Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What a pleasant surprise!, 6 Feb 2000
By David Anthony Hollingsworth - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dukelsky: Zéphyr et Flore (Audio CD)
Never had I heard anything significant about Vladimir Dukelsky (1903-1969). But then I saw this CD at Tower Records and decided to buy it. Then I listened, and listened further, until I said to myself why was this composer an enigma. Then I played Mosolov's Zavod (from the ballet "Stal" of 1926). I found the style and language of Dukelsky and Mosolov more of similarity than the other way. "Zephyr et Flore" of 1925 is more Prokofievian with touches of Mosolov while Epitaphe reminds me more of Mosolov and perhaps even Popov. His ballet "Zephyr et Flore" was a product of the Avant Garde 1920s where experimentation and breaking boundaries ruled. The idiom has touches of Prokofiev (mostly), Poulenc, and to an extent Alexander Tcherepnin. Prokofiev promoted Dukelsky's music in the former USSR and in the West and Poulenc and even Myaskovsky were right in pointing out the close parallels between the ballet and Prokofiev's works of the time (though again I detect echos of Mosolov as well).The story of the ballet is simple. Zephyr and Boreas were brothers who happen to fall in love with Flore, the Spring. The brothers fought for her love but the end result, well, we don't know. Dukelsky's music is staightforward, lucid, and vivid. The thematic ideas tend to be fragmented in places, but expressive and appealing nevertheless.
The performances of Gennadi Rozdestvensky and the Residentie Orchestra The Hague were altogether well done, though not totally convincing (Rozhdestvensky's chose of tempo may be the blame for this and I sense a degree of uncertainty in the orchestra's playing at some passages). The Netherlands Theatre Choir and soprano Ilma Achmadeeva sang with warmth in Epitaphe and the musical summary is well written by Natalya Savkina. It will be interesting if Rozhdestvensky's next product will be Mosolov's ballet "Stal", the ballet of great importance of 1920s Avant Garde movement in the USSR and in the West.
This disc is nevertheless a welcome issue!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From Ballet to Broadway, 17 Aug 2000
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dukelsky: Zéphyr et Flore (Audio CD)
Vernon Duke began life as Vladimir Dukelsky in Russia where he was born in 1903. This recording is of a Ballet he wrote for Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo when he was 21 years old. It is a remarkable work for such a young man and it is interesting to note he later wrote "April In Paris", "Autumn in New York" "Cabin in the Sky" and many other familiar standards. It's a terrific recording - buy it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very worthwhile discovery, 11 Sep 2010
By G.D. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dukelsky: Zéphyr et Flore (Audio CD)
Vladimir Dukelsky (1903-1969) was a relatively famous composer - that is, he was famous as a composer of light music under his American name "Vernon Duke". At present, however, his serious music has gained more attention as well (in other words, his reputation seems to be going the way of Victor Herbert', whose reputation right after his death rested on his lighter works, but whose serious music is what seems to be mainly performed today). Dukelsky composed several ballets for Diaghilev's and seems to have been one of the latter's favorite composers. The style is reminiscent of Prokofiev and Russian contemporaries such as Lourie, Mosolov and Knipper, and to a lesser degree Stravinsky, but with a distinct personal harmonic touch and a gift for melody.
Zéphyr et Flore is neo-classical and draws, in addition to the composers mentioned, on the music of Les Six. It is splendidly scored and contains many nice touches, without anything really sticking in memory in the end. Epitaphe is a different kind of beast, however. A lamenting, poignant and deeply dramatic setting of a poem by Osip Mandelstam for soprano, chorus and orchestra, it was composed in 1931 and is harmonically rather forbidding - but it is also a very stirring, harrowing work that really deserves to be heard. It might not be a timeless masterpiece, but at least it is sure to raise interest in the rest of the composer's output. Rozhdestvensky draws some convincing performances from the Residentie Orchestra The Hague and the Netherlands Theatre Choir, poignant and colorful if, perhaps, lacking the last touch of finesse. The sound is good, and this disc is overall very well worth acquiring.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
