GRAMOPHONE Review: ‘Pájaros Mágicos’ Stravinsky The Firebird Suite · Villa-Lobos Uirapuru – Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Dudamel

Two mythical birds – the one immortalised by Villa-Lobos – Uirapuru – an endangered species in our musical universe. All kudos to Dudamel for realising the songful connections with it and Stravinsky’s Firebird and rejoicing in them so wholeheartedly. They were written within a decade of each other and you might even say that in the rarely heard Villa-Lobos ballet Stravinsky’s immortal bird was reborn in the Brazilian rain forest. Its ear-wormy chant, heard across flute and soprano saxophone, is brilliantly subsumed into its surroundings depicting nature in all its chirruping, rustling business. The exoticism, so characteristic of its composer, is offset by a stomping rhythmic propulsion plainly cross fertilised with Stravinsky’s other ground-breaking ballet of the period – The Rite of Spring. And there’s one other rare species – the Stroh Violin – which has a gramophonic horn attached to its bridge. Other worldly and then some. It’s a seductive eighteen or so minutes and Dudamel knows…