Oedipus Rex, Les Noces : Gergiev / Kirov Opera, Semishkur, Semenchuk, etc (2009 Stereo)

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex / Les Noces
Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus / Valery Gergiev, conductor

Less than four years separate the premieres of Les Noces and Oedipus Rex, yet they each represent high-points in two distinct phases of Stravinsky’s career.
Although the concept of Les Noces is highly innovative - a ‘dance cantata’ - the music remains rooted in Russian folk traditions. Stravinsky dedicated the ballet to Diaghilev, whose Ballet Russes gave the premiere, and it marks the crowning glory of Stravinsky’s so-called ‘second Russian period’.
The opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex is the first great work of Stravinsky’s neo-classical period. It features a major change in his compositional style, influenced in part by the loss of ‘Russian identity’ following his emigration. It is sung in Latin with Jean Cocteau’s original French narration spoken here by Gerard Depardieu. ( Mariinsky )

Les Noces
Mlada Khudoley, soprano
Olga Savova, mezzo-soprano
Alexander Timchenko, tenor
Andrei Serov, bass
Alexander Mogilevsky, piano
Svetlana Smolina, piano
Yulia Zaichkina, piano
Maxim Mogilevsky, piano
Recorded at the Mariinsky Concert Hall, St Petersburg, 28-31 December 2009

Oedipus Rex
Gerard Depardieu, Narrator
Sergei Semishku Oedipus, tenor
Ekaterina Sememchuk Jocasta, mezzo-soprano
Evgeny Nikitin Creon, bass-baritone
Mikhail Petrenko Tiresias, bass
Evgeny Nikitin Messenger, bass-baritone
Alexander Timchenko Sheperd, tenor
Recorded at the Mariinsky Concert Hall, St Petersburg, 28-31 December 2009 and 4-8 February 2010

Producer: James Mallinson
Engineers: Jonathan Stokes & Neil Hutchinson for Classic Sound Ltd

Hybrid SACD. Compatible with all CD players Includes multi-channel 5.0 and stereo mixes

Notes in Russian (Cyrillic), English and French.
Les Noces - Libretto in Russian (Cyrillic) and English.
Oedipus Rex - Libretto in Russian (Cyrillic) Latin, English and French.