoided and all elements were
pared down to their simplest. Hence it is scored for strings alone and makes
almost exclusive use of diatonic harmony (the equivalent of the white notes
on the piano keyboard). For Georges Balanchine, choreographer of the 1928
European premiere, the work was a revelation: In its discipline and restraint, in
its sustained oneness of tone and feeling [Apollon
[
] seemed to tell me that I
6

Renowned not only for its remarkable live performances but also for the quality of
its recordings, the COE has won many international prizes for its wide repertoire.
It is proud of its three Gramophone Record of the Year awards, a 2004 Grammy
Award, and the MIDEM 2008 Classical Download Award.
In 2007, the COE was appointed one of the European Unions Cultural
Ambassadors, and as a result now benets from invaluable EU support. Over
recent years the Orchestra has also received signicant nancial support from
The Gatsby Charitable Foundation.
violins

violas

utes

Alexander Janiczek
Fiona Brett
Christian Eisenberger
Ingrid Friedrich
Lucy Gould
Matilda Kaul
Sywia Konopka
Fiona McNaught
Stefano Mollo
Fredrik Paulsson
Joe Rappaport
Bettina Sartorius
Aki Sauliere
Lisa Schatzman
Henriette Scheytt
Martin Walch

Pascal Siffert
Aurlie Entringer
Gran Frst
James Hogg
Dorle Sommer

Jaime Martin
Josine Buter

cellos

William Conway
Kate Gould
Howard Penny
Luis Zorita
double basses

Enno Senft
Denton Roberts
Lutz Schumacher

oboes

Franois Leleux
Ruth Contractor
bassoons

Matthew Wilkie
Christopher Gunia
horns

Martin Owen
Elizabeth Randell
trumpets

Nicholas Thompson
trombone

Hkan Bjrkman
11

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

8

Chamber Orchestra of Europe

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is supported by
the European Union Culture Programme.

Acknowledged as one of the nest orchestras in the world, the Chamber

Orchestra of Europe (COE) was founded in 1981 by a group of young musicians
graduating from the European Union Youth Orchestra. It was their ambition to
continue working together at the highest possible professional level, and of that
original group, 18 remain in the current core membership of 50. It is the players
wealth of cultural backgrounds and shared love of music-making which remain
at the heart of their inspired performances. Representing fteen nationalities
living in twelve European countries, the COE mainly performs in continental
Europe, regularly visits the USA and occasionally tours in the Far East. From the
beginning, the Orchestra has appeared with the worlds leading conductors and
soloists. As well as being Leaders and Principals of other major orchestras, the
players themselves also pursue parallel careers as international soloists, members
of celebrated chamber groups, and as tutors and professors of music. The COEs
philosophy also inuences the players own work during the rest of the year,
notably in a wide range of educational projects in which they are involved.

could dare not to use everything, that I, too, could eliminate. The result was the
perfect union of music and dance in the expression of pure, classical beauty.
And how did Stravinsky achieve this sense of order as symbolised by the Greek
god Apollo? One means was to look to poetry. Each dance explores a basic
iambic (shortlong) pattern; the Variation of Calliope (the muse of poetry)
is headed by two lines from Boileau and takes the twelve-syllable lines of the
alexandrine as its rhythmic model. Another means was to allude to the stateliness
of French Baroque dances, such as the ouverture style of the opening Birth of
Apollo or the pavane-like second Variation of Apollo. The closing Apotheosis,
Apotheosis
in which Apollo leads the three Muses towards Parnassus, brings together the
various rhythmic elements of the work in music that is not just serenely beautiful
but also seems to speak of something deeper and darker, something beyond
reason and order. Stravinsky looks back to ancient Greece, but is ultimately only
able to see the reection of his own tragic age. Even when at his most classical,
we hear, once again, the voice of Stravinsky the exile.
Jonathan Cross, 2009

Important partnerships with some of the most prominent concert halls in Europe
such as the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Cit de la Musique in Paris, the Alte
Oper in Frankfurt, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam have all contributed
to a full diary for the foreseeable future. The COE is honoured to have a close
association with the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, to appear regularly at the
festivals in Lucerne and at Styriarte in Graz, and to have strong links with the
concert halls in Baden-Baden, Bonn, Budapest, Brussels, Cologne, Luxembourg,
Toulouse, Vienna and many more.
10

story and Pablo Picasso had been engaged to design the production; Manuel de
Falla had already declined the invitation to compose the music. At rst, it seems,
Stravinsky was decidedly nonplussed at the suggestion. But Diaghilev persuaded
him at least to consult transcriptions of the music made both in Naples and at
the British Museum. Stravinsky was instantly smitten: I looked, and I fell in love,
love
he recalled.
Pulcinella was premiered on 15th May 1920 by the Ballets Russes at the
Opra in Paris, where it was billed simply as music by Pergolesi, arranged
and orchestrated by Igor Stravinsky. Yet the work subsequently came to be
identied more directly with Stravinsky as composer rather than arranger, in
part a consequence of the concert suites he made of the score, including the
version from 1922 (revised 1949) heard on this recording. While Stravinsky later
asserted that the remarkable thing about Pulcinella is not how much but how
little has been added or changed,
changed, the alterations are signicant
signicant enough to turn
the music instantly into something unmistakably of the 20th century. Stravinsky
began by working directly onto the transcriptions Diaghilev had given him,
subtly annotating the melodies and bass lines of arias by Pergolesi, trio sonata
movements by Gallo, and even a tarantella by Wassenaer. Sometimes the result
was just a representation of the original in Stravinskys own accent. No-one could
mistake the trombone and double-bass melody of the Vivo
ivo for anything other
than Stravinsky, even though every note of Pergolesis music is still present. There
are cunning harmonic touches, anachronistic pedal points and off-beat accents
that reveal the thumbprint of the arranger, but it remains a loving, albeit humorous,
homage to Pergolesi. The same is true of the opening Sinfonia (original music
by Gallo). Elsewhere, however, Stravinsky declares his hand more decisively. In
the Serenata
Serenata,, for instance, he adds an unchanging drone (an open fth),
fth), which
denies the music its forward movement and whose resulting dissonances bestow
a languid, melancholic air. The Finale is radically recomposed, repeating
12

Alexander also directs orchestras such as the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali of

Milan, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra
and has recently committed himself to exploring 19th-century performance
practice with La Chambre Philharmonique under Emmanuel Krivine and the
Orchestre des Champs-Elyses under Philippe Herreweghe. He has appeared as
guest leader for special projects with orchestras such as: Budapest Festival, City
of Birmingham Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestras and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, SWR Radio
Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and Bavarian State Opera, Munich.
Alexander has an extensive repertoire ranging from Bartk and Berg to
Mendelssohn and Mozart and has appeared with artists such as Yuri Bashmet,
Jir Belohlvek, Olari Elts, Thierry Fischer, Hans Graf, Philippe Herreweghe,
Manfred Honeck, Neeme Jrvi, Ton Koopman, Oliver Knussen, Emmanuel
Krivine, Antonello Manacorda, Sir Roger Norrington, Murray Perahia, Matthias
Pintscher and Joseph Swensen.
As a dedicated chamber musician, he was invited by Mitsuko Uchida and
Richard Goode to the Marlboro Music Festival and has appeared with
artists such as Thomas Ads, Stefan Arnold, Joshua Bell, Till Fellner, Steven
Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Denes Varjon, Llyr Williams and Christian
Zacharias. His chamber music with Llyr Williams currently includes the complete
Beethoven Sonatas. He also features on the Hebrides Ensembles acclaimed
CD for Linn Records, Olivier Messiaen: Chamber Works (Linn CKD 314),
launched at Londons Wigmore Hall.
Alexander Janiczek plays the Baron Oppenheim Stradivarius from 1716, which
is on loan to him from the National Bank of Austria.
www.loganartsmanagement.com
14

Apollon musagte
q
w
e
r
t
y
u
i
o
a

Naissance dApollon ...................... 5.07

Variation dApollon ........................ 2.51
Pas daction ....................................... 4.45
Variation de Calliope ..................... 1.23
Variation de Polymnie .................... 1.25
Variation de Terpsichore ............... 1.33
Variation dApollon ........................ 2.25
Pas de deux ....................................... 4.05
Coda (Apollon et les Muses) ........ 3.34
Apothose .......................................... 3.49

Pulcinella Suite
s
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
;
2)
2@

I
II
III
III
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
VIII

Sinfonia .................................. 1.59

Serenata ................................. 3.06
a: Scherzino ............................... 1.52
b: Allegro .................................... 1.02
c: Andantino .............................. 1.28
Tarantella ............................... 1.56
Toccata .................................... 0.58
Gavotta ................................... 4.01
Vivo.......................................... 1.38
a: Menuetto ................................ 2.40
b: Finale....................................... 2.09

TOTAL RUNNING TIME ................................ 54.00