Stravinsky, Igor

Average customer rating:

Good selection
thunderous applause
Good Music at a Great Price
You will like this!
Good for the novice

25 Thunderous Classics

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Polkas | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

25 Classical Favorites
Symphony (25) Favorites
25 Tchaikovsky Favorites
25 Mozart Favorites
25 Beethoven Favorites

ASIN: B00004Y6SQ
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Tracks:

Also Sprach Zarathustra (Sunrise) - R. Strauss
Mars (The Planets) - Holst
Overture 1812 - Tchaikovsky
Entry Of The Gladiadtors - Fucik
Sabre Dance - Khachaturian
Procession Of The Sardar - Ippolitov Ivanov
Night On Bald Mountain - Mussorgsky
Anvil Chor (II Trovatore) - Verdi
The Thunderer March - Sousa
Thunder & Lightening Polka - J. Strauss
Prelude To Act III : Lohengrin - Wagner
The Ride Of The Valkryies - Wagner
Montagues & Capulets (Romeo & Juliet Ballet Suite) - Prokofiev
The Storm: Symphony No. 6 In F Major, 'Pastorale' - Beethoven
Rondeau - Edward Carroll
Overture: Fireworks Music - Handel
March To The Scaffold: Symphonie Fantastique - Berlioz
LesToreadors - Bizet
William Tell Overture: Finale - Rossini
Revolutionary Study - Abbey Simon
Fanfare For The Common Man - Copland
Sym No. 1 'Titan' IV Sturmisch Bewegt (Excerpt) - Mahler
Augurs Of Spring From Rite Of Spring - Stravinsky
Russian Dance From Petrouchka - Stravinsky
The Great Gate At Kiev From Pictures At An Exhibition - Mussorgsky

Customer Reviews:

Good selection.......2005-10-02

I bought this CD to use in my classroom as listening examples. I'm not just a super big fan of some of the performances, but they are all good and for the price you can't beat it. That's why I gave it 5 stars. It's worth more than it costs by far.

thunderous applause.......2005-08-31

This is a who's-who of great pieces of music you have heard all of your life, and never knew the names and stories! I listened to it over and over in the car and had my own concert! A friend borrowed it to add music to his Home Movies and it was perfect!

Good Music at a Great Price.......2004-03-06

I bought this CD mostly for "Entry of the Gladiators," which everyone will recognize as classic circus music. The performance on this CD (by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops) is the best available version of Entry of the Gladiators. The rest of the CD offers mostly excerpts of classical music.

You will like this!.......2004-02-19

I had purchased an abundance of the "Favorites" collection and some were better than others.

This CD is at the top of them all. They may be short, but not that short. Wondrous music.

I can almost guarantee that you will like this music.
Well worth the price!

Good for the novice.......2002-06-08

The recordings on this disc are pretty good. However, the editors selected only the *loud* parts, as indicated by the title. I was pretty disappointed to find that the pieces are, in many cases, edited to reflect the most famous themes, etc, instead of including the whole work. In general, I would recommend this to the classical music novice, or someone who wants to expand their knowledge of classical music in general. Those who already are familiar with these pieces will probably feel gypped.

Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring, Fireworks, Petrouchka / Ozawa, Tilson Thomas, Chicago Symphony

Average customer rating:

An Odd Release But A Bargain Price for Excellent Performances
Great reading of these 2 works
Best or not, you'll really love this Rite of Spring
Totally convincing
The best Rite of Spring

Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring, Fireworks, Petrouchka / Ozawa, Tilson Thomas, Chicago Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas , and Seiji Ozawa
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

$7.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches
Symphonie Fantastique
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Capriccio Espagnol; Russian Easter Overture
Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, etc / Bernstein, New York PO

ASIN: B00000I9MQ
Release Date: 1999-03-09

Tracks:

Petrouchka: Scene I - The Shrovetide Fair - Vivace - Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Magic Trick - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Russian Dance - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Scene II - Petrouchka's Cell - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Scene III - The Moor's Cell - L'istesso tempo - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Dance Of The Ballerina - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Waltz - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Scene IV - The Fair - Toward Evening - Tempo Giusto - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Wet Nurses' Dance - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Peasant With Bear - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Gypsies And A Rake Vendor - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Dance Of The Coachmen - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Masqueraders - Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Scuffle -Moor And Petrouchka- - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Death Of Petrouchka - Boston Symphony Orchestra
Appearance Of Petrouchka's Ghost - Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Rite Of Spring: The Rite Of Spring -- Part I - The Adoration Of The Earth - Introduction - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Harbingers of Spring - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Mock Abduction - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Spring Khorovod - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Games Of The Rival Tribes - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Procession Of The Wise Elder - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Adoration Of the Earth ; Dance Of The Earth - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Part II - The Sacrifice - Introduction - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Mystic Circles Of The Young Girls - Seiji Ozawa
Glorification Of The Chosen Victim - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Summoning Of The Ancestors - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Ritual Of The Ancestors - Seiji Ozawa
The Rite Of Spring: Sacrificial Dance - Seiji Ozawa
Fireworks: Fireworks, Op. 4 -Fantasy For Orchestra - Seiji Ozawa

Amazon.com

The Boston Symphony was at the peak of its powers when it engaged the 34-year-old Seiji Ozawa for this 1969 recording of Petrushka, in which the orchestra's then 24-year-old assistant conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, played the extensive solo piano part. Ozawa, in those years, was capable of striking sparks with any orchestra he faced, and there is a palpable sense of excitement to the Petrushka he uncorks here. The accounts of The Rite of Spring and Fireworks, recorded in 1968 with the Chicago Symphony, are equally dynamic and colorful. BMG's long-awaited 24/96 remastering unleashes the breathtakingly open sound of the original tapes for the first time on CD, and may require a volume cut to preserve peace with the neighbors. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

An Odd Release But A Bargain Price for Excellent Performances.......2006-01-14

One wonders why this pairing of Seiji Ozawa and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestra all under the spell of Stravinsky was issued. Not that the performances individually need reinforcement because they don't. Perhaps it is the long relationship between Tilson Thomas and Ozawa or their similar approaches to this repertoire that was the driver. Whatever the reason, here are recordings that are a treat.

Tilson Thomas elects the 1947 version of Petrushka and offers a clear-headed, rhythmically sound, exciting performance. The warm Boston sound is intact and enhances his overall mood of the work. Ozawa and the Chicago forces give an all stops out performance of 'Le Sacre du printemps', a performance that is about as visceral and pagan as any on record. And the bonus of the brief but effective 'Feu D'artifice' fantasy is given a robust reading.

There are many recordings of 'Le Sacre du printemps' in the recorded repertoire: obviously every conductor wants to imprint his mark on this masterpiece. The sonics are all-important when the work is recorded and in the case of this recording the sonics are excellent. But there may soon be a startling surprise for lovers of this mighty, historically important music. This week Esa-Pekka Salonen gave a resplendent, detailed, emotionally charged performance that was recorded live by DGG in the Disney Hall. And if the technicians are able to cope with the amazingly live clarity of the acoustics of this grand architectural triumph, the recording may be the gold standard immediately upon release. Salonen has previously and successfully recorded the work with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1990. The growth in stature in the intervening years has never been more obvious that this current state of Salonen's Stravinsky. Watch for it! Grady Harp, January 06

Great reading of these 2 works.......2005-12-07

Both the Rite of Spring and Petrouska are very well rendered in this recording... Ozawa's reading is insightful and very clear... The recording quality is great... Highly recommend this recording...

Best or not, you'll really love this Rite of Spring.......2004-06-29

Being among my top favorite pieces in the 20th century (after all, this piece turned the view of classical music upside down), I have tested myself listening to various versions by different performers. As far as much as I listened, my top two will have to be Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic (the most brashing, bashin, mind-crushin'!!!) and this equally thrilling performance with Ozawa leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Officially, this is a major highlight throughout Ozawa's conducting legacy, still a very young man with seemly imperishable vigor and force very equilavent to his teacher Lenny. The Boston Symphony is an excellent orchestra to work with (the woodwinds and brass especially); otherwize the Chicago Symphony could have been the only other choice.

In my perspective, I had to admit that, just by focusing on the level of being barbaric and noxious, it slightly lacks that to Lenny, but on the other hand, it's brilliant controlled nail-biting high tempo can cover that.

Definitely worth buying!!! GO FOR IT!!!!!

Totally convincing.......2004-06-16

I have three recordings of "The Rite of Spring". I've known it in every detail since 1972 when I was 17 and I know the score inside out. This is the only performance (recorded or live) that I've ever heard that raised the hairs on the back of my neck, made me grip the seat and break out into a cold sweat, and ultimately made me understand what "The Rite" is all about. The recording does full justice to the performance. This is a "must have" for anyone who wants to understand the point of the work.

The best Rite of Spring.......2004-03-28

Ozawa's account of Stravinsky's most famous ballet is nothing short of astounding. The conductor has the Chicago Symphony playing with total attention. What is so amazing about this recording is that the orchestra is completely controlled and balanced. Although one may prefer a more spontaneous sounding Rite, one would be hard pressed to find a recording with more energy, polish, and power.

Ozawa's Petrouchka (with Michael Tilson Thomas at the piano) is equally amazing. The beauty of phrasing and emotion Ozawa instills into the players of the Boston Symphony orchestra is chilling. Indeed, when this recording was made, Ozawa had just taken the reigns or the orchestra (however, over the years, his energy and intensity has lessened) and they play for their new music director with total conviction.

Fireworks, a short symphonic sketch by the young Stravinsky, shows the influences of his teachers, especially Paul Dukas in the orchestration. Although not a seminal work, the opus 4 is delightful.

The recording quality is of equal quality. Highly recommended.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale [Hybrid SACD]
Average customer rating:

Definitive SACD of Scheherazade - Outstanding!!!!

best recording I could find

Russian rousers!

Amazing Sound

Better than ever!

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Stravinsky | Stravinsky, Igor | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Tone Poems | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, A Night on Bald Mountain, and Other Russian Showpieces [Hybrid SACD]

Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra; Ein Heldenleben [Hybrid SACD]

Brahms, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos [Hybrid SACD]

Dvorák's New World Symphony and Other Orchestral Masterworks [Hybrid SACD]

Respighi: Pines of Rome; Fountains of Rome; Debussy: La mer [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B0006PV5VC
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

The Sea And Sinbad's Ship
The Story Of The Kalender Prince
The Young Prince And The Young Princess
Festival Of Bagdad/The Sea/The Ship Goes To Pieces On A Rock Surmounted By A Bronze Warrior (Shipwreck)/Conclusion
Presto
Chinese March
Song Of The Nightingale
The Mechanical Nightingale
The Emperor's Displeasure At The Departure Of The real Nightingale
The Emperor's Sickroom
The Real Nightingale Returns To Thwart Death
Funeral March And Finale

Amazon.com

This is a classic recording of these two works, led with grand authority by Fritz Reiner. The Chicago's brass and wind section play gloriously throughout, and the final movement of Scheherazade (we learn from the original producer [1960] in an accompanying essay) was recorded in one take--an almost unheard-of feat. This fast movement is taken at breakneck speed, with no loss of clarity or power, with the strings in the hands of magicians. Stravinsky's Nightingale has never sounded so exotic, so bristling over with color, since this 1956(!) recording under Reiner, and the wonderful surprise with this new release of old material is the revamped sound: the original "Living Stereo" was a fantastic breakthrough in recording, and this new SACD format has returned the spatial relationships to something so "real" that it comes as close as I've ever heard to a true concert hall experience. Simply glorious. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Definitive SACD of Scheherazade - Outstanding!!!!.......2007-02-18

This multichannel SACD is recorded in the front 3 channels only, as this is what the technicians and their top notch analog equipment recorded more than 40 years ago. At that time the Chicago Symphony and conductor Fritz Reiner were both at the top of their game, and this recording has not been equalled to this day. Absolutely puts the listener in the middle of the ninth or tenth row, and provides the clean dynamic sound of the best recordings made today! This is the wonderful Scheherazade I grew up with, but much better because of SACD technology and my current audio system.

best recording I could find.......2007-01-19

I heard Scheherazade live with the NY Phil. The power of that full orchestra in Russian forte was something, but even more memorable was the beautiful violin played by the concert master. This recording manages to balance the two opposites sonically. Mr Bill

Russian rousers!.......2007-01-06

"The Song of the Nightingale" is not my favorite Stravinsky...it just doesn't work that well as a piece of music, especially when compared to the opera original. But Reiner makes it work somehow: the pacing is terrific and the playing as usual is razor-sharp. "Scheherazade" may be pretty tired by now but when you hear this performance it comes to life again and you realize why it has been such a popular score. Sure there are other ways to play it but this one is sensational...and the last movement was done in a single take!

Amazing Sound.......2006-09-19

Best Scheherazade I ever heard. The performace was exciting and touching. The SACD provides so much details and dynamics of the recording that it makes me really feel that I was there.

Better than ever! .......2006-09-10

What a treat for the ears!

The Living Stereo series was wonderful then and it's even better now. This hybrid SACD has fantastic sound quality and, thankfully, is completely true to both music and the original recording. Originally recorded in "3 channel stereo" that's what you get here--no, there's nothing in the rear channels of the surround mix but that's exactly the way it should be. Taken directly from the nearly 50-year old (!) masters, the engineers did nothing at all to the sound except digitize and transfer each track to the SACD/CD master. Nothing added, nothing subtracted. And the quality of those masters is astounding--clear, bright and full. No tape hiss. No loss of highs. Just wonderful music expertly performed.

Dissapointed you're only getting 3 channels and not 5-7? Don't be. You'll hear musicians across the broad but shallow Chicago Symphony Hall just as the engineers heard them in the recording sessions in 1960 and 1956. And those musicians are superb, particularly to my ears, on the Sheherazade portion. This is an excellent orchestra caught at its prime resulting in a truly world-class performance of this well known and well loved music.

In short, get this CD! Even if you don't have a universal player now, the 2 channel transfer is equally good, a faithful recreation of a classic LP. And if you can play the SACD layer so much the better because for the first time you'll hear exactly what was recorded and what the engineers heard in nearly 50 years ago.

Walt Disney's Fantasia: Remastered Original Soundtrack Edition

Average customer rating:

Mickey mouse on cover, elevator music for 70 year olds
Optical soundtrack recording limitations
Review of soundtrack Fantasia issues
Fantasia
low-fi fantasia

Walt Disney's Fantasia: Remastered Original Soundtrack Edition

Manufacturer: Disney
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Disney Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Fantasia (60th Anniversary Special Edition)
Fantasia 2000: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Fantasia
Fantasia 2000
Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic

ASIN: B000001M4K
Release Date: 2001-07-31

Tracks:

Toccata And Fugue In D Minor - (by Bach)
The Nutcracker Suite Op.71A: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy
The Nutcracker Suite Op.71A: Chinese Dance
The Nutcracker Suite Op.71A: Dance Of The Reed Flutes
The Nutcracker Suite Op.71A: Arabian Dance
The Nutcracker Suite Op.71A: Russian Dance
The Nutcracker Suite Op.71A: Waltz Of The Flowers
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Rite Of Spring

Tracks:

Symphony No.6 ('Pastoral') Op.68: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo
Symphony No.6 ('Pastoral') Op.68: II. Andante Molto Mosso
Symphony No.6 ('Pastoral') Op.68: III. Allegro/IV. Allegro/V. Allegretto
Dance Of The Hours (From The Opera 'La Gioconda')
A Night On Bald Mountain
Ave Maria Op.52 No.6

Amazon.com essential recording

It's hard to believe now that Walt Disney's bold 1940 impressionistic experiment in wedding then-state-of-the-art animation with classical music was a rather resounding failure upon its release. The cliché proves the rule: Fantasia was decades ahead of its time (Disney even launched a "psychedelic"-themed rerelease campaign in the late '60s). It's even harder to fathom that then-Disney management spent over a million dollars in the early '80s replacing the muscular Leopold Stokowski score with a digitally recorded clone, then another undisclosed fortune to digitize Leo and put him back alongside Mickey at the conductor's podium in the '90s! This much-traveled Stokowski score will gain no points for subtlety (a symphonic Shaq attack is more like it), but it was Walt's first--and only!--choice and has never sounded better. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Mickey mouse on cover, elevator music for 70 year olds.......2007-06-04

I bought it a couple of years ago looking at the cover but was extremely disappointed when my 18-month old insisted on "Mickey" today and I chucked it into my DVD player. Our baby started crying aloud suggesting "what is this rap?" Disney folks ought to know better not try and market elevator music for 70-year olds to little toddlers regardless of how fantasia the cover looks like!

Optical soundtrack recording limitations.......2007-03-05

The soundtrack recordings for "Fantasia" were provided
to the theaters of 1940 as optical tracks on the side
of the film being shown. Such recordings cannot be
compared to the magnetic tape recordings made after WWII
(using captured or "liberated" German machines at first),
to say nothing of the current digital technology.

An analog optical soundtrack on motion picture film was
bad enough, but the film itself was nitrate, notorious
for disintegrating over a relatively short period of time,
as well as for its flammability. The prints in
circulation wore out until "the sound had gotten so bad,
theaters were refusing to book the film" according to a
Disney spokesman quoted in the New York Times of March
11, 1982.

Stokowski knew what a difference stereo recording made,
compared to mono, because almost a decade earlier, he and
the Philadelphia Orchestra participated (without the
players' knowledge) in a series of experimental high
fidelity and stereo disc recordings made by Bell
Telephone Labs. At the time, Bell Labs and Western
Electric tried to interest several manufacturers of
phonographs in the new technology, but the Great
Depression was underway, and the idea of marketing
phonographs with two stylii and two loudspeakers was
deemed unfeasible. (The Bell system had 33-1/3 rpm
discs with two parallel grooves, requiring two stylii
for playback.)

The Fantasound process, as I understand it, required a
theater to install a single loudspeaker behind the screen
and three loudspeakers along each of the two side walls,
resembling somewhat today's "surround sound." But the
idea was not to produce true stereo sound, but rather
the "ping-pong" stereo concept, with the sounds from the
loudspeakers following the cartoon characters as they
moved back and forth across the screen.

I sometimes wonder if the original recordings were made
with discs, not on soundtrack film -- in which case they
might still exist somewhere in the Disney archives. The
many thousands of original cartoon animation cels used to
create the film images were not treated as archival
material, such as the original Technicolor negatives
of "Gone With The Wind" which were stored in underground
Kansas caves, where the temperature remained steady for
decade after decade. Instead, the cels were either
destroyed or individually distributed to interested
parties. All told, it's remarkable that the film and
soundtrack have survived almost seventy years in the
shape they're in.

Stokowski was not thrilled with the end product
of "Fantasia" because, reportedly, Disney engineers
played with his recording, snipping off beats to match
the animation and enhancing crescendos. Stravinsky --
the only composer represented who was still living at
the time -- also was appalled at Stokowski's rearrangement
of his work (which Stravinsky sold to Disney for $5,000
because he needed the money at the time), to say nothing
of the dinosaurs prancing about to his ballet. The 1940
audiences were either outraged (the purists), puzzled or
bored (the general public), or snickering that Disney
had "lost it" (the film industry). But some of us loved it.

Yet "Fantasia," like "The Rite of Spring," proved far
more durable than its critics could imagine. At the
time, I was familiar with the music of Beethoven's Sixth
Symphony, Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker", Bach's "Ave Maria,"
and even Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours," but "The Rite
of Spring," and "The Sorceror's Apprentice," and "Night on
Bald Mountain" as well as Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" were
revelations for me. I didn't know then that Stokowski
tinkered with those scores, but now I have a large number
of various performances of all of them in my recording
collection. My "Fantasia" recordings were issued on LPs
in the 1970s and are treasured as historic artifacts.

In effect, that is what this two-CD album is. It's a
mistake to listen to it as performances comparable to
modern digital recordings. Enjoy them for what they are
- historical efforts to popularize classical music.

Richard Q. Hofacker, Jr., Basking Ridge, NJ

Review of soundtrack Fantasia issues.......2007-02-16

Thanks to the other reviewers for honest opinions on sound quality of this product issue. The FANTASIA soundtrack deserved better, and fortunitely, I once bought a 2-volume cassette edition of Fantasia, remastered original soundtrack edition, purchased at Tomorrowland souvenir shop at Disneyland back in 1990. Still have it, in great condition box set, and even the new boom boxes sold in todays market, feature cassette and cd play. Muchos grac!

Fantasia.......2007-01-10

I am satisfied that the CD is of the original production of Fantasia, which I feel is superior to the current DVD. I hope that a DVD version of the original version will be made available at some time. The sound quality leaves a little to be desired, however.

low-fi fantasia.......2007-01-10

I was disapointed with the low-fi recording. I realize the soundtrack is from the 1940's, but I assumed it has been re-mastered. Rather muddy sound.

Average customer rating:

Marvellous!
The best violinist ever!

Itzhak Perlman's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

$9.99 and Under | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

Classical | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

$9.99 and Under | Prices | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music

$9.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Itzhak Perlman's Greatest Hits
Itzhak Perlman - Greatest Hits ~ "Carmen" Fantasy · Havanaise · Poème · and more
Cinema Serenade
Itzhak Perlman - A la carte / Lawrence Foster
Cinema Serenade II: The Golden Age

ASIN: B00004XST2
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Tracks:

Chanson Sans Paroles
Polonaise De Concert No.1, Op.4
It's Peaceful Here, Op.21 No.7
Chanson Russe
Liebesleid
Slavonic Dance In E Minor, Op.46, No.2
Tempo Di Minuetto (In The Style Of Pugnani)
Romanza Andaluza, Op.22
Melodie
Serenade Espagnole
Serenade (Frasquita)
La Capricieuse, Op.17
Sicilienne
Molly On The Shore
Andantino (In The Style Of Martini)
Marguerite (Daisies), Op.38, No.3
Melodie, Op.42 No.3
Estrellita
Spanish Dance No.5
Berceuse Sfaradite
Caprice In A Minor

Customer Reviews:

Marvellous!.......2005-11-26

I don't play violin, and I can't even read music, but as a classical music amateur I find this CD outstanding. Even an incompetent like myself can easily understand why Perlman is regarded as one of the greates violinists ever. This is a marvellous collection of pieces. The rendition of "Chanson Russe" by itself is, in my opinion, worth more than the price of the CD. If you listen to the audio samples on Amazon's pages and you like violin you will surely understand why I like this CD so much. I am grateful to People like Perlman, who make this world a better place to live in.

The best violinist ever!.......2001-01-26

All I can say to this CD is it's the best I've ever heard. In this CD, Itzhak Perlman truly demonstrates his best performances of the past years. I have always been a great admirer of Perlman, but since I own this CD, it's all I've listened to for the past three months. I myself play the violin and Perlman has become an inspiration to me, almost a musical idol. For any of those violinists out there, especially young musicians, who don't feel any excitement about playing the violin, listen to this CD and I promise you, you will strive to being able to play like this man does. He is truly the best musician I've ever known.

Average customer rating:

A Little Piece of total enjoyment
Wonderful!

Flute For Relaxation

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

$7.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Cello for Relaxation
Guitar for Relaxation
Violin for Relaxation
Piano for Relaxation
Chopin For Relaxation

ASIN: B00004YC3A
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Tracks:

Peer Gynt Ste No.1: Morning
Nocturne
Song Of The Seashore - James Galway/Susumu Miyashita/Ayako Shinozaki
Spartacus: Adagio Of Spartacus & Phrygia
Con Op.10 No.3 'Goldfinch': II. Cantabile - James Galway/Malcolm Proud
Serenade D.957 - James Galway/Philip Moll
Kinderszenen: Traumeri
La Flute De Pan: Pan And The Birds
Nocturne in E flat, Op.9 No.2
Red Dragonfly - James Galway/Susumu Miyashita/Ayako Shinozaki
Fl Qt in C, K.285b: Variation V - James Galway/Tokyo Str Qt
Orfeo Ed Euridice: Dance Of The Blessed Spirits
Messiah: Pastoral Symphony
The Firebird: Berceuse
Dolly Ste: Berceuse
The Four Seasons: Con Op.8 No.4 'Winter': II. Largo - James Galway/Zagreb Soloists
Voyage
Suo-Gan (Lullaby) - James Galway/Emily Mitchell
Danny Boy

Customer Reviews:

A Little Piece of total enjoyment.......2007-05-12

This CD is the BOMB-- I really enyoy listening to it

Wonderful!.......2001-01-29

This is a great CD. If you're a James Galway fan, this is a must have. He is, after all, THE GREATEST flutist in the world today. The CD is filled with some of the most beautiful (and relaxing) music ever written. Buy it. You will love it.

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Petrouchka/ Le Sacre du Printemps

Average customer rating:

Najinsky who?!
Hermann and Stravinsky
Powerful rendition
From the Master
WOW!

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Petrouchka/ Le Sacre du Printemps

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

$7.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Firebird-Complete/Scherzo/Firework
Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms/Symphony in 3 Movements
Mozart: Great Piano Concertos
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6 "Pathétique" in B minor Op. 74

ASIN: B0000026GJ
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Petrushka - Tableau I: The Shrove -Tide Fair: Beginning
Petrushka - Tableau I: The Shrove-Tide Fair: The Crowds
Petrushka - Tableau I: The Shrove-Tide Fair: The Charlatan's Booth
Petrushka - Tableau I: The Shrove-Tide Fair: Russian Dance
Petrushka: Tableau II: Petrushka's Room
Petrushka - Tableau III: The Moor's Room: Beginning
Petrushka - Tableau III: The Moor's Room: Dance Of The Ballerina
Petrushka - Tableau III: The Moor's Room: Waltz (Ballerina and Moor)
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove - Tide Fair (Near Evening): Beginning
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove - Tide Fair (Near Evening): Dance Of The Nursemaids
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove-Tide Fair (Near Evening): Dance Of The Peasant And The Bear
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove-Tide Fair (Near Evening): Petrushka - Dance Of The Gypsy Girls
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove -Tide Fair (Near Evening): Dance Of The Coachmen and Grooms
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove - Tide Fair (Near Evening): The Masqueraders
Petrushka - Tableau IV: The Shrove-Tide Fair (Near Evening): Conclusion (Petrushka's Death)
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I: The Adoration Of The Earth: Introduction
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I. The Adoration Of the Earth: Dances of the Young Girls
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I: The Adoration Of The Earth: Mock Abduction
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I: The Adoration Of The Earth: Spring Round Dance
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I: The Adoration Of The Earth: Games of the Rival Tribes
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I: The Adoration Of The Earth: Procession Of The Wise Elder
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring: Adoration Of The Earth (The Wise Elder)
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part I: The Adoration Of The Earth: Dance Of The Earth
Le Sacre Du Printemps -The Rite Of Spring - Part II: The Sacrifice: Introduction
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part II: The Sacrifice: Mystical Circles Of The Young Girls
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring _ Part II: The Sacrifice: Glorification Of The Chosen Victim
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part II: The Sacrifice: Summoning Of The Ancients
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part II: The Sacrifice: Ritual Of The Ancients
Le Sacre Du Printemps - The Rite Of Spring - Part II: The Sacrifice: Sacrificial Dance

Amazon.com

Whatever the limitations of Stravinsky's baton technique, no one else on disc conjures the same bustling excitement at the outset of Petrouchka. Overlapping, polyrhythmic textures in Petrouchka and in Le Sacre du Printemps come off with Mozartian lucidity, Mendelssonian lightness, and, well, Stravinsky-esque rhythmic exactitude (notwithstanding a few hesitant entrances). The clarity partly stems from the composer's use of his leaner revised scores, helped by close-up, analytical mike work by CBS. There are, of course, slicker, more sonically opulent versions of these 20th century landmarks. And then there are Stravinsky's. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Najinsky who?!.......2007-03-09

Nobody does Mr. S like Mr. S. These albums that came out on Columbia are still the ultimate. Why would anyone else bother to try to match the master? This guy was a freaking genius, for goodness sake. You other guys get a life.

Hermann and Stravinsky.......2006-10-10

I hadn't listened to Le Sacre du Printemps in a couple of decades. This recording was like hearing it for the first time.

With nothing to add to the other reviews, I just want to note that when I got to "Harbingers of Spring (Dances of the Young Girls and Boys)," I was struck by the similarity between parts of it and Bernard Hermann's soundtrack for Psycho. One more example of how mid-century US film and and television scoring was influenced by late-19th and early 20th century composers (listen to Debussy's Images in this context).

Powerful rendition.......2004-10-08

This version of the Rite of Spring, is quite simply one of the best versions out there. Stravinsky summons the raw, primitive power, and emotional intensity of this work, and gives it a fresh, almost light touch, very different from other versions of this work. The Petruska is also very good, but Stravinsky tends to take everything at a slightly too quick pace.
(Note for Robert Lewis: very few people interested in classical music would be ignorant enough to attempt to nap to the Rite of Spring, one of the most violent works ever written.)

From the Master.......2004-03-29

I had the great good fortune to attend a concert of Stravinsky's music partially conducted by Stravinsky himself in Beverly Hills, CA. I don't remember the exact year, but it would have been in the late '60s. In other words, just a few years before his passing.
He shared conducting duties with his long-time associate, Robert Craft.

Because of his obvious age and frailty, it was expected he would sort of ceremoniously conduct one or perhaps two of his shorter works, leaving the bulk of the concert to Craft. Imagine my, and the audience's astonishment when we saw in the program that Maestro Stravinsky would be the conductor for several works, culminating in the concluding work on the program, "Le Sacre du printemps".

When the time came for "Le Sacre", the maestro, assisted and with some difficulty, made his way to the podium, at which he, not surprisingly, sat. He gazed at the score for a long moment. Slowly, his gaze rose from the score to his orchestra, which he observed for a few seconds, which seemed like hours. The audience grew silent with expectation. Slowly, deliberately, he raised his baton. And it began. What followed for the next 30 plus minutes was one of the most electrifying, galvanizing, and thrilling performances of anything I have ever seen or heard in my life, before or since.

After the concert I made it a point to chat with several friends of mine who were in the orchetra. I suggested that the orchestra must have been well prepared by Robert Craft so that Maestro Stravinsky would be better able to conserve his energy. To a man (and woman) they assured me that absolutely the opposite was the case. The portions of the concert, including "Le Sacre" that Stravinsky was to conduct were rehearsed, in total, by Stravinsky himself. In addition, Stravinsky attended the rehearsals for the balance of the program and had no problem contributing whatever he felt was necessary to the procedings. They also found him to be extremely alert and utterly charming.

How can I recommend anyone else's performance of "Le Sacre du printemps"? There is only one, and this is it.

WOW!.......2004-03-01

I would like to inform "Mr. Robert Lewis" that when writing a review for a classical album you must critique the performance on just that: the performance, not the music itself; the interpretation of the music.

Tracks:

J.S. Bach: Capriccio in B-flat Major On The Departure of a Brother, BWV 992 - Arioso: Adagio - His friends try to persuade him not to undertake the journey. 2:07
Fughetta - They tell him of the various misfortunes that may befall him abroad. 1:08
Adagissimo - The general lament of his friends. 2:57
Andante - His friends come, since they see that it must be, and take leave of him. :23
Postilions Aria: Allegro poco - 1:20
Fugue in imitation of the posthorn - 2:14
Mozart: Sonata in E-flat Major, K. 282 - Adagio - 7:48
Menuetto I-II - 4:26
Allegro - 3:01
J.S. Bach: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903 - Fantasy - 7:40
Fugue - 4:46
Chopin: Berceuse in D-flat Major, Op. 57 - 4:53
Stravinsky: Serenade in A - Hymne - 3:43
Romanza - 3:16
Rondoletto - 2:50
Cadenza finala - 3:50
Beethoven: Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor Fse, WoO.59 - 3:32

Tracks:

Bob Edwards Interviews Leon Fleisher on XM Radio's The Bob Edwards Show

Amazon.com

Leon Fleischer is the extraordinary pianist who lost the use of his right hand to a neurological ailment in 1964 at the height of his career. Undaunted, he took up teaching, conducting, and performing the left-hand literature so brilliantly that it was hard to believe he was using only one hand. When he returned to two-handed playing after years of medical treatments and determined, arduous rehabilitation, the public greeted him not only as a great artist but a conquering hero. This disc is his second two-handed recording (the first, Two Hands, was released in 2004). The title refers to the journey of life which, Fleischer says, "matters more than the destinations." The program features works Fleischer had performed regularly before 1964 but never recorded. Now in his late 70s, Fleischer plays with patrician authority and an unfailing sense of structure and style. His technical mastery seems fully intact, his tone is beautiful and variable, his youthful vigor remarkable. His Bach is especially striking for its simple directness and the clarity of its texture and counterpoint. In the Capriccio "On the Departure of a Brother," a piece of real "program music," he brings out the lamentation and the humor; in the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue the build-ups are very dramatic, the runs carefully shaped. Chopin's "Berceuse" is dreamy and singing. Stravinsky's "Serenade" alternates percussive passages with sardonic "melodies," and includes a marathon perpetual motion. An early, relatively unfamiliar Mozart sonata is fussy and unspontaneous, but Beethoven's very familiar "Für Elise" is beautiful. Is Fleischer demonstrating how this lovely piece, all too frequently heard on student recitals and telephones, should really sound? --Edith Eisler

Album Description

Special 2 disc set! (In addition to the album cd and an interview disc, a free Vanguard Classics sampler will be included in an initial Limited Edition run.)

"The Journey" is the follow up to Leon Fleisher's extraordinary Vanguard Classics release "Two Hands." Where "Two Hands" chronicled Fleisher's triumphant return to performing two-handed repertoire after 35 years, "The Journey" tells the rest of the story.

The works performed on "The Journey" are the pieces of music that Fleisher was preparing to perform in solo recitals at the time that dystonia began to affect his performing career in the early 1960's.

"The Journey" matches solo piano works rarely recorded, like Stravinsky's 'Serenade in A,' with the beautiful, melancholy touch that Leon Fleisher brings to popular works such as Chopin's 'Berceuse' and Beethoven's 'Für Elise.' The technical ability of a great pianist meets the poetic touch of a master in Bach's 'Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue' and Mozart's 'Sonata in E flat,' K. 272.

Mr. Fleisher is interviewed on Disc Two by Bob Edwards of XM Radio's 'The Bob Edwards Show.'

Customer Reviews:

Overall sublime, some drawbacks, but still rates a 5.......2006-12-29

I love Leon Fleisher for his lyrical interpretations of Bach and his amazing ability to perform Chopin. On this particular album there is a lot of Bach and a taste of Chopin. The Chopin is very reminiscent of Arthur Rubenstein and this is something I like very much about this artist.

In general, Fleisher brings an amazing sensitivity to his piano playing whatever the particular piece. His tone is simply gorgeous and it really shines through on every piece. Playing Mozart is not necessarily his strength, but this album does not devote a lot of time to this composer. His interpretations of Beethoven and Stravinsky are very well done.

Fleisher is certainly not a minor player on the concert stage even after his extensive layoff. Both this album and "Two Hands" are excellent even if you have recordings all of these pieces already. I play the piano seriously myself and I am thoroughly satisfied with this purchase.

A worthy successor to "Two Hands"!.......2006-10-19

Glad to note the recording's just that touch less distant and reverberant than "Two Hands" (far from dry!) that makes this sound so much like Fleisher does in concert, if closer, perhaps more ideally intimate than in real life. If anything Fleisher's playing now sounds even more technically secure again (jaw-dropping, actually, given his life "journey"), musically of course, I've become so partial to anything he's recorded at any stage in his career, I dare not say much: I can see why one critic has already referred to his interpretation of Mozart's K. 282 Sonata as "fussy" - it is indeed intricately detailed. So what? The better the stereo system one uses to listen to this, the more it becomes apparent no grace note's running against the flow - nothing wrong with seeing old warehorses in a new light, or is there? As to the Bach pieces, comparing the 'Traumatic' (!) Fantasy and Fugue to recordings by Edwin Fischer and Wilhelm Kempff (live on BBC Legends), I can only say that hearing it in another great interpretation is again improving my appreciation of what has always been one of the most fascinating, if never the easiest Bach to me to fully grasp. It's fascinating that Fleisher manages once again (as on "Two Hands") to set a mood for the whole disc (right away with Bach's "Arioso: Adagio" from the "On the Departure of a Brother" Capriccio, the whole of which he plays with genuine simplicity) and yet give each of these diverse compositions its due. The Bagatelle wrongly titled "Für Elise" receives one of its finest interpretations here (right now comparing it to Bruce Hungerford's more "daring" reading), for example. As happens to me so often with Fleisher, I'm also increasingly impressed with Stravinsky's Serenade, a piece I may so far not have taken seriously enough. In short, the riches here are once again far too many to enumerate...

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Average customer rating:

excellent, all the way around
Beyond Interesting...
Worth adding if you already own other versions of Sacre
Speed performance
Buy it for Mussorgsky

Le Sacre du Printemps [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Poulenc: Organ Concerto; Barber: Toccata Festiva
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Hybrid SACD]
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in c minor [Hybrid SACD]
Horizons - Leif Ove Andsnes

ASIN: B000F39M9W
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Tracks:

A Night on the Bare Mountain - Original Version
Suite
Introduction
The Harbingers of Spring, Dance of the Adolescents
Mock Abduction
Spring Rounds
Games of the Rival Tribes
Procession of the Sage
The Sage
Dance of the Earth
Introduction
Mystical Circle of the Adolescents
Glorification of the Chosen One
Evocation of the Ancestors
Ritual of the Ancestors
Sacrificial Dance (The Chosen One)

Album Description

This is Esa-Pekka SalonenÂ's debut live recording from the Walt Disney Concert Hall and his first recording as the principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on DG. The central piece, StravinskyÂ's Le Sacre du printemps was conducted by Salonen on the inaugural night of the Hall in 2003, a masterpiece that becomes something of a miracle within the outstanding acoustics of the Walt Disney Hall. This recording captures the energy, beauty and musical power of this extraordinary collaboration.

To capture the full sound experience of this concert, DG delivers this recording on a hybrid SACD. This release is certain to be a superior musical experience if not the new reference recording of this classical music milestone. Other pieces on this release are MussorgskyÂ's Night on Bald Mountain and BartÃ³kÂ's Miraculous Mandarin SuiteÂ—works that benefit greatly from the superb acoustics at the Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as the highest possible recording sound quality.

Customer Reviews:

excellent, all the way around.......2007-06-03

These are fast, exciting, and superbly executed performances. They're also not lightweight, as there's plenty of brass and percussion in all of them. It's ridiculous to argue that the 1947 version of "Le Sacre" should be dismissed because it's easier to play. It's not easier to play. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Stravinsky's revision, the 1947 version is a legitimate alternative to the orginal. The vast majority of listeners would never know the difference. Simply put, the '47 version is slightly leaner, with textures clarified a bit. Yes, there is some minor reduction in the orchestration. But one could just easily argue that the original version is over-orchestrated. Again, the differences are just not that noticeable. Personally, I prefer the revised version for the cleaner textures that the permit the rhythms to be more sharply etched - just slightly so. Either way, this is a great performance - one that comes closer to Stravinsky's incredibly fast metronome markings than most.

I also prefer the original version of "Night On Bare Mountain" to the well known Rimsky version. Here's a case where a later revision - Rimsky's complete rewrite of the original - truly makes the piece a completely different work. As unfamiliar as the original version is, it's clearly better. And yes, the Abbado recording may be just slightly better - but with emphasis placed on "slightly". This one is plenty exciting, and just as well detailed as the Abbado.

For me, the benchmark for any performance of Bartok's "Miraculous Mandarin" is the fast chase sequence (located at the end, in the truncated "suite" version). This one is very fast, and very exciting. You can also hear ALL of the numerous, short (and sometimes, ringing) strokes of the tam-tam; the large orchestral gong. That adds lots of color, as well as an Asiatic tinge to the chase. If you're interested in any or all of these works, you'd be hard-pressed to do better.

Beyond Interesting..........2007-04-13

This disc contains three of my favorite pieces of music, all extremely well played and in excellently recorded sound. That said, two of the pieces--The Rite and The Night--come in forms not usually heard. While one piece, in my personal judgement, suffers a bit (you can't really accuse Mussorgsky of pulling Stokowski's punches, since Mussorgsky wrote the piece, but that's what it feels like...) this disc makes for fun and adventurous listening.

Maestro Salonen is the man. Let's get that out up front. If he's not the greatest working conductor today then he's damn close.

Salonen and his forces get the job done here. So much is made of the fact that this thing was recorded at Disney's new music hall that one fears this music and the muscians who do such an excellent job playing it might get overlooked. That would be a shame.

While I slightly prefer Ivan Fischer's Mandarin, the one found here is great as well. Usually on discs with programs like this you expect at least one lemon. In this case, I had expected that the Bartok would suffer.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong.

This Rite of Spring stands with Stravinsky's own recording on CBS as one of my favorites. Yes, as other people have noted, this is the revised version. Still, this recording has all the thunder and emotion you could want from this piece.

I've already kind of shared my opinion on the Mussorgsky. Stokowski was a much better arranger than Mussorgsky was a composer. Still, the spark of life that Stoki drew out inhabits the original--and either way, listening for those differences keeps you on the edge of your seat.

This is fun music. This is a great disc. You should not hesitate to get a copy.

I give this disc my full recommendation.

Worth adding if you already own other versions of Sacre.......2007-04-13

Like some other reviewers, I was expecting to fall in love with Salonen's work (given how strong a performance he recently recorded of three major works by Hindemith, and the care he took with those, albeit recorded in a different concert hall with the LA Philharmonic). This version of Le Sacre does have its moments, but I find Gergiev's performance more compelling (notwithstanding the sometimes recessed sound of the eight French horns), and surely more dramatic. Sonically, there's enough bass drum content in this recording to probably inspire some low rider to tool around town in a lowered Chevy playing this CD loud enough to crack his own ribs, a result that's highly desirable in his value system. But the bass drum is more dramatic and even harrowing in Gergiev's recording, which is somewhat inexplicable yet nonetheless true. In any event, the hype over this recording is somewhat overstated: it is hardly revolutionary.

I also regret to report that Salonen's performance of the original version of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" does not compare to the premiere recording by Claudio Abbado, which still comes across as definitive interpretationally, in regard to balance, and with respect to sonic clarity. This is something of a surprise, given how little competition Salonen has to deal with in bringing this work to the public's attention. My complaint throughout most of my listening was "where are the details? everything sounds muddy compared to Abbado!" Maybe the engineers are still figuring out how to get clarity recording in this new hall -- they certainly haven't achieved it as yet.

The Bartok work is well-recorded, and although I own several other versions, this might end up being my go-to interpretation for the work: it is at least tied with the other top contenders (Abbado's on DG, and the Complete Bartok Edition version as well).

Speed performance.......2007-02-08

Good sound, but the fastest paced "Rite" I have ever heard. It loses the dramatic effect for me when a piece of music is played at such breakneck speed. Impressive musicians to keep up this speed of tempo.

Buy it for Mussorgsky.......2007-01-28

The hype surrounding this recording is somewhat unwarranted. The Walt Disney Concert Hall provides acoustics that are superior to those of any other venue, and this recording captures that sound wonderfully. The deep booming bass and superb dynamic contrasts are the uniquely pleasurable aspects of this recording. But great sound doesn't equal great performance. I've always been somewhat disappointed in the way Esa-Pekka conducts early 20th century music from Eastern Europe. Salonen always imbues these pieces with a kind of Boulezian gloss that obscures the primitivism that defines the music of Stravinsky, Bartok, and others of the "countryside to concert hall" school. What we're left with are perfectly performed versions of the Rite and the Miraculous Mandarin that lack the excitement and force found in other recordings. Despite the less than stellar sound, I'd take Dorati's version of the complete Miraculous Mandarin any day over this version. And we don't have to sacrifce sound for a great performance of the Rite, thanks to Valery Gergiev's magnificent recording that evokes all of the necessary primitivism in one of the most exciting performances on record. The Mussorgsky piece might be worth the price of admission, due to the relative obscurity of this version. But depending on how interested you are in hearing the original version of the piece, the price tag may still be too steep. I should add that since I've never heard another performance of this version, I can't honestly determine whether this is an excellent performance or just an average one. But if you're buying this for the Rite or the Miraculous Mandarin, I'd say look elsewhere. You can find better versions for less.

Average customer rating:

"New" Stravinsky

Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale

Manufacturer: Sony Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Septets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Piano Quintet in F Min / Complete String Quartets (1, 2, 3)
Becket
Arthur Grumiaux: Philips Recordings, 1955-1978
Bedazzled
The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition)

ASIN: B000GKH26E
Release Date: 2007-05-29

Tracks:

The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Part 1. Introduction. The Soldier's March (Marche du Soldat
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Music for Scene One (Airs by a Stream) (Music de la Première Scène. Petits airs au bord du ruisseau
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); The Soldier's March (Marche du Soldat) (reprise)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Music for Scene Two (Pastorale) (Musique de la Deuxième Scène. Pastorale)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Airs by a Stream (Petits airs au bord du ruisseau)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Music for Scene Three (Airs by a Stream) (Music de la Troisième Scène. Petits airs au bord du ruisseau)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Part 2. The Soldier's March (Marche du Soldat)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); The Royal March (Marche Royale)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); The Little Concert (Petit Concert)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Three Dances (Trois Danses) 1. Tango
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); 2. Valse
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); 3. Ragtime
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); The Devil's Dance (Danse du Diable) (Album Version)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Little Chorale (Petit Choral)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); The Devil's Song (Couplets du Diable)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Great Choral (Grand Choral)
The Soldier's Tale (Histoire du Soldat); Triumphal March of the Devil (Marche Triomphale du Diable)
Symphonies of Wind Instruments (rev. version 1947)

Album Description

A New Recording of Stravinsky by Stravinsky! Masterworks' long and storied relationship with composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky has an exciting new chapter. Throughout the 1960's, Stravinsky re-recorded all of his works in stunning stereo productions for Columbia Masterworks. In 1967, he recorded the interludes and underscoring of The Soldier's Tale, to complete his 1961 recording of the suite. The masters were never released, and the components of the completed version lay forgotten in the vaults.

Now, 40 years later, and in time for Stravinsky's 125th birthday, one of the greatest compositions of the 20th century is available as it should be heard, for the very first time. Edited by GrammyÂ® Award winning producers Steven Epstein and Simon Rhodes and GrammyÂ® Award winning engineer Richard King, this definitive CD features a delicious new narration by AcademyÂ® Award winning actor, Jeremy Irons.

The extensive liner notes include a new essay by renowned Stravinsky scholar, Richard Taruskin, new interviews with the 1961 and 1967 session musicians and producer and Executive Producer Warren Wernick's account of how the final "new" recording was realized.

Customer Reviews:

"New" Stravinsky.......2007-06-03

After years of being lost in Sony's (formerly Columbia/CBS) vaults, Stravinsky's own version of The Soldier's Tale has finally been issued in complete form. The main body of the performance is from the already released Suite recorded in 1961, with bridge sections recorded in 1967. The spoken portion was recently recorded by actor Jeremy Irons.

Apparently, Stravinsky hesitated to commit the narrated version to disc because he was not satisfied with the English translation of the French text. The present version uses a new narration, but to my American English biased ears, the standard translation "works" better. While Irons has a pleasing voice, he is unable to delineate the three characters (the narrator, the soldier, and the devil) the way three separate actors can. For that reason, when recommending this piece to others, I will continue referring to the superb version featuring Ian McKellen, Sting, and Vanessa Redgrave. (ASIN: B000009HYG)

As a filler, Sony has offered Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments in a fine performance conducted by the composer's assistant, Robert Craft.

The remastered sonics are excellent in every respect. It's hard to believe these recordings share provenance with the rather anemic sounding Stravinsky recordings issued in the 1960s.

Music Composers:

Music Composers

Music Composers