Angharad Lyddo

Angharad Lyddo, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski – Jurowski conducts Stravinsky, Vol. 1 (Live) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:26:57 minutes | 1,38 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © London Philharmonic Orchestra

The first of three volumes focusing on Stravinsky’s music conducted by Vladimir Jurowski includes his Opus One, the Symphony in E-flat, unmistakably Russian and that young Igor was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov. It’s a likeable piece, leaning to Borodin in places, confident and imaginative, with a featherlight Scherzo, an intensely eloquent Largo, and a Finale of Imperial swagger, handsomely brought off by the LPO and Jurowski in immediate and clear sound, the very ideal of the Royal Festival Hall. Mezzo Angharad Lyddon is excellent in Faun and Shepherdess, straight out of the Tchaikovsky songbook, and anticipations of the Stravinsky to come (Firebird anyway) surface with Scherzo fantastique, given a buoyant outing, with fantasy and clarity in equal measure. The ‘lost and found’ Funeral Song – interesting because Stravinsky wrote it (in memoriam Rimsky) rather than for its musical worth, although Jurowski finds more than some previous performances (the piece went viral a few years ago). A shame that this first disc does not include Fireworks, Stravinsky’s Opus Four, for then his first five Opuses would be together, although that way of cataloguing his works would cease.
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