Petrushka (with Liadov - Baba-Yaga, etc)

"Both composers benefit from Fischer's trademark refinement. His Petrushka, notably beautiful, is graciously touching rather than violent or eruptive, and the clean-textured, superbly detailed playing from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales reminds us just how startlingly original Stravinsky's sonorities are." (The Guardian)

"Recorded Petrushkas abound - and Fischer's is more than decently played...but the three Liadov pieces, which take up almost a third of this disc's playing time, are rarities...Liadov's character portraiture and colouristic orchestrations are admirably served in these BBC recordings."
(Sunday Times)

Petrushka follows the last year's release of Stravinsky's Firebird on Signum and is the second in a three-part series of works from Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Thierry Fischer. These recordings encapsulate the vivacity and passion of Stravinsky's tale of three life-sized puppets, seemingly brought to life.

The disc also features three works by fellow Russian and Ballet Russes composer Anatoly Liadov: dark and dramatic tone-poems on Slavic witches and demons in Baba-yaga and Kikimora, and a tranquil and fairytalelike portrait of the Russian countryside in The Enchanted Lake.