Over the years there have been a number of piano
transcriptions of Stravinsky’s Rite of
Spring, including several that Stravinsky himself wrote for two hands and
four. The former the composer used to preview the work for producers and
conductors and the latter he used for rehearsals. So, the new transcription for
solo piano we get here from noted Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker is nothing
innovative. It’s just something better, being more complex, more detailed, more
demanding than any piano transcription we’ve yet heard of the Rite, and probably better played in this
world-premiere recording.
Explaining his reasons for the new piano arrangements of
old orchestral scores we hear on the present disc, Mr. Parker says in a liner
note, “When I discovered Stravinsky’s piano duet version, my obsession with
playing this music at the piano began in earnest. I noticed that Stravinsky,
having arranged the duet primarily to facilitate ballet rehearsal, was less
fastidious with details than I had expected. I became engrossed in adding
instrumental lines that had been left out. From there, it was a natural
evolution to try to manage it all myself. The
Rite of Spring has been transcribed for solo piano before, in versions so
bare as to be unsatisfying, or so inclusive as to be unplayable. However, it is
well known that Stravinsky often composed at the piano, and many sections in The Rite bear this out. Petrouchka (1911) presented a different
challenge, in that Stravinsky had already created a virtuoso solo piano suite
from selected moments of the ballet. Upon reflection I chose to honor the
tragic conclusion of the story by transcribing the ballet in its original and
complete form.”
Listening to any transcription of a familiar work may take
a little getting used to, and these adaptions of Stravinsky for the keyboard
may be an acquired taste. Personally, I miss the vibrant percussion of a full
orchestra. However, there is no denying that in Mr. Parker’s hands, The Rite, especially, reveals new depths
of clarity and detail without losing much of its rhythmic pulse. This is no
doubt a tribute not only to Parker’s fine piano arrangement but to his dynamic
piano playing.
Russian-born American composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
wrote The Rite of Spring for the 1913
Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, where the music scandalized
the country. To be fair, it had probably as much to do with Vaslav Nijinsky’s
choreography as with the music. Anyway, Mr. Parker’s piano score brings out all
the primitive strains in the piece as well as its quiet lyricism.
Parker manages to capture all of Stravinsky’s rowdy,
sensual, rhythmic vitality in his piano rendition. Going in, I had some minor reservations about whether or not he
really could pull it off. But the man is amazing. His virtuosity is dazzling
and his expressive technique remarkable. You won’t be more than five minutes
into the album before you forget there’s no orchestra involved. It’s almost
uncanny how Parker is able to recreate the orchestral textures and harmonic
nuances of the music. If you are fond of The
Rite but have grown tired of all the new recordings of it sounding alike,
you owe it to yourself to try this one; it’s like nothing you’ve probably heard
before.
Stravinsky composed his ballet Petrouchka in 1910–11 and revised it in 1947. It tells the story of
a traditional Russian puppet, Petrouchka, made of straw and sawdust, who comes
to life and develops a life of his own, complete with emotions. The composer
wrote it just a year after The Firebird
and two years before The Rite, so he
was flying high.
Petrouchka
benefits a little less from Parker’s new transcription, probably because the
music itself, while exceptionally melodious, is less innovative than The Rite and because the composer
himself wrote a really good piano suite of the music with which many people are
already familiar. Nevertheless, Parker’s complete piano rendering contains a
good deal of color and excitement, and with the performer’s brilliant finger
work the tale comes to life with passion and pathos.
Stravinsky wrote some spectacular ballet music, and Jon
Kimura Parker’s piano transcriptions and his playing of them do both scores
justice.
Mr. Parker recorded The
Rite and Petrouchka for his own
recording label in 2009 and 2012 at Stude Concert Hall, The Shephard School of
Music, Rice University, Houston, Texas. The piano sound is rich, warm,
mellifluous, and resonant. Its mellow bloom accompanies a strong impact from
the keys, well caught by the audio engineer. Highs ring out vividly, and low
notes make their presence known. It’s
the kind of big, brawny, yet intimate piano sound that fits the music
perfectly. It lights up the room.
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:
JJP
