Monday, April 20, 2015

Stravinsky: Petrouchka (Coates)

Another Albert Coates birth anniversary is upon us (April 23 - Thursday, this year), so for this week I present his version of Stravinsky's Petrouchka. This is only the second recording ever made of that great ballet; Eugene Goossens' pioneering acoustical version with the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, which Satyr has available, was the first. Coates' recording would have been intended to replace it, of course:

Stravinsky: Petrouchka (complete ballet)
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates
Recorded October 19 and 24, 1927, January 5 and February 15, 1928
HMV Album 54 (D 1521 through D 1524), four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 100.66 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 60.12 MB)

It's worth noting that this is one of the few Coates recordings made by HMV that did not get issued in the USA by Victor - an honor that even most of his acoustical recordings enjoyed. I presume that is because Koussevitzky recorded the Suite from Petrouchka at about the same time, as his first recording with the Boston Symphony, and Victor considered the Coates set, complete though it was, superfluous. (Victor had issued the Goossens recording in 1925.)
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

8 comments:

  1. BryanApril 20, 2015 at 10:57 AM

    Alternate links:

    FLAC:
    http://www.mediafire.com/download/p6klfhzadjbrbm6/Coates_-_Stravinsky_Petrouchka_FLAC.zip

    MP3:
    http://www.mediafire.com/download/2shw0dy5f79pp1r/Coates_-_Stravinsky_Petrouchka_MP3.zip

    ReplyDelete
  2. BryanApril 20, 2015 at 10:58 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peter GutmannApril 22, 2015 at 9:12 PM

    Thanks so much for this extraordinary rarity. I'm a huge fan of Coates -- nearly every record he cut strikes me as compelling and inspired -- but I'd never come across this set before. Typically, the interpretation is full of fascinating moments yet the balances seem surprisingly off in spots, especially in the first tableau. But you've made it available once more -- thanks again!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. 2ndviolinistApril 23, 2015 at 9:49 PM

    I think I like this better than Stokowski's '37 recording, a statement rare for me to make about anything Stoki put on disc. This swept me away from the 1st measure. I laid back in a darkening room lost in the world Stravinsky created and Coates and the LSO brought to life. Thank you for this experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bill AndersonApril 25, 2015 at 12:55 PM

    A wonderful treat, Bryan. Thank you for this fine sounding transfer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. centuriApril 25, 2015 at 11:06 PM

    Incredible sound and so lively interpretation. Thanks a lot Bryan !!

    ReplyDelete
  7. PhillipJune 2, 2015 at 7:40 AM

    What an amazing rarity. Thanks so much Bryan.

    ReplyDelete
  8. nicolasNovember 27, 2015 at 8:51 AM

    A treat for the ears! thanks...

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)