Stravinsky: Petrushka; Liadov: Kikimora, etc

The latest instalment in Thierry Fischer's series examining the music of the Ballets Russes juxtaposes Stravinsky's Petrushka with a sequence of tone poems by Liadov – Baba-Yaga, The Enchanted Lake and Kikimora – that was strung together in 1916 by Léonide Massine for a ballet originally also called Kikimora, though Massine retitled it Contes Russes in 1919. 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. There's been a flurry of interest in Liadov of late and Fischer's versions of the tone poems are important additions to his growing discography. As with the Stravinsky, he makes us very conscious of the music's influences – in this case Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky – as well as reminding us of the extraordinary craftsmanship he lavished on his orchestral miniatures.