Stravinsky Pulcinella : Hogwood / SWR SO +Fireworks, R.Strauss Till, Ravel La Valse : Cambreling / SWR SO

Ballets Russes Vol. 6
Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, Igor Strawinsky

Igor Strawinsky: Pulcinella - complete

Arleen Auger, Robert Gambill, Gerolf Scheder
SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra / Christopher Hogwood, conductor
Recorded 1985

Igor Strawinsky: Feuerwerk op. 4
Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche op. 28
Maurice Ravel: La Valse op. 28

SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra / Sylvain Cambreling, conductor
Recorded 2005, 2007

In 1917 Diaghilev's Ballet had a great success with a tableau by Goldoni: The Good Humored Ladies, with music by Domenico Scarlatti arranged by the contemporary Italian composer Vincenzo Tommsini. Diaghilev now requested a similar work from Stravinsky. Selecting the music of G.B. Pergolesi for his inspiration, Stravinsky constructed his score from fragments and scraps of unfinished works to compose a ballet with a unified course of action and various scenes. The resulting score was Pulcinella, and was inspired by a collection of stories documenting the amorous adventures of this character from the commedia dell'arte.
Stravinsky's youthful, orchestral showpiece, "Feu d'artifice" was composed as a wedding present for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's daughter. However, a connection with Diaghilev still exists: the impresario was in the audience when the piece was performed in St. Petersburg in 1909, prompting him to commission the composer for a new work that would become "The Firebird." In 1917, Diaghilev drew on another pre-existing piece for his production of Strauss' "Til Eulenspiegel" - which would become the last piece Nijinsky would perform with the Ballet russes. Ravel's "La Valse" - originally conceived as the tone poem "Wien" - was commissioned by Diaghilev, but was later rejected - a decision that resulted in a permanent break with the composer. ( Haenssler Classic )