BaL 6.07.19 - Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

For myself, I can only say that if I could keep just one recording of Le sacre in my collection, it would simply have to be this one.

My view, too.



(But I'd give whoever tried to tell me that I could only have one recording a really bad time! )

[verismissimo]

… Anyone prefer A.N. Other's to Stravinsky's own? If so why?

I've been comparing Columbia/Stravinsky 1962 with Philharmonia/Salonen 2002.

Wonderful playing and superb recording with Salonen, of course.

But the IS is just RIGHT!

[richardfinegold]

Who do you think supersedes it?

Oh, on my shelves, Solti/CSO, Boulez/ Cleveland, Markevitch, even Ozawa/CSO. There are several dozen versions on the list that I don’t have. Composers are not always the best recorded interpreters of their own work, and the pick up group that was the Columbia SO has a tough time measuring up to the Orchestral juggernauts that have recorded it since the early 1960s

[rauschwerk]

Composers are not always the best recorded interpreters of their own work, and the pick up group that was the Columbia SO has a tough time measuring up to the Orchestral juggernauts that have recorded it since the early 1960s

Yes indeed. I bought the Stravinsky LP while still at school and learnt the piece from that - I thought it pretty good. However, within a few years I had heard live performances by Colin Davis, Dorati and Boulez and thought them all superior to the composer's recording. The CD remastering (which I have had on my shelves for over a decade but played only once or twice) improves the sound a great deal, but to my ears the performance lacks both dynamism and the kind of technical perfection we have come to expect nowadays. Oh, and there is that change to the ending ("It was a noise before, and is now an aggregation of distinctly-voiced pitches", said the composer). Sorry, but I prefer the 'noise'!

[Master Jacques]

(But I'd give whoever tried to tell me that I could only have one recording a really bad time! )

Indeed yes. Although (I say this in a stage whisper) these days, when I want to listen to a Stravinsky ballet on CD - which I do, very often - I tend to reach for the perfectly abstracted Agon, Apollo or Orpheus rather than the early trilogy.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Indeed yes. Although (I say this in a stage whisper) these days, when I want to listen to a Stravinsky ballet on CD - which I do, very often - I tend to reach for the perfectly abstracted Agon, Apollo or Orpheus rather than the early trilogy.

Yes (he yelled at the top of his voice) - it's been really good playing through some of the recordings of Le Sacre in my collection this past week or so, reminding me just how good a work it is. I haven't listened to it (apart from the Currentzis recording when I first got it) in some years, because it's a work I've known well and loved for 42 years this Christmas, and I tend these days to spend more time with the later ballets - and those three in particular. (Very fond of the joie de vivre that is Jeu de Cartes, too.)

[Pulcinella]

Indeed yes. Although (I say this in a stage whisper) these days, when I want to listen to a Stravinsky ballet on CD - which I do, very often - I tend to reach for the perfectly abstracted Agon, Apollo or Orpheus rather than the early trilogy.

Handily combined on this splendid Naxos CD, as I'm sure you will know.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7936314--stravinsky-three-greek-ballets

[Bryn]

Yes (he yelled at the top of his voice) - it's been really good playing through some of the recordings of Le Sacre in my collection this past week or so, reminding me just how good a work it is. I haven't listened to it (apart from the Currentzis recording when I first got it) in some years, because it's a work I've known well and loved for 42 years this Christmas, and I tend these days to spend more time with the later ballets - and those three in particular. (Very fond of the joie de vivre that is Jeu de Cartes, too.)

I'm happy to go back a bit to Свадебка and/or Pulcinella.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm happy to go back a bit to Свадебка and/or Pulcinella.

Ah, yes - I tend to group those in with the first three "Russian" ballets. (I wasn't sure whether or not to include Danses Concertantes and Persephone, too - the first isn't/wasn't a "ballet" and the second "involves" ballet, but is it an example of the genre like the others?)

[gurnemanz]

Mfp Markevitch Rite (Ayers Rock on cover - still have) was one of my first classical LP purchases. It took me about 40 years to get around to experiencing the work as intended i.e. in the theatre danced as a ballet.

[pastoralguy]

Mfp Markevitch Rite (Ayers Rock on cover - still have) was one of my first classical LP purchases. It took me about 40 years to get around to experiencing the work as intended i.e. in the theatre danced as a ballet.

Me too! There's a terrific TESTAMENT cd of the mono and stereo remake that's terrific.

[Mal]

... it's been really good playing through some of the recordings of Le Sacre in my collection this past week or so, reminding me just how good a work it is.

Out of those, which would you take to that desert island?

[Master Jacques]

Handily combined on this splendid Naxos CD, as I'm sure you will know.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...-greek-ballets

Splendid's the word. I have really relished Craft's (underrated) Stravinsky ballets on CD: his performances are not the last word in whizz-bang orchestral flash, but they are often deeply sustaining. I wonder if either of his Rites will be so much as mentioned? (Hint: they should be.)

[BBMmk2]

Andrew seems to be getting better at these two-fer sessions.

I’ve been thinking how good it would be to see a recording by Les Siécles playing this!

[Dave2002]

I was there at the RFH for BBCSO/Boulez. Front row of the choir seats. 1972.

Breathtaking.

The Rite was one of the first concerts I ever heard at the RFH. A bit earlier than 1972 - Zubin Mehta and the LSO IIRC. It was also the first time I ever heard the piece live - absolutely stunning.