SERGEI PROKOFIEV: Chout (The Buffoon) – Complete Ballet – Rozhdestvensky – FLAC

FLAC link below. This is my own rip.
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Sergei Prokofiev met impresario Sergey Diaghilev, director of the Ballets Russes, in 1914, and
though his first ballet for him, Ala and Lolli, was rejected, it slowly achieved success after it was reworked
as the Scythian Suite (1914 – 1915). Diaghilev, still impressed with Prokofiev’s talents, commissioned him
to write Chout (The Buffoon) in 1915, using a libretto based mainly on a rather brutal Russian folk story.

The story concerns a buffoon who deceives seven other buffoons into believing he has murdered his wife and
raised her from the dead with a magical whip. He sells them the whip, and when they fail to resurrect their
wives after killing them, they seek revenge. Forced to disguise himself as a woman, the deceitful buffoon
ends up being chosen for marriage by a wealthy merchant, from whom he eventually swindles 300 rubles.
While much of it is reminiscent of Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges (1919), it has little of that opera’s
slapstick and madcap elements, featuring instead a tongue-in-cheek subtlety when the music turns serious —
which it often does — and a roughhouse playfulness, appropriate to the fantastic nature of the story.

The ballet is divided into six scenes, separated by brief entr’actes. The main theme is a calm, rather
nonchalant melody, mixing feelings of melancholy and indifference, of fantasy and darkness. First given
by the oboe, it dominates the opening scene, "The Buffoon’s Kitchen," but is also heard throughout the
work, usually played by the woodwinds. The second scene, "The Seven Buffoons," features an array of
colorful music, including a sardonic march-like theme in the latter part that is one of the work’s more
memorable creations.

Scene three begins in a dreary mood, then recalls both the main and march-like themes, before turning
brash and presenting a brilliantly colorful rhythmic outburst on brass, based on a motif related to the
main theme. There follows a mysterious melody, whose haunting lyrical qualities augur the more
Romantic outpourings that would appear in many of Prokofiev’s later stage works, like the ballet
Romeo and Juliet (1935 – 1936).

The fourth scene, "The Buffoon’s Sitting Room," features much playful, lively music in the first half,
and some dark sarcasm in the latter part. The next scene, "The Buffoon’s Bedroom," reprises previous
material, and the last, "In the Merchant’s Garden," begins with a brilliant variation on the main
theme and closes with two lively tunes whose ecstatic and rhythmic qualities drive the music into
a colorful frenzy at the close.

Music Composed by
Sergei Prokofiev

Played by the
USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by
Gennady Rozhdestvensky

"The performances through are all excellent. Rozhdestvensky certainly has the
measure of Prokofiev�s style, and for whatever reason the ballet idiom does
not induce him to indulge in the slow tempos that seem to have afflicted so
many of his more recent interpretations of other music. Cinderella is particularly
sharp and �on its toes,� as it were, but Chout and The Prodigal Son also are
just about as good as anything out there. The Stone Flower remains the least
interesting work in the bunch, but that�s the composer�s fault and I find that
the music really does grow on you with repeated listening."
Classics Today

Costume design for the original production of Chout.

Download Link – https://mega.co.nz/#!vcAHFAZB!FmIBqR-0b8sCZ0-oIe1icIrxY2wy2kU1mTXvbAsWrnA

Source: Melodiya CD (my rip!)
Format: FLAC(RAR), ADD Stereo, Level: -5
File Size: 262 MB

Enjoy! Don’t share! Buy the origina! Please leave a "Like" or "Thank you" if you enjoyed this! 🙂

Many thanks for the COMPLETE Chout!

Nice, many thanks.

Thanks.

Thanks a lot!

Thanks again!

Thank you share!

thanks

Sounds crazy, but in a good way! Thanks.