Stravinski reccomendations?

Claudio Abbado with the London Symphony Orchestra on DG is very good. My primary recommendation, however, is Riccardo Muti with the Philadelphia Orchestra on EMI.

You may want to check out the recording with Stravinsky conducting, if you haven't already.

Le sacre du printemps

Sorry about the bad french.

I own quite a few records - Boulez,Stravinsky,Tilson Thomas,Colin Davis and a binoral(forgot who conducts that one). My favorite is the Boulez on DG. Stravinsky is outdated and I haven't heard the new one re-issued by Sony,as I don't have equipment to buy it. Tilson Thomas is good,the new one with SF Symphony and the one with Boston Symphony are both good. Robert Craft should be good,but haven't heard it.

Anyway I am in process of changing equipment and will be re-evaluating recordings.

The reason I like the Boulez is he performs the music and not trying to interpurt Stravinsky. I think interpertation is an ego trip and self indulgence. Even though Stravinsky was quite critical of earlier Boulez recordings I still like them - my own little ego trip.

Anothe good one is by Zubie Metha. I heard it in a record store and was impressed with sound. Ms. Stravinsky gave him good marks in his review, except it was for a recording he did for London and I haven't been able to find that one.

If you would like info on the binoral recording,e-mail me and I will send you info on it.

Well thats all the pontificating for now.

I have the Boulez recording also. My two cents is I like it a lot.

Re: Stravinski reccomendations?

I Highly recommend the cheap super-budget price recording from the Royal Philharmonic Collection. (Royal Philharmonic conducted by Yuri Simonov)

It is a simple CD, with a small but decent booklet.

Includes both the Rite and the Firebird. It is a 1997 DDD recording with EXCELLENT sound., in fact, considering the price, the sound quality (I often use it to test headphones) and the quality of the performance, this is a must have. (One of my favourite classical CDs out of about 200...mostly because of the sound quality, I admit).


I can tell you that the sound is excellent and the price is low, but regarding the performance, perhaps I can post a review from Gramophone:

"Stravinsky The Rite of Spring. The Firebird – Suite (1945). Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Yuri Simonov.
Tring International Royal Philharmonic Collection (Super budget price) (CD) TRP109 (66 minutes: DDD).

No one could complain that Yuri Simonov’s Stravinsky lacks character. The Firebird’s Introduction – served here in the context of an extended 1945 ‘Suite from the ballet’ – is both finely tensed and keenly pointed, the Prelude and Dance full of imaginative phrase shaping, and Kastchei’s “Infernal Dance”, measured tempo-wise, but elementally energetic. The recording captures a wide range of dynamics, from the unearthly shimmer that opens the “Final Hymn” (the delicate harp glissando at 0'34" draws aside like a lace veil) to the thunderous percussion that closes it.

Stravinsky’s reduced orchestration reproduces with impressive clarity (there’s plenty of piano earlier on in the Suite), whereas the opening sections of Parts 1 and 2 of The Rite of Spring parade a plethora of sinuous, post-Debussian textures. I have rarely heard either passage sound so atmospheric (distant brass loiter malevolently during the Introduction to “The Sacrifice”), but neither have I heard many CD Rites that offer bolder reportage of the ‘big’ moments – the timpani and brass in the “Ritual of the Rival Tribes”, for example, or the fire-breathing tam-tam in the “Procession of the Sage”. By contrast, the “Mystic Circles of the Young Girls” in Part 2 is unusually tender and the Russian muse that frequently visits both parts – Scriabin grown brutal, with Shostakovich waiting in the wings – is always audible. Minor quibbles include the occasional imprecision and a quiet though mildly distracting noise (a bit like air-conditioning) that sets in just before the two Introductions start. In other respects, however, the recordings have plenty of bloom (big drums come off particularly well) and I cannot imagine anyone who wants this particular coupling being disappointed. The only bargain-price Rite to compare with Simonov’s is Dorati’s Detroit recording on Decca, a rather quicker, more incisive affair coupled with a fine complete Firebird. However, I would still recommend Simonov, even to those who already own good versions of either work, but who fancy experiencing a different – and often revealing – interpretative perspective.

RC/http://www.gramophone.co.uk/"

There are also other CDs in this cheap collection that have equally amazing sound quality and performances. One example is Holst's "The Planets", and Copland.

My favourite version of the Rite is also the one by Pierre Boulez conducting the Cleveland (there are two versions with the same conductor and the same orchest, one in the 60's or 70's, and one in the 90's - the first one is better IMO).

I personally don't like the version where Stravinsky himself conducts the Rite. Record quality is terrible (don't understand how anyone besides historians can appreciate those 'historical' records), and the interpretation doesn't convince me.

The CD version of 'Stravinsky Conducts' is horrible soundwise, circa 1980s digital transferring at its worst. I have the SACD version which is awesome soundwise, completely different.

Alot of recordings of the 50s and 60s use minimalistic recording techniques that modern engineers could learn from, and sometimes sound better than stuff that comes out today, with the widespread use of multi-tracks, overdubbing, compression, eq, and sterile acoustic environments nowadays - The results of those techniques are far worse than the effects of a little background noise IMO.

A couple of my favourite recordings which I don't think have been mentioned yet are
Antal Dorati and the LSO on Mercury
Ernest Ansermet, l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande on Decca.
I was using the Mercury recording to audition some equipment, and I was actually in tears by the end!!! (and not just because I couldn't afford the setup...)
HTH
Andrew

Here is another possibility: Sheffield Lab (LP) The Firebird & other works, Well worth the cost. Los Angles Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf conducting. LP=ASHEHQ  24  This recording may be out of print or may be  rereleased in the CD format.

 

 

 

 

The Rite of Spring: Esa-Pekka Salonen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Concert Hall.

SACD

 

 

 

 

The Firebird: Pierre Boulez with Orchestre de Paris Live at the Louvre.

DVD

Edited by JohnFerrier - 10/11/11 at 11:46pm

Quote:

The Sheffield Leinsdorf Wagner album is good, but this one is pretty lousy compared to the competition from major labels.

 

I would recommend the Abbado twofer...

http://www.amazon.com/Stravinsky-printemps-Firebird-Petrouchka-Pulcinella/dp/B000001GYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318440827&sr=8-1

 

The recent Tilson-Thomas recording is good for Rite of Spring, but he is totally off on Firebird. He takes a modernist approach and totally misses the Rimsky-esque color of the piece.

Le Sacre du printemps from 1958 by the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein is the absolute best Stravinsky I've ever heard.



Of course, there's something to be said about the 1960 Columbia Symphony Orchestra version, since Igor conducted that himself.


Edited by fuseboxx - 10/13/11 at 4:59am

That's a wild performance, but I don't think it's available on CD. The 70s Bernstein that is on CD is quite different. (It was originally released in Quadraphonic.) Not as good, I'm afraid.

I like this one a lot: