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Works Of Igor Stravinsky
Release Date: 08/28/2007
Label: Sony Catalog #: 710311 Spars Code: ADD
Composer: Igor Stravinsky, Various
Performer: Roger Sessions, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, Samuel Barber, ...
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky, Robert Craft, Gregg Smith
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, CBC Symphony Orchestra, American Concert Choir, ...
Number of Discs: 22
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 25 Hours 18 Mins.
EAN: 0886971031126
Works on This Recording
1. Firebird by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 1/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
2. Scherzo à la russe by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943-1944; USA
Date of Recording: 12/17/1963
Venue: New York, New York
3. Scherzo fantastique, Op. 3 by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1907-1908; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/1/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
4. Fireworks, Op. 4 by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/17/1963
Venue: New York, New York
5. Pétrouchka by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: Switzerland
Date of Recording: 2/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
6. Le sacre du printemps by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1913
Date of Recording: 1/1960
Venue: New York, New York
7. Les noces by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Roger Sessions (Piano), Aaron Copland (Piano), Lukas Foss (Piano),
Samuel Barber (Piano), Loren Driscoll (Tenor), Mildred Allen (Soprano),
Regina Sarfaty (Mezzo Soprano), Robert Oliver (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: American Concert Choir, Columbia Percussion Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: Switzerland
Date of Recording: 12/21/1959
Venue: Hollywood, California
8. Renard by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: William Murphy (Baritone), Loren Driscoll (Tenor), Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone),
George Shirley (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1916; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/26/1962
Venue: New York, New York
9. L'histoire du soldat: Suite for Chamber Ensemble by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: William Kraft (Percussion), Robert Marsteller (Trombone), Don Christlieb (Bassoon),
Richard Kelly (Double Bass), Roy D'Antonio (Clarinet), Israel Baker (Violin),
Charles Brady (Trumpet)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1918; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 2/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
10. Apollon musagète by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: France
Date of Recording: 6/29/1964
Venue: New York, New York
11. Agon by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
Date of Recording: 3/13/1964
Venue: Cleveland, Ohio
12. Scènes de ballet by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; USA
Date of Recording: 3/28/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
13. Bluebird Pas-de-deux by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; USA
Date of Recording: 12/17/1964
Venue: New York, New York
14. Le baiser de la fée by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928/1950; France
Date of Recording: 8/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
15. Pulcinella by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: Switzerland
Date of Recording: 8/23/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
16. Orpheus by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; USA
Date of Recording: 7/20/1964
Venue: Chicago, Illinois
17. Pétrouchka: Suite by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911/1947; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 2/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
18. Pulcinella Suite by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1922/1947; France
Date of Recording: 8/25/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
19. Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1919/1945;
Date of Recording: 1/18/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
Notes: Version: 1945.
20. Symphony no 1 in E flat major, Op. 1 by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1905-1907; Russia
Date of Recording: 5/2/1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
21. Portrait of Stravinsky - Stravinsky in Rehearsal by Various
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Notes: Includes:
Apollo 4:44 (Recorded in New York City, in December 1964)
Sleeping Beauty / Dornröschen / La Belle au bois dormant 2:14 (Recorded in New York City, in December 1963)
Recollections of my Childhood (with Cathy Berberian) 1:16 (Recorded in New York City, in December 1964)
Pulcinella 2:44 (Recorded in New York City, in August 1965)
Piano Concerto (with Philippe Entremont) 5:46 (Recorded in New York City, in May 1964)
Symphony in C 7:52 (Recorded in Toronto, Canada, in December 1962)
With the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and CBC Symphony Orchestra.
22. Stravinsky in His Own Words by Various
Performer: John McClure (Narrator)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
23. Symphony in Three Movements by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942-1945; USA
Date of Recording: 2/1/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
24. Symphony in C by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939-1940; USA
Date of Recording: 12/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
25. Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1930/1948; France
Date of Recording: 3/30/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Notes: Version: 1948 revision.
26. Concerto for Piano and Winds by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Philippe Entremont (Piano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1923-1924; France
Date of Recording: 5/13/1964
Venue: New York, New York
Notes: Version: 1950 revision.
27. Movements for Piano and Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Charles Rosen (Piano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1961; USA
Date of Recording: 2/12/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
28. Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Philippe Entremont (Piano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928-1929; France
Date of Recording: 1/3/1966
Venue: New York, New York
Notes: Recorded under the supervision of the composer.
29. Concerto for Violin in D major by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Isaac Stern (Violin)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931; France
Date of Recording: 6/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
30. Greeting Prelude by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1956; USA
Date of Recording: 12/16/1963
Venue: New York, New York
31. Suite no 1 for small Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917-1925; France
Date of Recording: 3/29/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
32. Suite no 2 for small Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1921; France
Date of Recording: 3/30/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
33. Concerto in E flat major "Dumbarton Oaks" by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938; France
Date of Recording: 3/29/1964
Venue: Hollywood, California
34. Four Norwegian Moods by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 3/29/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
35. Circus Polka by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 3/29/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
36. Concerto for String Orchestra in D major by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA
Date of Recording: 12/17/1963
Venue: New York, New York
37. Instrumental Miniatures (8) by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; USA
Date of Recording: 4/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
38. Etudes (4) for Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928/1952; France
Date of Recording: 1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
39. Preludium for Jazz Band by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Jazz Band
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1936-1937; France
Date of Recording: 4/27/1965
Venue: New York, New York
40. Concertino for 12 instruments by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1952; USA
Date of Recording: 10/26/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
41. Octet for Wind Instruments by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1923/1952; France
Date of Recording: 1/5/1961
Venue: New York, New York
42. Rag-time for 11 instruments by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Toni Koves-Steiner (Cimbalom)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1918; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/26/1962
Venue: New York, New York
43. Tango by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Jazz Band
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1940; USA
Date of Recording: 4/27/1965
Venue: New York, New York
Notes: Version: 1953.
44. Septet by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 10/27/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
45. Pastorale for Violin, Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet and Bassoon by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Israel Baker (Violin)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933; France
46. Ebony Concerto by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Benny Goodman (Clarinet)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Jazz Band
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; USA
Date of Recording: 110/27/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
47. Symphonies of Wind Instruments by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Northwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920; France
Date of Recording: 1951
Notes: Version: 1947.
This selecton is a monaural recording.
48. Duo concertant for Violin and Piano by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Joseph Szigeti (Violin), Igor Stravinsky (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931-1932; France
Date of Recording: 10/1945
Notes: This selection is a monaural recording.
49. Serenade for Piano in A major by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Igor Stravinsky (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1925; France
Date of Recording: 7/1934
Venue: Paris, France
Notes: This selection is a monaural recording.
50. Concerto for 2 Pianos by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Soulima Stravinsky (Piano), Igor Stravinsky (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931-1935; France
Date of Recording: 2/16/1938
Venue: Paris, France
Notes: This selection is a monaural recording.
51. Rag-time for Piano by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Igor Stravinsky (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1919; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 7/1934
Venue: Paris, France
Notes: This selection is a monaural recording.
52. Sonata for 2 Pianos by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Andrew Gold (Tenor), Robert Fizdale (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943-1944; USA
Date of Recording: 11/30/1961
Venue: New York, New York
53. Sonata for Piano by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Charles Rosen (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1924; France
Date of Recording: 12/1960
Venue: New York, New York
54. Le rossignol by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: William Murphy (Baritone), Stanley Kolk (Tenor), Elaine Bonazzi (Mezzo Soprano),
Herbert Beattie (Bass), Kenneth Smith (Bass), Loren Driscoll (Tenor),
Reri Grist (Soprano), Marina Picassi (Soprano), Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone),
Carl Kaiser (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Washington D.C. Opera Society Orchestra, Washington D.C. Opera Society Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908-1914; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/1960
Venue: Washington D.C.
55. Mavra by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Susan Belinck (Soprano), Mary Simmons (Mezzo Soprano), Patricia Rideout (Alto),
Stanley Kolk (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1921-1922; France
Date of Recording: 5/7/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
56. Faun and shepherdess, Op. 2 by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Mary Simmons (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1906; Russia
Date of Recording: 5/8/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
57. Poèmes (2) de Paul Verlaine, Op. 9 by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1910/1951; Russia
Date of Recording: 1964-1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
58. Poems (2) of Konstantin Bal'mont by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911/1954; Russia
Date of Recording: 1/24/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
59. Japanese Lyrics (3) by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912-1913; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 6/10/1968
Venue: Hollywood, California
60. Little Songs (3) "Recollections of my childhood" by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1906/1913; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/11/1964
Venue: New York, New York
61. Pribaoutki by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 12/11/1964
Venue: New York, New York
62. Cat's Cradle Songs (4) by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1916; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 12/1/1964
Venue: New York, New York
63. Russian Peasant Songs (4) by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Gregg Smith
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914-1917; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 8/2/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
64. Four Songs by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Dorothy Remsen (Harp), Louise Di Tullio (Flute), Adrienne Albert (Soprano),
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953-1954; USA
Date of Recording: 11/30/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
65. Three Songs from William Shakespeare by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Cathy Berberian (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Date of Recording: 12/14/1964
Venue: New York, New York
66. In memoriam Dylan Thomas by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Alexander Young (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1954; USA
Date of Recording: 11/27/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
67. Elegy for JFK by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Jack Kreiselmann (Clarinet), Charles Russo (Clarinet), Cathy Berberian (Mezzo Soprano),
Paul E Howland (Clarinet)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1964; USA
Date of Recording: 12/14/1964
Venue: New York, New York
68. The Owl and the Pussycat by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Robert Craft (Piano), Adrienne Albert (Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1966; USA
Date of Recording: 8/18/1967
69. Trois histoires pour enfants: no 1, Tilim-bom by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1917; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1967-1968
Venue: Hollywood, California
70. Rake's Progress by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Peter Tracey (Bass), Kevin Miller (Tenor), Regina Sarfaty (Mezzo Soprano),
Judith Raskin (Soprano), Alexander Young (Tenor), John Reardon (Baritone),
Don Garrard (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sadler's Wells Opera Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1948-1951; USA
Date of Recording: 6/1964
Venue: London, England
71. Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Loren Driscoll (Tenor), Shirley Verrett (Mezzo Soprano), George Shirley (Tenor),
Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone), Chester Watson (Bass), John Reardon (Baritone),
John Westbrook (Spoken Vocals)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Washington D.C. Opera Society Orchestra, Washington D.C. Opera Society Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926-1927; France
Date of Recording: 1/20/1961
Venue: Washington D.C.
Notes: Version: 1949.
72. The Flood by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Paul Tripp (Spoken Vocals), Richard Robinson (Tenor), Sebastian Cabot (Spoken Vocals),
Laurence Harvey (Spoken Vocals), John Reardon (Baritone), Elsa Lanchester (Spoken Vocals),
Robert Oliver (Bass)
Conductor: Robert Craft
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1961-1962; USA
Date of Recording: 3/1962
Venue: Hollywood, California
73. Perséphone by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Vera Zorina (Spoken Vocals), Michele Molese (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Gregg Smith Singers, Ithaca College Concert Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933-1934; France
Date of Recording: 5/1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
74. Ode by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943; USA
Date of Recording: 3/13/1964
Venue: Cleveland, Ohio
75. Monumentum pro Gesualdo di Venosa ad CD annum by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1960; USA
Date of Recording: 6/9/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
76. Chorale Variations on "Von Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955-1956; USA
Date of Recording: 3/30/1963
Venue: Toronto, Canada
77. Le roi des étoiles by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1912; Russia
Date of Recording: 12/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
78. Ave Maria by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 5/8/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Notes: Version: 1949.
79. Credo by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 8/20/1965
Venue: Hollywood, California
Notes: Version: 1964.
80. Pater noster by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926/1949; France
Date of Recording: 5/8/1964
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Notes: Version: 1949.
81. Cantata by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Adrienne Albert (Soprano), Alexander Young (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1951-1952; USA
Date of Recording: 1965-1966
Venue: Hollywood, California
82. Mass by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Gregg Smith Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944-1948; USA
Date of Recording: 6/5/1960
Venue: Hollywood, California
83. Genesis Suite: no 7, Babel by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: John Colicos (Spoken Vocals)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers, CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; USA
Date of Recording: 11/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
84. Canticum sacrum ad honorem Sancti Marci nominis by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Richard Robinson (Tenor), Howard Chitjian (Baritone)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Los Angeles Festival Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Festival Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1955; USA
Date of Recording: 6/19/1957
Venue: Hollywood, California
85. Introitus "T.S. Eliot in memoriam" by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1965
Date of Recording: 2/9/1966
Venue: New York, New York
86. A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: John Horton (Spoken Vocals), Loren Driscoll (Tenor), Shirley Verrett (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: CBC Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1960-1961; USA
Date of Recording: 4/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
87. The dove descending breaks the air by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Toronto Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; USA
Date of Recording: 4/29/1962
Venue: Toronto, Canada
88. Threni - id est Lamentationes Jeremiae prophetae by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: James Wainner (Tenor), William Lewis (Tenor), Beatrice Krebs (Alto),
Bethany Beardslee (Soprano), Mac Morgan (Spoken Vocals), Robert Oliver (Bass)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Schola Cantorum
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957-1958; USA
Date of Recording: 1/1959
Venue: New York, New York
89. Chant du rossignol by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; Switzerland
Date of Recording: 1/23/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
90. Danses concertantes by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Chamber Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 1/20/1967
Venue: Hollywood, California
91. Epitaphium by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Arthur Gleghorn (Flute), Kalman Bloch (Clarinet), Dorothy Remsen (Harp)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
Date of Recording: 12/14/1964
Venue: New York, New York
92. Double Canon for String Quartet by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: George Neikrug (Cello), Israel Baker (Violin), Otis Igleman (Violin),
Sanford Schonbach (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gregg Smith Singers, Columbia Chamber Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1959; USA
Date of Recording: 1/25/1961
Venue: Hollywood, California
93. Abraham and Isaac by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Richard Frisch (Baritone)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963; USA
Date of Recording: 1967-1969
Venue: Hollywood, California
94. Variations for Orchestra "Aldous Huxley in memoriam" by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1963-1964; USA
Date of Recording: 10/11/1960
Venue: New York, New York
95. Requiem Canticles by Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Elaine Bonazzi (Mezzo Soprano), Linda Anderson (Soprano), Donald Gramm (Bass Baritone),
Charles Bressler (Tenor)
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
Orchestra/Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Ithaca College Concert Choir
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1965-1966; USA
Date of Recording: 10/11/1966
Venue: New York, New York
Notes and Editorial Reviews
A lifetime's treasury of musical experience at a breathtakingly low price.
This classic BMG-Sony set scythes through great swathes of their Stravinsky catalogue bundling up most everything they have and only leaving a few works unrecorded. For all the pundits cawing about lack of notes and skimpy presentation this remains an astonishing offer at super-bargain price.
Yes, it has appeared at full price before (1991, "Stravinsky - The Recorded Legacy" on Sony Classical SX22K46290) and yes it is not quite the complete works. However, where else can one acquire the riches represented by these composer-directed or composer-supervised recordings?
Think how we would have felt if the same had been done for Rachmaninov or Schoenberg or Moeran or Martin? - almost their entire works in composer-directed or -mentored performances. Only Britten has had anything similar with Copland coming a close-ish second.
Stravinsky's life's work in music is there from the early Rimsky-inspired Symphony in E flat to the starkest dodecaphony. Not neglected are the twelve-tone works of his late years after coming into contact with that great Schoenberg advocate Robert Craft. In this context try Threni and the brief Pro Gesualdo piece.
Stravinsky as brilliant magister of the orchestra can be heard in the early fluttering rainbow-delicacy of The Firebird. Sample the helter-skelter flutter of The Firebird's Dance.
The other two great ballets, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, are there in full and Petrushka and Firebird are also there in their familiar curtailed concert suite form.
On CD 1 the Scherzo Russe looks unmistakably to the pages of Petrushka. Speaking of which the composer's own CBS Petrushka is pressed forward to the point where the orchestra were being driven close to breaking point. Yet they come through flags flying. OK these recordings are now between forty and fifty years old so the impact is not going to be all that it now can be. That said, it remains viscerally vivid and exciting. The transition in Le Sacre from the thunderous stomp of Dance of the Earth (tr. 23) into the Largo (tr. 25) is to be savoured in a spectral glory redolent of Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnole.
Les Noces with its raw affinity with Orff and its pre-echoes of Birtwistle is raucously statuesque. The playing throughout this set is often pretty astonishing. This certainly the case in the chiselled and tangy March from Soldier's Tale.
Memorable is the rounded Variation de Calliope from Apollon Musagète. The recording is very good indeed: smooth and detailed. On the other hand the raw edge of the brass in Bransle Simple of Agon (CD4 tr. 19) looks forward to a century of Igor-influenced composers who wrote works for brass ensemble. Bransle Gay recalls the much later Ariadne by Gordon Crosse.
The Adagio from The Bluebird is full of smiling sunny light. It casts ogling eyes towards the grand balletic manner. A Village Fete from The Fairy's Kiss looks to Petrushka's Easter Fair yet strips out the density of the early scoring.
Other conductors have found more romance in the Scherzino from Pulcinella but the composer's lucidity and attention to rhythmic definition is spot-on. The Apothéose d'Orphée is superbly done both artistically and on the audio side.
A disc with three of the concert suites from Pulcinella, Petrushka and Firebird reminds us that the composer intended his music to make its way into concert programmes as well as to be danced. The grumping and shreiking nightmare of the Dance of the Peasant and the Bear from Petrushka is sharply characterised. The Dance of the Coachmen has a satisfying guttural grunt and also exploits the music's inherent triumph (tr. 10). The brassy gruffness of the Vivo (Pulcinella) leaps out at the listener and stereo separation adds a gritty reality (tr. 20 CD 7).
Stravinsky showed little real interest in symphonic form although there are things called 'symphony' in his worklist. The closest is the very early and Glazunov-like Symphony in E flat op. 1 here to be found on CD 8. It's a little gem and rather unconsidered. Try springing it on your friends sight-unseen and see who can identify it. Listen to that finale for more of the Glazunov redolence.
After that Symphony on CD 8 comes a sequence of recordings made of Stravinsky in orchestral rehearsal. The composer benevolently persuades and instructs his artists. His attention to minuscule detail is memorable - listen to him coaching the singer in tr. 7 with grace and determination. He enchants magically and self-effacingly in tr. 8. We hear the composer conceding with sly grace when it proves impossible to make a good splice for the recording of Pulcinella. This is a great place to start your exploration of the set. You will be won over by the composer's personality first though I grant you that this sequence may well have been chosen to create a certain impression rather than to be candidly representative; fascinating nonetheless. On tr. 11 we get a miniature documentary with John McClure as commentator framing the composer's reminiscences and music and the memories of others who knew Stravinsky.
With CD 9 we come to the composer's three most characteristic symphonies. Interesting that, rather like Britten, they were never numbered. The Symphony in Three Movements is there with its violence and scar tissue yet deep rhythmic fibre and inventive spitfire clarity. The composer has a little fun at Beethoven's expense at the start of the Symphony in C - a smiling and uncruel humour is at work here. One can also pick up the influences Stravinsky had on Piston and Copland. In the Symphony of Psalms Stravinsky is sensitive and measured yet finding his grand Orff-like tread and stride in the third section at 5.03 (tr. 10 CD9). Interesting that the monumental side of this work is given a back-seat.
CD 10 has the concerto and concertante pieces. The Concerto for piano and wind instruments smokes with grand Purcellian gunpowder and ignites in furious little gusts. Philippe Entremont seems to enjoy the experience as I am sure Charles Rosen did with the unforgivingly dissonant Movements - five of them - for piano and orchestra. Dissonance is little to be heard in the salty Violin Concerto which is neatly dispatched by Isaac Stern in a style thrummingly extruded from Pulcinella yet finding Bergian resonance and butterfly grace in Aria I.
CD 11 is entitled ‘Miniature Masterpieces'. Here I would single out the Copland-indebted Greeting Prelude, the softly chanting Andante from Suite No. 1 and the gawky music-box Valse of the Second Suite. The bright and eager Dumbarton Oaks is followed by Norwegian Moods, which in the second movement Song sounds nothing like Stravinsky instead inhabiting a world of lyrical Grieg-like contentment. The Circus Polka has Stravinsky back to his normal self. It is 'Composed for a young elephant'! The tragic Cantique from Four Etudes is followed by the Iberian-accented Madrid - another suitably disorientating quiz for the general listener. There are some give-aways at 0.58.
CD 12 is ‘Chamber Music and Historical Recordings vol. 1'. The shade of Weill haunts the very brief Preludium for jazz ensemble. It is however full of the DNA of Stravinsky's rhythmic entanglements. Superbly recorded too. Ragtime sounds agreeably unarticulated and is memorable for its cimbalom twang. The Septet's Gigue rocks with scorched discords. I had forgotten how ear-tickling the Ebony Concerto is and how short - between 9 and 10 minutes. Here the clarinet is played by Benny Goodman. The sound is stunningly alive.
Volume 13 is the second disc in the ‘Chamber Music and Historical Recordings' enclave of this set. Szigeti tackles the Duo Concertant which is again far more passionate than I had recalled. Soulima Stravinsky plays the piano solo Serenade in A and is there with his father in the Concerto for two solo pianos. Surely the now more enterprising companies could record more of Soulima's own compositions. The Concerto is quite antiseptic by comparison with the almost Arthur Benajmin-like chiming of the Sonata for Two Pianos - which here are played by the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale.
Discs 14, 16 and 17 set out the operas. The Nightingale and Mavra are on one disc. Of the clangy metallic otherworldliness of The Nightingale, the Chinese March is representative but listen also to The Song of the Nightingale with its chirping avian soprano. Sample as well the wooden creaking humour of the acidly graven writing for The Performance of the Mechanical Nightingale. Strangely in the case of Mavra we are offered a single 28 minute track. This set is otherwise very well tracked - plenty of entrance points - so it's ideal for study and appreciation.
The Rake's Progress is given in a deluxe performance with very British-sounding accents. The music is deliberately accessible. A good example of this is My tale should be told on CD16 tr. 14. The recording is stunning. This pays off handsomely in intrinsically fine pieces such as the Trio Could it then have been known (CD16 tr. 17). Life flows in full through You O Nick (CD 17 tr. 2). The staginess of this recording complete with judiciously applied sound-effects pays dividends. There is quite a bit of recitative with the clang and tinkle of the harpsichord to add to the regency mise-en-scène. Then again things are completed with the epilogue Good people just a moment CD17 tr. 15 - with its hammered home homilies.
The composer's 38 songs are on CD 15. They are a surprising by-way in Stravinsky's output. The Shepherdess could almost be by Rachmaninov. The Firebird diaphony of The Flower - a Balmont setting - returns us to a recognisably familiar Stravinsky and yet ... The Three Japanese Lyrics are of haiku-like concision and all over and done with in under three minutes. The singer in Pribaoutki really rasps out the Russian folk style. Then for a flavour-some offering try the Four Russian Peasant Songs for choir with four Horns. If you enjoy Canteloube's Chants de l'Auvergne surprise yourself with Tilim Bom - fully of bright, eager light and rhythmic excitement. A second version of this piece with full orchestra rounds out the disc. By contrast the dissonance of the Three Songs from William Shakespeare include a tortured Full Fathom Five.
Oedipus Rex is the lead item on CD 18. It is sharply etched stuff and benefits from a transparent performance of grandeur, light and clarity. Both the Craft-conducted The Flood and the composer-conducted Oedipus Rex are melodramas. The Flood is a work of angular dissonance. Columbia use the two channels for separation and to heighten dramaturgy in the humorous Noah and his Wife interlude though played out against dissonance in the orchestra (tr. 7). Channel separation also adds to the delights of The Covenant of the Rainbow. The estimable John Westbrook – familiar from classics recordings of RVW's Oxford Elegy and Bliss's Morning Heroes - is the narrator.
CD 19 has a second helping of melodrama in the Gide-based Perséphone with its angular and dissonant clangour and shredded lryricism. Ode is a work displaying a type of honeyed dissonance, all concisely channelled into three movements. Its Eclogue chugs delightfully and there is a light hand in terms of dodecaphony. The Monumentum Pro Gesualdo is a tight and gently dissonant piece recalling the Gabriellis in its raw treatment of the brass.
Nearly there now. The last two volumes but one set out the so-called ‘Sacred Works'. The Chorale Variations are founded on Bach's Vom Himmel Hoch. They are sprightly and smilingly suave as in Variation II with the lovely 'singing' of the oboe and harp. Le Roi des Etoiles sets words by Konstantin Balmont in music that is mystical-ecstatic in a way that might well have been where Scriabin was going had his delusional dreams turned into a scored reality. The Ave Maria, Credo and Pater Noster recall the Russian Christian Orthodox tradition. Stravinsky's Mass is for mixed chorus and double wind quintet. It has a sometimes antique flavour as in the medieval flavoured Sanctus (CD 20 tr. 21) but Stravinsky's peppery harmonies in the brass keep us anchored. Babel is for orchestra and narrator. It tells the tale of the Tower of Babel and its great fall. It has a certain Hollywood and Charlton Heston air to it; quite agreeable in fact. At only 5:13 it does not outstay its welcome. The narrator is in fact John Colicos.
CD 21 is the second volume of ‘Sacred Works'. The stern and even grim Canticum Sacrum has its sternness underlined by a darkling orchestral score. The cantata A Sermon, A Narrative and A Prayer is unforgivingly dodecaphonic with plenty of angularity for singers and orchestra. The cataclysm of the Stoning of Stephen, complete with orator, is the peak of the work. Anthem is in a similar idiom but for mixed voice choir only. Threni brings back the tartly supportive orchestra with sonorous choir and soloists.
The final disc is of Robert Craft conducting under the supervision of the composer. Song of the Nightingale in its format as symphonic poem is a blast of hard and brilliant life - like The Firebird but injected with steely deliberation. Danses Concertantes is lively and buoyant but why were the five movements not separately tracked? The Epitaphium is again dissonant and distinguished by a plangent harp contribution suggesting dark fathoms. The Double Canon for string quartet is in memoriam Raoul Dufy. It is solemn and again dissonant as is the Sacred Ballad - Abraham and Isaac. Anger floods in for Variations - written for Aldous Huxley - in memoriam. The Requiem Canticles is in nine movements here each accorded its own track. Dissonance and angst are shafts shot through this music although in Interlude (CD22 tr. 11) a more smiling countenance shines equivocally. At least it shines.
Comparison is not really an issue here. There is nothing like this set unless of course you compare it with the still available de luxe version which includes full notes and illustrations, all texts and translations. You will pay probably four times as much as you will pay for the present set.
You will have your own favourites to compare. My own include the Mercury Markevitch version of the complete Firebird which for all its grey locks is to be preferred over every other recording I know. Ancerl's Oedipus Rex is more awesome and monumental in effect - its choral sound bigger. You will also need to keep a watch for the Craft-conducted MusicMasters recordings made in the 1990s and gradually drip feeding onto the market from Naxos.
The downside to this set is that there are no texts; not even a CD-ROM; not even a link to a webpage. You may be able to google some of them. Another demerit for some may be the occasional intrusion of transatlantic accents in these all-American choirs. It's certainly noticeable in the Symphony of Psalms. This transatlantic ‘twang' sometimes recalls the same effect in the classic recordings by Abravanel in Dona Nobis Pacem (Vanguard-Omega) or Hanson in Lament for Beowulf (Mercury); works very different from Stravinsky's. The advantages however are overwhelming and we need to remember that for many of these works this is the vocal sound for which Stravinsky wrote the works.
As a set it's all most logically and pleasingly laid out so hats off to the concept planners this time. The format is the now ubiquitous wallet foldout style card box with each of the 22 discs in its own card sleeve - rather like a Brilliant Classics standard. If you want a luxury presentation and have three times as much shelf space then you can still find SX22K46290 with a sturdy plastic slip case and each sub-set of discs housed in its own single or multiple jewel-case with each supported by full notes, texts and translation. The price will usually be at least four times - may be five - what you would pay for this.
By the way the works not included are, so it seems: Pastorale for violin and wind quartet (Szigeti with Stravinsky and wind quartet); Pastorale for voice and piano; Three Easy Pieces and Five Easy Pieces for four-hands piano; The Star-Spangled Banner (arr. Stravinsky); Fanfare for a new Theatre (Heinrich and Nagel) and Chanson Russe for violin and piano (Szigeti and Stravinsky). You can hear the last three in another Sony set ‘Original Jacket Collection' – ‘Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky' on Sony-BMG SX9K 64136.
One could easily pick up the present set and choose a disc or a work to play each day for a year and be constantly surprised and rewarded by this magister of 20th century music.
-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International
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Review by Uncle Dave Lewis [-]
With Works of Igor Stravinsky, Sony/BMG is offering Sony Classics' massive Stravinsky box of 22 CDs, which once retailed at a faint-inducing price tag, for less than one-sixth of the original cost. Certainly more of these will get around than the old "Recorded Legacy" box did; so prohibitively expensive, such boxes would sit at the counter of finer classical music stores for years as a never-purchased luxury item. In the new edition, you don't get much aside from the same 22 CDs in cardboard sleeves and a paper-thin booklet, which contains a highly generalized, four-page-long appreciation of Stravinsky's artistry and as close to the most basic projection of the recording data as one can imagine.
Aside from the marketing angle, Sony/BMG's Works of Igor Stravinsky has all the vicissitudes of the original Sony Classical set, apart from the old set's monolithic dimensions. No other composer born in the 1880s -- unless you count Leopold Stokowski as a "composer" -- left behind a more extensive body of recordings than Stravinsky. Stravinsky didn't make his first recording until he was 43 years old, only picking up conducting as an avocation a couple of years after that. The vast majority of Stravinsky's recordings were made for CBS Masterworks starting in 1957 -- when he was 75 years old -- and extending to 1967, when he made his last public appearances, and Works of Igor Stravinsky includes, in one way or another, some 90 percent of the music Stravinsky is known to have composed. Save the inclusion of both the Firebird Ballet and its corresponding suite, alternate incarnations of works are not found here; the dreaded, posthumously discovered Sonata in F sharp minor for piano is likewise lacking, but so are several of Stravinsky's other piano pieces and the Three Pieces for String Quartet. Apart from that, Works of Igor Stravinsky runs the Stravinskïan gamut, from the opera The Rake's Progress in its entirety to Epitaphium, a late career tidbit lasting all of 70 seconds.
There are some stunning gems here -- Stravinsky's 1961 recording of the Firebird Ballet and 1960 Rite of Spring are fabulous, completely authoritative performances. There is a compelling Agon from Los Angeles in 1957, which was the first recording Columbia Masterworks issued in stereo; the 1960 Monumentum pro Gesualdo di Venosa, never bettered; and an intense, palpitating L'histoire du Soldat Suite from 1961. The whole of disc 12, which consists of short instrumental works such as the Octet for winds, Concertino for 12 Instruments, Ragtime for 11 Instruments, and the Ebony Concerto with Benny Goodman, is all very impressive. Some of the vocal items as well -- his songs as sung by Cathy Berberian, Adrienne Albert, and Donald Gramm, singers Stravinsky liked and worked with regularly -- are not only well done but carry the indelible stamp of authority that only Stravinsky could have imparted in such works, as many of them were new when Stravinsky recorded them.
On the other hand, some devotees of Stravinsky tend to view him as his own worst enemy as a conductor of his own music, and much of his work for CBS records was the evidence that galvanized such a reputation for him. Few composers would prefer to record everything they've written, and there were many things in Stravinsky's catalog that about which he simply wasn't very enthusiastic. Stravinsky's sluggish and one-dimensional recording of the early Symphony in E flat seems to confirm his low opinion of the work, a viewpoint successfully challenged some 30 years later in Mikhail Pletnev's dazzling recording of it for Deutsche Grammophon. Indeed, no one who has heard Spanish conductor Josep Pons' sparkling and effervescent recording of Pulcinella would likely prefer Stravinsky's own plodding, pedestrian, and badly balanced 1965 account. Stravinsky was a difficult conductor to follow, and even though he had some of the best musicians on both American coasts and in Canada to work with, the results were not always predictable. Generally, the further forward from 1962 you get, the more difficult it is for Stravinsky to contend with the demands of his craft.
It is a pity that Sony/BMG could not have revisited this package before re-releasing it so cheaply; some of the things Stravinsky recorded for RCA Victor before the advent of his Columbia contract, which is now accessible, could have been added. A good example would be a shimmering 1950 account of Apollo that runs rings around the rather careful and pleasingly patrician 1964 version heard here. A few of Stravinsky's 1930s vintage French EMI recordings are included as "historical" entries; on that score, what about the 1945 recording of Ebony Concerto with Woody Herman, or the 1940 Rite of Spring, both recordings made by CBS Masterworks? However, such benefit would have cut into whatever profit margin there could be on a package offered at the equivalent of about two bucks a disc; to obtain such an extensive and comprehensive offering of Stravinsky conducting his own works for such a modest outlay is a hard bargain to resist.
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Produktinfo
Diese Edition dokumentiert ein in der Musikgeschichte einmaliges Ereignis: eine umfassende authentische Interpretation der eigenen Werke durch einen Komponisten selbst. So kann diese Edition ein Schlüssel zum Verstehen von Strawinskys musikalischem Schaffen werden. Die frühesten Aufnahmen stammen aus den 30er Jahren, die letzten Einspielungen wurden, da Strawinsky selbst nicht mehr dazu in der Lage war, unter seiner Aufsicht von Robert Craft dirigiert, der Jahrzehnte mit ihm musikalisch zusammengearbeitet hatte. Um das Komponisten-Porträt auch im Bereich Klaviermusik und Kammermusik abzurunden, wurde die Edition mit Einspielungen anderer renommierter Künstler ergänzt.
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Pressestimmen
H.-C. v. Dadelsen in FonoForum 9 / 91:
"Ein Jahrtausend-Dokument. ..diese 'Feuervogel-Aufnahme ist einzigartig! Die Betonung des subjektiv-emotionalen, lyrisch-intensiven Elements, die ja ganz im Widerspruch zum gängigen Strawinsky-Bild steht, macht auch manche seiner weniger perfekten Einspielungen zum Erlebnis. Klangbild: Mit wenigen Ausnahmen überraschend gut."
Gramophone 7 / 91:
"Dank Sony eine wunderbare Überraschung! Jeder, der sich auf diese Entdeckung einläßt, wird sich über die Vielfalt und den Reichtum des Schaffens von Igor Strawinsky in dieser monumentalen Edition wundern. Strawinsky gehört sicherlich zu den außergewöhlichen Figuren unserer und aller Zeiten; die eigene Lesart seiner Werke ist und bleibt ein Prüfstein für alle weiteren Interpreten."
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