Stravinsky Suita Italian

Here's a Symphony of Psalms that successfully captures the spirit and letter of the work–reverence, jubilation, and celebration, as well as specifics of orchestral color and texture. Boys' voices–supposedly Stravinsky's original choice–contribute their share to the bright choral timbre, an effect that works very well. We also get first-rate performances of the Mass and the rarely recorded Canticum sacrum.

The pairing of Igor Stravinsky's ballets Petrushka (1911) and Jeu de cartes (1937) may afford insights into his development of neoclassical style, which was anticipated in the former work and stated fully in the latter. Indeed, the bright and tuneful music of both ballets tends toward playfulness, clever parody, and colorful scoring, all characteristic of neoclassicism, and the scenarios – a marionette that comes to life in Petrushka, and the personification of playing cards in Jeu de cartes – suggest a further connection, perhaps even to Stravinsky's notions of musical objectivity.

This live performance has a novel premise: it pairs The Rite of Spring with some pieces that led up to it. The big news is the Chant funèbre of 1908, lost (Stravinsky said he remembered it as one of his strongest early pieces and hoped someone would uncover it), rediscovered at the Moscow Conservatory, and given frequent performances in 2016 and 2017. This is the first recording.

Vladimir Jurowski was the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor for 14 years from 2007–21, during which his creative energy and artistic rigour were central to the Orchestra’s success. This release captures three of his most memorable concerts with the Orchestra, tracing Stravinsky’s early creative journey from his youth amid the glittering fairytales of Imperial Russia through to those incredible moments in Paris when The Firebird and The Rite of Spring exploded in a blaze of rhythm and colour.

Violinist Kyung-Wha Chung's highly intense compelling performances especially in the Prokofiev Concerti here have made them favorites in Decca's catalogue for years. Rather than purely dwell on the technical rigor these works demand (as many violinists often do), Chung instead focuses more on Prokofiev's lyricism in an effort to draw out the full and varied range of emotional qualities in the score. Conductor Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra couldn't be more understanding and supportive collaborators and Decca's sound, while spotlighting Chung slightly, is quite good.

Igor Stravinsky is not a composer who is usually associated with symphonic form. Five of his compositions bear that name, however, even though they have little in common. The first major work Stravinsky composed entirely in the United States, the Symphony in Three Movements seems to pick up where the Rite of Spring left off with its rhythmic ostinatos and shock effects. It can be interpreted as the composer’s response to the Second World War, which was ravaging Europe at the time of its composition, and its striking and triumphant conclusion appears to echo of what the composer must have felt. The Symphonies of Wind Instruments, a short, compact work, was a tribute to Stravinsky’s friend and colleague Claude Debussy.

Ever since Michael Tilson Thomas and Ralph Grierson made the first recording of Stravinsky’s four-hand reduction of The Rite of Spring in 1967 for EMI, a good number of piano duetists have taken up the work’s challenges on disc. This latest offering features Fazil Say, who shares the spotlight with himself via studio multitracking. Say essentially sticks to what Stravinsky wrote, while fleshing out the piano textures with effective octave doublings, registral changes, and an occasional added bass note in the Danse Sacrale.

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. The New Stravinsky Complete Edition (30 CD box set), the most complete survey of the composer’s works ever compiled, has been released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. The New Stravinsky Complete Edition (30 CD box set), the most complete survey of the composer’s works ever compiled, has been released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

This is a great little set, coupling a ravishing Apollon musagète with a truly stunning Rite ofSpring. The Petrushka is equally fine. The fact that Stravinsky's revision of Apollon dispensed with 'half the woodwind, two of the three harps, glockenspiel and celesta from the original scoring' hardly constitutes the bleaching process that a less colour-sensitive performance might have allowed. Part of the effect comes from a remarkably fine recording where clarity and tonal bloom are complementary, but Chailly must take the credit for laying all Stravinsky's cards on the table rather than holding this or that detail to his chest.