I agree. With the Stravinsky/Craft recordings, there is the matter as to whether, and, if so, how clearly the recordings document how the composer thinks the music should be performed. But discussing which record is better in that general sense is never interesting, although reading about someone's interaction with a performance is very often interesting.
I thought that this discussion was going to be about the music, following the score, and Agon is IS at his richest. For example, I am continually enthralled by the sort of tidepool microcosm in the tightly overlapping counterpoint of the Gaillarde, and how something so simple as the flute chorus in locked thirds lives in the same pool as the harp/mandolin canons is to me so visual. And how, in that respect, I wish I had a detailed sense of how IS and Balanchine interacted in the development of the piece.
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Sorry, I've nearly given up on writing to message boards; it just doesn't seem worth the effort any more. But I would have gotten into a discussion like this in years past, and your last sentence is especially pertinent. Agon does in fact stand alone well as a concert piece, but seeing the choreography gives the experience an entirely new dimension as you watch how Balanchine both complements and plays against IS's score.
Unfortunately it is impossible to see the entire ballet unless you can find a live performance. For all the CDs of the score, there is not one complete DVD available of the ballet itself, and there is nothing in the dance world like the frenzy to record every possible scrap of music that one finds in classical music circles. (At least some of Balanchine's choreography to Stravinsky can be easily had on DVD, including the Rubies section from Jewels and the Violin Concerto - both of these, however, are Balanchine settings after the fact rather than initial collaborations.) You can see a very little bit of Balanchine's Agon by Google Videoing "agon new york city ballet"; unfortunately the soundtrack doesn't use the IS score. And just about 2 minutes from the original staging (Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell; the mixed-race pas de deux was quite daring for 1957) are easily available in the Kultur DVD documentary of Balanchine's career. However, anyone who is in New York next winter should keep January 20, 23, or February 9 free, as the NYC Ballet is performing the work complete. I've seen it three times already but wouldn't miss another opportunity, especially if Wendy Whelan is dancing the solo ballerina role.
