A Must For Any Stravinsky Fan!!!
Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 05/28/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Any fan of Igor Stravinsky should not be without this collection of the composer conducting stellar readings of his own groundbreaking ballets.
Although a majority of these recordings date towards the last years of Stravinsky's life, his conducting is still definitely top notch throughout all of the works in this collection.
Complete versions of Stravinsky's most famous ballets "The Firebird", "Petrushka" and of course "The Rite Of Spring" are included here alongside the equally stellar "Pulcinella", The "Soldier's Tale" suite, "Les Noces" and the 'Greek' trilogy of "Apollo", "Orphee" and "Agon" (whose premiere 1957 recording is included here).
The CD booklet includes liner notes for each piece written by Igor Stravinsky himself (except the notes for "Agon" which were written by Stravinsky sidekick Robert Craft). Reading Stravinsky's commentary on his own music definitely brings a personal vibe to the music being heard. Additionally, the sound quality on all six discs is amazing with Stravinsky's musical personality coming through in every work.
As mentioned above, this CD set is definitely a must for the avid Stravinsky fan. It's amazing to hear the composer conducting his own music and here, you get six discs worth of it.
Definitive Igor Stravinsky!!!"
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1