BaL 6.07.19 - Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

09.30
Building a Library: Jonathan Cross listens to and compares recordings of Stravinsky's ballet music, The Rite of Spring.
Stravinsky's music for The Rite of Spring is arguably his most iconoclastic work and one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century orchestral music. It had originally been written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, for which he had composed both the Firebird and Petrushka as a young and unknown composer. The premiere at the Theatre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913 caused such a 'riot' that the Rite of Spring has gone down in the history books as much for its notoriety as its influence. The Rite of Spring is subtitled 'Pictures of Pagan Russian in Two Parts' and expresses primitive rituals to celebrate the advent of spring. Its most notorious scene is that in which a young girl is chosen as a sacrificial victim and dances herself to death. The music is raw with savage harmonies, otherworldly melodies, and driving primitive rhythms that pulsate through the orchestra. It is a work that is so influential that it is now more often heard as a concert piece than in its original ballet setting.

Available recordings:-

London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Orchestre Des Cento Soli, Rudolf Albert
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ancerl
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy *
Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim *
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum
Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, David Bernard *
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein *
London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (DVD)
London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (DVD)
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein
Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Stefan Blunier (SACD)
American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein *
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez (DVD)
Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Orchestre national de France, Pierre Boulez *
Lubeck Philharmonic Orchestra, Roman Brogli-Sacher
London Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Orchestre de Paris, Semyon Bychkov
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Sylvain Cambreling
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Sylvain Cambreling
Cleveland Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly
Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Sophie Koch, Riccardo Chailly
London Symphony Orchestra, Robert Craft
Philharmonia Orchestra, Robert Craft *
MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis
Duisburger Philharmoniker, Jonathan Darlington *
Sinfonieorchester Basel, Dennis Russell Davies
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati
Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Gustavo Dudamel
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling
Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Peter Eötvös
Big Symphony Orchestra of Central Television and All-Union Radio, Vladimir Fedoseyev
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer (SACD)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thierry Fischer
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestre National de France, Daniele Gatti
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniele Gatti (vinyl/download)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniele Gatti (DVD/Blu-ray)
Kirov Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Mariinsky Orchestra & Ballet, Valery Gergiev (DVD/Blu-ray)
New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert *
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gustavo Gimeno (SACD)
London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Bernard Haitink
Berliner Philharmoniker, Bernard Haitink (DVD)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Jascha Horenstein
Philharmonia Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal *
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hiroyuki Iwaki *
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons *
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons (SACD)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Neeme Järvi
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi
Orchestre de l'Opera National de Paris, Philippe Jordan
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ken-ichiro Kobayash *
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi
MET Orchestra, James Levine
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton (SACD)
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Lorin Maazel
Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
RAI Symphony Orchestra, Milan, Bruno Maderna *
London Symphony Orchestra, Igor Markevitch
Philharmonia Orchestra, Igor Markevitch
RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester, Igor Markevitch
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Eduardo Mata
Australian World Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta
Wiener Philharmoniker, Zubin Mehta
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux *
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, Pierre Monteux
French National Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kent Nagano *
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Nott
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Jonathan Nott
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Nott *
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy *
Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Andrés Orozco-Estrada (SACD)
Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Gueher Pekinel, Sueher Pekinel
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Vasily Petrenko
Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle (DVD/Blu-ray)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle (DVD/Blu-ray)
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Sir Simon Rattle
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson *
NHK Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Rosenstock *
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth *
LSO, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen *
Ensembles of the New England Conservatory, Gunther Schuller *
Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz *
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Tugan Sokhiev
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Pavel Sorokin (DVD)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg *
Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski *
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky *
Philharmonic-Symphony of New York, Igor Stravinsky
Staatskapelle Dresden, Otmar Suitner *
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
Brussels Philharmonic, Michel Tabachnik
St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Temirkanov
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas (SACD)
San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas
San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas (DVD/Blu-ray)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbanski
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David Zinman
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David Zinman
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap Van Zweden *
New York Philharmonic, Jaap Van Zweden



Piano - 4 hands

Dag Achatz, Roland Pöntinen
Mark Anderson, Tamriko Siprashvili
Leif Ove Andsnes, Marc-André Hamelin
Katya Apekisheva, Charles Owen
Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim
Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim (DVD/Blu-ray)
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrei Gavrilov
Jean Jacques Balet, Mayumi Kameda
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, François-Frédéric Guy
Belli Piano Duo
Lidija Bizjak & Sanja Bizjak
Michael Boyd, Joel Schoenhals *
Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo
Simon Crawford-Phillips, Philip Moore
Dennis Russell Davies, Maki Namekawa,
Duo Koroliov
Jean-Sebastien Dureau, Vincent Planes
Bracha Eden, Alexander Tamir
Gülru Ensari & Herbert Schuch
Benjamin Frith, Peter Hill
Alexander Ghinden, Nikolai Petrov
GrauSchumacher Piano Duo (SACD)
Ralph Grierson, Michael Tilson Thomas *
Dan Grigore ,Andrei Vieru
Duo Miho & Masumi Hio
Piano Duo Trenkner Speidel (SACD)
Frank Gutschmidt, Frank-Immo Zichner
Susanne Huber, André Thomet
Patrik Jablonski, Peter Jablonski
Katia & Marielle Labèque
Marcos Madrigal, Alessandro Stella
Richard Markham, David Nettle
Philip Martin, Malcolm Wilson
Sandra Murray, Claire Quellet *
Alice Sara Ott, Francesco Tristano
Gueher Pekinel, Sueher Pekinel
Piano Duo Takahashi / Lehmann
Rico Saccani, Yakov Kreizberg *
Silver-Garburg Piano Duo
Fiona York, John York
ZOFO duet



Piano Quartet arrangement
Amsterdam Piano Quartet, Maarten Bon


Band arrangement
United States Air Force Tactical Air Command Band, Lowell Graham


Wind ensemble arrangement
Pentaèdre
University of Houston Wind Ensemble, Eddie Green



(* = download only)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

You could do a complete BaL with the piano duo versions alone.

[Pulcinella]

Heroic work, as usual, Alpie.
Thanks from all of us, I'm sure!


Do we assume that where there are 'duplicate' entries (such as OSR/Ansermet and BPO/Karajan) there are two distinct recordings (years apart, for example)?

[Mal]

I have Stravinsky himself. It's a very good performance with swift pacing, steady unrelenting drive, and a raw vitality. Don't listen with open curtains, it could lift you from your chair to indulge in savage rites. Close the window as well, I fear the affect it might have on the neighbour's cat. I also have Karajan 77. Stravinsky had been scathing about Karajan 64, calling it ‘tempo di hoochie-koochie’ , and the critics were still mixed about the 1977 rehash. It has less visceral excitement and drama than the composer’s own version, but has beauty of sound, ravishing melancholy, and mesmerising sorcery. I also had Haitink but didn't find it dynamic or beautiful or magical, so I let it go. Bernstein NYPO 1958 is another good one ... superb rhythm, tremendous excitement, and a barbaric momentum that is positively frightening.

[Pulcinella]

Confession time: I have the big Decca and Sony 100th Anniversary boxes, and a few EMI versions too.
I haven't listened to them all, by a long way.

Boulez with the Cleveland on Sony was a stunner when it first came out, and remains one of my favourites, alongside Stravinsky's 1960 recording with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
I also like Muti with the Philadelphia (EMI), which is not on Alpie's list.
Still available as a download, it would appear, from Presto's listing:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8112787--stravinsky-le-sacre-du-printemps-petrushka-pulcinella-suites-danses

or

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7953614--mussorgsky-pictures-at-an-exhibition-etc

[richardfinegold]

Confession time: I have the big Decca and Sony 100th Anniversary boxes, and a few EMI versions too.
I haven't listened to them all, by a long way.

Boulez with the Cleveland on Sony was a stunner when it first came out, and remains one of my favourites, alongside Stravinsky's 1960 recording with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
I also like Muti with the Philadelphia (EMI), which is not on Alpie's list.
Still available as a download, it would appear, from Presto's listing:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8112787--stravinsky-le-sacre-du-printemps-petrushka-pulcinella-suites-danses

or
https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...exhibition-etc

I have been partial to Boulez/Cleveland through the years as well. Solti and the CSO recently rereleased in a big box is pretty
stunning . The Dorati versions are worthies, the Mercury effort combing balleticism with visceral thrills. the Detroit being superbly recorded. I have one of the Markevitch recordings and also enjoyed

[Stanfordian]

The Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle has recorded ‘The Rite of Spring’ twice on CD and also on DVD./Blu-ray:

i) Recorded January 2003, Philharmonie, Berlin (I reckon this is the final orchestral rehearsal of the live concert performance)
Contained on soundtrack to the Jan Kounen film ‘Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky’
Naïve Records - This is my first choice account of the work

ii) Recorded live November 2012, Philharmonie, Berlin
EMI Classics (Warner Classics)

iii) There is also a DVD/Blu-ray of a performance recorded live at Waldbuhne, Berlin on 21st June 2009.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Heroic work, as usual, Alpie.
Thanks from all of us, I'm sure!


Do we assume that where there are 'duplicate' entries (such as OSR/Ansermet and BPO/Karajan) there are two distinct recordings (years apart, for example)?

Yes. Ansermet did a mono recording in the early ‘50s, with a later stereo remake. Karajan’s DG studio recording is supplemented with a live version.

[Bryn]

I think you will find the Dag Achatz recording is for solo piano (his own transcription).



I have it, and though not as representative as the piano 4-hands version by the composer, it pretty damned good.

[Bryn]

Eötvös and Currentzis are my current favourites but what a task! The 1960 Stravinsky has its own very special place, for me, though. I have never taken to Boulez's messing around with the Stravinsky's quite specific tempo markings. When challenged on this issue, his 'Ghostbusters' response was "it's technical", as if Stravinsky did not know what he was doing.

[Mal]

... Karajan’s DG studio recording is supplemented with a live version.

Is there a live version? I only know of two Karajan recordings, the 1977 and 1964 studio recordings, both on DG. The 1977 was made in one take, according to Gramophone, without saying whether it was live or studio. But, reading the booklet notes, it was a studio version, and was *largely* taken from the second take in the second recording session. The first recording session was interrupted by Karajan's serious spinal illness, and he took a year to recover before going back to finish the job.

The booklet notes, by Richard Osborne, point out that not everyone agreed with Stravinsky's assesment of the 1964 account. Glenn Gould thought it was the most inspired on record. But, says Osborne, Karajan took composers seriously and showed them the greatest respect, using Stravinsky's comments to improve the performance after many live performances. Caveat: Richard Osborne is Karajan's biographer and greatest fan, so he may have a tendency to paint him in glowing colours.

[jayne lee wilson]

Good grief, what a choice.... brave, brave the reviewer who takes this on...

I wish they'd done the Symphony in Three Movements instead. I could listen to endless different accounts of that...
There are (at last) quite a few Agons out there now too - that could have been usefully done. .

Don't listen to Sacre much now (it visits The Proms way too often)..... stunned by my very first, Columbia SO/Igor off Columbia vinyl..... I recall getting excited about double-Markevitch on Testament..... and Gergiev with the Kirov.....probably would have loved Currentzis if I'd felt motivated to listen, but....

The Xavier-Roth could be interesting, although I often find myself unsympathetic to his particular musicality.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Mal (re #11)

https://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Divertimento-Stravinsky-Spring-Karajan/dp/B002HESQOE

[pastoralguy]

I too have the anniversary 'big boxes' although, like Petrushka, I've not heard them all. Of the many versions I HAVE heard, The Philadelphia Orchestra under Muti is a great favourite. I've collected various discs of this over the years and it's a really good disc for Hi-Fi demonstrations!

The only version I really don't like is Boulez where a lot of the string's arco markings are changed to pizzicato!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is there a live version? I only know of two Karajan recordings, the 1977 and 1964 studio recordings, both on DG. The 1977 was made in one take, according to Gramophone, without saying whether it was live or studio. But, reading the booklet notes, it was a studio version, and was *largely* taken from the second take in the second recording session. The first recording session was interrupted by Karajan's serious spinal illness, and he took a year to recover before going back to finish the job.

My mistake. It's the Markevitch live recording that's in the Legends box.