Search - Sir Simon Rattle :: Stravinsky: Symphony Of Psalms/Symphony In C/Symphony In Three Movements

Glorious Symphony of Psalms

M. Hess | 12/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This must be the most glorious rendering of all these Stravinsky masterpieces on record. Rattle elicits stunning playing from the orchestra. The Symphony of Psalms is a universe away from the woeful rendering of Karajan, whose performance I attended over 30 years ago."

Something missing

Ian George Fraser | Brazil | 08/07/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"(Sir) Simon Rattle gained his reputation with the CBSO (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), a relatively minor English orchestra which suddenly began producing world class performances during the 80s and 90s. On the strength of this he eventually became chief conductor of the prestigious Berlin Symphony.

I don't know whether it is the language barrier or what but somehow he never seems quite to have been able to reproduce that early strength. It's difficult to put a finger on this. There's nothing wrong technically with this performance. Well, you wouldn't really expect there to be, would you ? I just feel there's a lack of bite, somehow. The introduction to the final movement of the Symphony in C is too slow for example. My own theory is that whereas with the CBSO he could never take the technical side of playing completely for granted and this forced him to concentrate, the sheer ease of playing with the BSO has made him relax too much."