Unbelievably Stravinsky Bargain!

[Guido]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PTYUQG/?tag=goodmusicguideco

How is this possible? I ordered one immediately.

[karlhenning]

Sorry you're late to the party, Guido!

We tried inviting you, I'm sure :-)

[Guido]

Cheers! A cursory scan with my obviously inferior eyes didn't reveal the thread to me. But anyway I'm sure it's worth mentioning again!

[karlhenning]

And you did the right thing, in ordering it immediately!

When does it arrive? 

[Guido]

A week's time.

[beclemund]

At two USD a disc, it is a hard bargain to resist, so it is best not to resist at all.

[Joe Barron]

The previous thread was here. But you're right. It bears repeating again and again and again. Anyone who was put off by the $300 price for the original release should own this set. No, let me correct that. Everyone should own this set.

Karl and I both have our copies. It's made me very happy, and seems to have done the same for him. As I've said elsewhere, it should be supplemented with another Rite of Spring (I have four or five others, so that's not a problem) and a full-length Soldier's Tale, but the rest of the performances are very strong. Norman Lebrecht, normally not my favorite kvetcher, lists Stravinsky's performances of the Mass and the Cantata in his top 100 recordings of all time.

And the price. Dear Lord, the price!

I've also said before that a bargain CD is not some kind of miracle. CDs are  very inexpensive to produce, consisting, as they do, of a few cents' worth of plastic, plus another few cents' worth of paper for the labels and booklet. Most of the cost of a non-budget CD is royalties and profit margin. No one's taking a bath on the Stravinsky set. And since everybody seems to want one, they'll probably make some money.

[karlhenning]

Karl and I both have our copies. It's made me very happy, and seems to have done the same for him.

I readily confirm this.

[not edward]

Norman Lebrecht, normally not my favorite kvetcher, lists Stravinsky's performances of the Mass and the Cantata in his top 100 recordings of all time.

I would agree with his rating of the recording of the Mass, which I find has a wonderful icy purity that suits the music perfectly.

To my mind, though, Stravinsky's version of the Cantata fails for the same reason that the Mass succeeds: the icy clarity of the performance tends to limit the impact of the long melodies in it (plus I find the wheedling tone of the tenor soloist most offputting). For me, Ancerl was a revelation in this work, with a magnificent tenor soloist in Gerald English and warm, tender phrasing that shows Cantata off as one of Stravinsky's most gorgeously lyrical works.

[Joe Barron]

To my mind, though, Stravinsky's version of the Cantata fails for the same reason that the Mass succeeds:

Everything you say may be true (I don't now the Ancerl recording), but I love Adrienne Albert's voice in "The Maidens Came." She's the one classical performer I fantasize about, and the fantasy is this: We meet at a party, and on the spur of the moment, I accompany her in Ives's "Children's Hour," which she also recorded back in the 60s and which I once learned to play on piano.

She's still around, by the way. She's working as a composer in California. We've  e-mailed a couple times.

[Guido]

One of Ives' most touching songs...

[Joe Barron]

Taking my own advice, I just purchasesd a supplementary performance of Le Sacre, this one by Boulez and the Cleveland. A five-star recording, and on a steal on DGG's budget Universal label. An exciting balance of energy and clarity that ranks with Solti's version, which has long been a fave. Detailed notes by Richard Taruskin, who is idiotic when discussing Carter or Ives, but quite informative when it comes to Stravinsky. 

[karlhenning]

Taruskin opining on Carter truly is arrant idiocy 

[sadness]

So does this German set include everything this set does?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000002767/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_recent/104-9215321-9749534?ie=UTF8&n=5174#customerReviews

[Guido]

Where has Taruskin written about Ives and Carter?

[Mark]

Y'know, I wish I loved Stravinsky enough to buy this set. But I don't, so I won't.

Now, give me a complete works of Beethoven or Sibelius box, and I'd happily pay triple the price at which this incredible set is being offered.

[longears]

Taking my own advice, I just purchasesd a supplementary performance of Le Sacre, this one by Boulez and the Cleveland. A five-star recording, and on a steal on DGG's budget Universal label. An exciting balance of energy and clarity that ranks with Solti's version, which has long been a fave. Detailed notes by Richard Taruskin, who is idiotic when discussing Carter or Ives, but quite informative when it comes to Stravinsky. 

Which?  The Sony...or the DG?  Both are terrific and my faves on CD, falling just short of the exhilarating power of Solti on LP. 

I missed the previous thread, but y'all have me asking whether I need  more Stravinsky recordings!

[The new erato]

Y'know, I wish I loved Stravinsky enough to buy this set. But I don't, so I won't.

Now, give me a complete works of Beethoven or Sibelius box, and I'd happily pay triple the price at which this incredible set is being offered.

Pity. I've followed your Sibelius thread and agree completely. And I've found Stravinsky "post-sacree" to have exactly the same effect on me as Sibelius; a drink of cool, cool water, or a breath of fresh ear (air). Almost like a Chablis or Muscadet after all those new world wines some of you keep posting on in the wine thread.....

[Mark]

Pity. I've followed your Sibelius thread and agree completely. And I've found Stravinsky "post-sacree" to have exactly the same effect on me as Sibelius; a drink of cool, cool water, or a breath of fresh ear. Almost like a Chablis or Muscadet after all those new world wines some of you keep posting on in the wine thread.....

Perhaps I'm doing myself a disservice. Maybe I need to explore more Stravinsky, but possibly in smaller chunks so that I don't become overwhelmed.

[Lethevich]

@ erato:

Perhaps I'm doing myself a disservice. Maybe I need to explore more Stravinsky, but possibly in smaller chunks so that I don't become overwhelmed.

The great thing about the box is that its price is the same as a small chunk of CDs from any other source There is certainly a lot to appreciate eventually, if you don't mind deliberately not listening to every disc immediately, and treating it as more of an investment in the future.* It's useful to have as the performances are very good, and it can provide something to keep refering back to, like a long-term project, and for little expenditure. It will also negate the need to buy anything else buy Stravinsky until you've acclimatised with his music and come to enjoy it (and yet will also never be "replaced" by other performances due to the quality of the recordings). Although the notion of trying to get someone who doesn't even enjoy the music to buy a BOX of it is slightly perverse in its logic...

*I don't like to leave a box unlistened to for a long time if I know I will enjoy it - it will make me question why I bought it in the first place. But some boxes I deliberately buy for future listening in mind (especially if they are cheap at the time), for example Dvorak's string quartets or Haydn's symphonies - I know I won't listen to all of it right away, but eventually I'll be glad that I had them all, it'll just take a while to absorb.