Chez Stravinsky

[North Star]

There's no way I can get around the Boulez Box DG... for the last two discs... biting the bullet on this one... can I get it SUPER Cheap?? $23 is the lowest I see (incl sh)



I CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!! 0:)

Now it's just a matter of $$$ $$$ $$$

You know you want to... 
[asin]B013FFSG7U[/asin]

[snyprrr]

Symphony of Psalms                Symphony in C                     Symphony in 3 Movements
           X                                             X                                                 X                              Jarvi-Suisse Romande (SEPARATE)

          X                                              X                                                 X                               Craft-St.Luke?? (SEPARATE)

          X                                              X                                                 X                               STRAVINSKY/CBS

                                                           X                                                 X                               Colin Davis-LSO

                                                          X                                                  X                               Colin Davis-Bavarian Radio

                                                          X                                                  X                               Bernstein-Israel

                                                          X                                                  X                               Dutoit-Suisse Romande

                                                          X                                                  X                               Ashkenazy

                X                                        X                                                  X                               Solti-Chicago

                X                                        X                                                  X                               Gielen(Hanssler)

                X                                        X                                                  X                               TilsonThomas-LSO

                X                                                                                            X                                Boulez-Berlin

               X                                         X                                                 X                                 Rattle-Berlin

                                                          X                                                                                     Karajan-Berlin

                                                                                                              X                                 Rattle-Birmingham

                                                                                                              X                                  Salonen-Philharmonia

              X                                                                                              X                                  Maazel(RCA)

                                                                                                              X                                   Conlon(eRATO)



What of import have I missed?

Honestly, Igor's still stacks up, eh? I just chose the Rattle as a "fussy" alternative (Boulez I'll have by default).

I believe that Karajan reigns supreme in the "C",- with many failing here over a weak oboe (not so with ANY Berlin recording, of course, lol!!). All the Suisse Romande recordings (Ansermet,Dutoit,Jarvi) all have a weak oboe in the "C". Davis/LSO is biting, but has the weakest oboe of all. Solti's player is almost up to Berlin standards, as is MTT's.

As far as "taking it too slow" in the opening of "3 Mvmts", only Davis/LSO, Salonen, Rattle/Birmingham, and a few others don't- this mvmt shouldn't last but 9mins.- at 10mins. we start to hear the clunk in the opening.

Jarvi can be good, but is always let down by the cavernous Chandos recordings.

Rattle IS "fussy", but, that actually aids in studying- and you have to have the Berliners, Between Rattle and Boulez, I might have to go with Maazel's more vibrant recording and human sounding performance (in 'Psalms' and '3Mvmts').


Colin Davis/LSO has the most power and awe, but the LSO isn't Berlin, though they are very good. I haven't heard anything good from Davis's Philips remake.


Bernstein... not so much...

MTT... eh... mm.... it's okaaay... rather have Berlin...

eh



meh



,,,

You know you want to... 
[asin]B013FFSG7U[/asin]

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

Yes, it has a good portion of FirstChoices, but a) it has more than I want, and, b) I'm way too picky... I certainly wouldn't want Ashkenazy in the 2 Symphonies, and so forth... and, a lot of these recordings are already in a cheap guise... I went over this last night and calculated the cost of surgically getting what I wanted out of it...

[Karl Henning]

Audio only:  I would suggest Bernstein.

This is curiously synchronous with today's arrival of the Chung CD; but that DG CD with Les noces and the Mass was another of the first 25 CDs I bought. I remember the afternoon that I listened to it. I mean, I can remember myself listening to the disc, I'm not saying I remember how it sounded, really. I remember that I didn't care for the piece (!) but you know what? I didn't care for the Shostakovich Fourth the first time, at the same period in my life and under similar circs.

Now, of course, (a) I love the piece, and (b) the very rare musical quarrel notwithstanding, I've become a huge Lenny fan. So: yes, time to give this recording a fresh shot.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[snyprrr]

This is curiously synchronous with today's arrival of the Chung CD; but that DG CD with Les noces and the Mass was another of the first 25 CDs I bought. I remember the afternoon that I listened to it. I mean, I can remember myself listening to the disc, I'm not saying I remember how it sounded, really. I remember that I didn't care for the piece (!) but you know what? I didn't care for the Shostakovich Fourth the first time, at the same period in my life and under similar circa.

Now, of course, (a) I love the piece, and (b) the very rare musical quarrel notwithstanding, I've become a huge Lenny fan. So: yes, time to give this recording a fresh shot.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

What about MY needs??

[snyprrr]

Music for Piano and Orchestra

Entremont/Rosen CBS/SONY
Beroff EMI

Crossley SONY
Mustonen Decca

Bavouzet Hyperion
Donohoe Chandos
Gorlatch SONY


I just realized that Salonen/SONY is a shade muffled compared to the first two, which have their own recording issues. The Ashkenazy/Decca set with Mustonen boasts much clearer sound, but newcomer Alexei Gorlatch/SONY seems he might have the best sound of all. I can only hear samples, does anyone have the scoop on this 2015 release?

He neglects the 'Movements', but adds the early Sonata for Piano. The sound for the solo piano work is pretty crisp and clean, I sure hope someone's got the skinny...

Added the Hyperion and Chandos issues... now we have seven somewhat fullish cycles...I already mention my issue with Salonen's sonics... anyone?

[kishnevi]

You ought to look into the Columbia/Sony box, the Iggy Fyvich conducts Iggy Fyvich set that I currently am going through.
The sonics are not always the best, but Igor's conducting more than makes up for it. It's got the Rosen/Entremont recordings.
[asin]B000PTYUQG[/asin]
At about $1 per CD it ought to be in your budget.

[snyprrr]

You ought to look into the Columbia/Sony box, the Iggy Fyvich conducts Iggy Fyvich set that I currently am going through.
The sonics are not always the best, but Igor's conducting more than makes up for it. It's got the Rosen/Entremont recordings.
[asin]B000PTYUQG[/asin]
At about $1 per CD it ought to be in your budget.

I'm just not a BigBox kinda guy

I have seen the component boxes from the early 90s, I have Vol.11 'Sacred Works', and of course the 3 Symphonies. But, for instance, the 'Concertos' set, mm, Stern, no thanks, and though the Entremont performances were nice, the reverb was blowin me away.

And I'm not all that... hrmm, ... big on Opera... so, all these BigBoxes just have to much "I'm not ready for"... though, I here his 'Rake' is still the best... I know I'm having trouble beating the 3 Symphonies...

But, one cannot deny Dutoit, Boulez, Chailly, and a host of others, Rattle, Maazel, Colin Davis, Knussen, Craft, ...and the fact that each comes with its own sonics... I don't think I could deal with ALL Columbia recordings, with that... vintage... sound,... good as it may be here and there...

For the Boulez DG Box, I'm only interested in 2.5 out of 6. I really don't want his DG Sacre-Fire-Petrshka IN MY PRESENCE!!!! But, such are the slings and arrows....


But, both the SONY and DG Boxes  are beyond the scope of my endeavors- I'm an egalitarian at heart 0:)- I want all the worthies represented, if possible...


now, enough about me

[Karl Henning]

I'm just not a BigBox kinda guy

It's less than two inches deep.

[Mirror Image]

A question! What recording would you recommend above all others to someone who doesn't have Les Noces in their collection,and has never even heard it? I have looked at lots of reviews,on more than one occasion,on various sites,but there seem to be so many differnt opinions on this work,and editions,I think?!

I'm not a great admirer of Les noces as many are here, but Bernstein's performance on DG is extremely impressive.

[Monsieur Croche]

You ought to look into the Columbia/Sony box, the Iggy Fyvich conducts Iggy Fyvich set that I currently am going through.
The sonics are not always the best, but Igor's conducting more than makes up for it. It's got the Rosen/Entremont recordings.
[asin]B000PTYUQG[/asin]
At about $1 per CD it ought to be in your budget.

I fully agree. 

But:  I have two very vehement complaints about what is not in this set.
1.) Absent from the box set is the 1965—Columbia Masterworks Les Noces conducted by Robert Craft as "supervised by the composer." Soloists for "Les Noces" were: Mildred Allen (soprano), Adrienne Albert (mezzo- soprano), Jack Litten (tenor) and William Metcalfe (bass); the choir is the Ithaca College Concert Choir under the direction of Gregg Smith, with the Columbia Percussion Ensemble. [Columbia Masterworks MS 6991/mono ML 6391] It is sung in Russian. IMO, this Les Noces is still the best one out there. Sadly, I believe it is out of print :-(
(If memory serves, the box set includes that ghastly disastrous Bernstein recording with its line up of four all-star pianist-composers at the pianos (Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, Roger Sessions, etc.), and it was sung -- egads! in English.  Simply dreadful; avoid at all costs.)

2.) The Petrushka in the box set is not the recording issued when the original series was being released one at a time! The box set rendition is the 1911 version, from an earlier recording with a Hollywood orchestra.  The original series release was the revised version in a truly sparkling, highly animated and far superior performance (truly much improved over the original, while minus the 1911 double woodwind sections; the revision is clarified, the piano part much extended.)  I'm a thinkin' that once the composer was dead, Columbia used the 1911 version in the box set to avoid paying royalties, the earlier Russian version having no copyright.  :-/

Concerto per due pianoforti soli: Understandably, Columbia went 'archive document' on this one, with the composer and his son, Soulima, the pianists.  To me, the best recording (also with the composer having been consulted by the pianists) is on Nonesuch, with Ursula Oppens and Paul Jacobs. 
https://www.discogs.com/Igor-Stravinsky-Paul-Jacobs-3-Ursula-Oppens-Music-For-Two-Pianos-Piano-Four-Hands/release/2872741
Stravinsky directed these pianists to end the final movement on the penultimate chord in the score, at that time deeming the ultimate resolution in the original (still unrevised in currently available scores) as unnecessary (a very 20th century musicological authoritative documentation of a revision -- on the liner notes of a recording.)

Stravinsky was not, earlier, a great conductor.  By the time he was eighty, when he made these recordings for Columbia, he was, at least for his own works, a fine and great conductor, who knew exactly the sound he wanted, and he got it from the players. 

The later serial works, however, are often less than great performances due to the players lack of general familiarity with the style and vocabulary, and probably not a great deal of rehearsal time.

The greater body of recordings in that set, all the earlier works, the neoclassical works, are more than fine.  No other recordings so consistently get the perfect tempi, articulation and balance of parts sounding the harmonies as do the Stravinsky-Columbia recordings from the 60's.  It is a lot of music, wonderfully performed, and a helluva bargain.

[Karl Henning]

M. Croche is giving you pearls, here, snypsss  0:)

[Karl Henning]

What about MY needs??

Well, I am aware that I have not yet shared my own preferred recordings of Свадебка. Are you still entertaining the question? 

[Karl Henning]

(If memory serves, the box set includes that ghastly disastrous Bernstein recording with its line up of four all-star pianist-composers at the pianos (Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, Roger Sessions, etc.), and it was sung -- egads! in English.

The fourth pianist is Samuel Barber.  I agree that it is not the performance to be recommended . . . but I do enjoy having an alternative in the vernacular.  Happy to consider the fact that, in a qualified sense, I enjoy this account of the piece, something of an eccentricity on my part.

[Karl Henning]

It's less than two inches deep.

For scale (this is a normal 10-oz. coffee mug)

[kishnevi]

Everything in the box I posted is conducted either by Stravinksy himself or Craft under Stravinsky's supervision.  Which is why I keep calling it the Igor conducts Igor box.

The Les Noces does contain the four famous composers as pianists, but the sound is very muddy, which is the main reason I wouldn't recommend it.  So muddy in fact that now that you mention it, I can't be entirely sure that it was sung in Russian and not English.  But I think it was Russian....

I am not at home just now.  I will update with any necessary information when I'm home tonight.

[Karl Henning]

For scale (this is a normal 10-oz. coffee mug)

Correction:  The Igor Conducts Igor box is 2⅛" deep.

The Les Noces does contain the four famous composers as pianists, but the sound is very muddy, which is the main reason I wouldn't recommend it.  So muddy in fact that now that you mention it, I can't be entirely sure that it was sung in Russian and not English.  But I think it was Russian....

Confirming that it is English, but between the sound and the angularity of the setting, I do not fault you, friend.

[kishnevi]

Correction:  The Igor Conducts Igor box is 2⅛" deep.

Confirming that it is English, but between the sound and the angularity of the setting, I do not fault you, friend.

Thank you.

It is perhaps a Stravinsky thing: I commented on the idiosyncratic setting of the Hebrew text in Abraham and Isaac the other night:  and indeed, I had to concentrate at the beginning of the piece before I could be quite sure it was Hebrew, and not Russian.

[Karl Henning]

Although there are works like the Lord's Prayer, Credo & especially the Bogoroditse Dyevo which plug more into the Russian Orthodox choral style tradition, and are quite "grateful" for the voices, in many cases, it was his trademark to write for the voice as if it were . . . an instrument. (I mean, the voice is an instrument, but you get me.)

[Karl Henning]

M. Croche's dissatisfaction with this performance of the ballet is underscored by the near-oddity of the English when the groom addresses the bride at the end, and the inadequate sound of the bright, brittle chords.

[Mahlerian]

Although there are works like the Lord's Prayer, Credo & especially the Bogoroditse Dyevo which plug more into the Russian Orthodox choral style tradition, and are quite "grateful" for the voices, in many cases, it was his trademark to write for the voice as if it were . . . an instrument. (I mean, the voice is an instrument, but you get me.)

I maintain that Anthem: The Dove Descending is the best a capella music by a composer who professed to despise a capella singing.  It's also the most mellifluous of his 12-tone works, a subtle and beautiful little gem of a piece.

https://www.youtube.com/v/YnBNG9qu8E0