Your favourite Rite of Spring

[Barbirollians]

Monteux ( 1929 and 1951)and Markevitch for me - what's your favourite ?

[Chris Newman]

"Rie of Spring"? Ah the dance in Carmina Burana

Seriously, though. I agree with the choice of Igor Markevich. I marginally prefer the older mono recording. Both his versions come with the Philharmonia on one disc on Testament. I really ought to listen to Monteux who would have known the work better than anyone.

[MrGongGong]

I have a version that is titled the Right of spring
will dig it out
its a version that Simon would love !
as opposed to the liberal left of spring

[barber olly]

"Rie of Spring"? Ah the dance in Carmina Burana

Seriously, though. I agree with the choice of Igor Markevich. I marginally prefer the older mono recording. Both his versions come with the Philharmonia on one disc on Testament. I really ought to listen to Monteux who would have known the work better than anyone.

Markevitch's two versions with the PO, run my favourites Dorati's two versions with the MinSO with the rawness of the earlier mono version just having the edge on the later stereo version, however the latter does have the advantage of being available on a great Mercury CD, coupled with a very lively Petrouchka. I must also revisited both the PCO and BSO recorings with Monteux.

[Serial_Apologist]

Having effectively grown up with the Monteux/Paris Conservatoire recording of around 1958 I still go back to this version as my favourite, tinny though it sounds on today's superior equipment, ahem. Nevertheless, the finest live performance I have yet experienced was the one given by Boulez - with which orchestra I now forget - in the RFH, back somewhere around 1966. The sheer drama was overwhelming, particularly the build-up just before the halfway "break" when the entire orchestra resembled a tempest at sea; Boulez stopped at that point to mop his brow! More recent recordings I have heard conducted by Boulez have come nowhere as close, for me, that is.

S-A

[Petrushka]

A controversial view, I suppose, but imo we still await the ideal Rite. I saw Markevich conduct it at the RFH in a leaden performance in (I think) 1979 with the LSO and never felt inclined to investigate the Testament CD. OK he was near the end of his life so I may seek out this one after all as many speak well of it.

I have literally dozens of versions on my heaving shelves but none of them truly hit the spot. Many have under-recorded percussion or just lack bite. What I want is one that really does send the wild echoes flying. One I do like (I was there) is a 1993 Europa Konzert outing with the BPO inder Haitink on DVD.

[Bryn]

Monteux, Ancerl, Dorati, Markevich et al are all very fine, for sure, (not Boulez though, he always messes around with Stravinsky's specific tempo adjustments too much for my liking). My favourite, however, remains Eötvös with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.

[prokkyshosty]

Not to most people's taste, I'd imagine, but I have a soft spot for this hard nut:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mussorgsky-Pictures-Exhibiton-Stravinsky-Spring/dp/B00005NPJJ

EMI's Muti/Philadelphia from somewhere around 1979. The ADD recording is so over the top, so brutal, so manipulated... if it were anything other than the Rite of Spring, it would be sacrilege. Instead, because it's the Rite of Spring it's... sacrilicious. (ok, I stole that word from Homer Simpson)

It's one of my handful of "demonstration discs".

[rauschwerk]

EMI's Muti/Philadelphia from somewhere around 1979.

That gets my vote too - easily my favourite of the six versions I possess (others are Abbado, Karajan's 2nd, NYO/Rattle, Stravinsky 1960, Neeme Jarvi), most of which were acquired as fill-ups to recordings I really wanted.

[mathias broucek]

The Muti is also on Brilliant with Petrushka, Firebird (1919) and Pulcinella (the latter with Marriner, not Muti).

[BBMmk2]

I like Lenny Bernstein's with the NYPO, and Pierre Boulez, plus the composer's own.

[rauschwerk]

I now find the composer's own 1960 recording just too tame for words. It was the one from which I learnt the piece, but after hearing Colin Davis conduct it I began to realise just how it ought to go.

[Thomas Roth]

Muti.

[Mandryka]

Markevitch, stereo - though I've not heard it for many years and only have it on vinyl.

[Mr Pee]

The Muti recording is very good, no doubt about it- but I'm really looking forward to the forthcoming CD from Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra- sounds like the perfect combination for The Rite.