Pet Sounds

A double bill of narrative 20th century ballet music, Stravinsky's Petrushka and Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin, played by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. Petrushka is one of my favourite pieces. I suspect that goes back to my roots in rock music and jazz, since the myriad of tunes and rhythmic pulses through the piece make it easy to get a handle on. I've retained my affection for the piece though even as my tastes and knowledge have developed. The folk influences give a very Russian feel of course, as with all three of Stravinsky's early ballet works. I also recall seeing a fine tv broadcast of the actual ballet as opposed to a concert performance simply of the music. I can't say the same for The Miraculous Mandarin which definitely now seems to exist purely as a concert piece and is rarely danced. I'm not sure why, modern audiences wouldn't be put off by the rather tawdry subject matter. But my main impetus for buying this disk was Petrushka. I found it impossible to find a release of it that wasn't coupled with something I already had and even with this one it duplicates the Mandarin which I have on an all Bartok disk. But this is a fine value budget release and Petrushka repays repeated listening for me.