Here is a fine overview of Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical output, which has nothing to do with the neoclassical style of today’s Ludovico Einaudi, Jean-Michel Blais or Alexandra Streliski. Stravinsky’s neoclassicism draws less on the notion of accessibility (through an almost pop-like harmonic simplicity) than on a return to the architectural form (concerto, sonata, suite, etc.) inherited from the Baroque and Classical periods. This return to basics, shall we say, was, of course, also accompanied by a return to certain harmonic traits and tonal turns reminiscent of the Baroque or Haydnian Classical periods. But, of course, Stravinsky never plunged into this intending to erase his hard-won modernity. The result is an entirely original stylistic synthesis, whose great titles are still celebrated today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Violin Concerto, Suites for Orchestra 1 and 2<\/em> and Apollon Musag\u00e8te<\/em> programmed here are some of the best examples of the style developed by Stravinsky, then imitated by several others, at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. We could easily have added the neo-baroque Pulcinella <\/em>and a few other treasures from the composer’s catalogue, but the choice made for this very fine album is consistent in its less-pastiche vision of Stravinsky’s neoclassicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n