Shchedrin, Schoenberg: Carmen Suite, Verklärte Nacht

The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Camerata, Georgian State Chamber Orchestra and conductor Saulius Sondeckis present an authentic reading of Shchedrin’s Ballet Suite, based on Bizet’s Carmen, with spectacular percussion solos in high definition recording technology, plus the chamber orchestra version of Schoenberg’s Verklaerte Nacht (Transfigured Night).

Rodion Shchedrin transcribed fragments from Bizet’s opera for his wife Bolshoi prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. The composer limited the orchestra to strings and percussion for two reasons: the strings compensate for the lack of human voices, and the percussion instruments underscore the choreography. The suite is made up of 13 parts and includes 15 of Bizet’s themes. In the score Shchedrin achieves this remarkable dramatic effect not only thanks to the contraposition of strings and drums, but also because of the multicoloured personalities of the drums themselves.

Arnold Schoenberg wrote his string sextet “Verklärte Nacht” on a poem by Richard Dehmel, who was regarded as one of the most famous German lyricists. In 1943 Schoenberg revised the sextet version and rearranged it for chamber orchestra including double basses, which he already had incorporated into a first revision in 1917.