 | | |
| Works of Igor Stravinsky | 
 enlarge
| Creators: Donald Gramm, Howard Chitjian, John Reardon, Mac Morgan, Richard Frisch, William Murphy, Carl Kaiser, Chester Watson, Don Garrard, Herbert Beattie, Kenneth Smith, Peter Tracey, Richard Kelly, Robert Oliver, Don Christlieb, George Neikrug, Benny Goodman, Charles Russo
Label: Sony Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $48.98
Buy New: $41.57
You Save: $7.41 (15%)
Buy New/Used from $41.57
Avg. Customer Rating:  (14 reviews)
Sales Rank: 9663
Format: Box Set
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 22
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 2.3
MPN: 710311
UPC: 886971031126
EAN: 0886971031126
ASIN: B000PTYUQG
Release Date: July 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 11-14 of 14 | | « PREV | | |
 Yes, Yes, OMG yes August 3, 2007
28 out of 28 found this review helpful
Here we have an extraordinary set that belongs in everyone's music library---twenty-two CDs, the entire catalog of the recordings Stravinsky made for Columbia, at an amazing bargain price. Everything is here: the ballets, songs, symphonies, chamber music, short pieces, cantatas and operas, including the complete Rake's Progress. The Firebird, Pulcinella and Petrushka ballets appear both in full versions and as suites. With a few exceptions (A Soldier's Tale appears only as a suite, without narration), it's all the Stravinky you will ever need.
The collection includes some historic performances from as early as the 1930s, with the composer at the piano, but most of the pressings date from the late fifties to mid-sixties, and the stereo sound remains fresh. Some individual pieces are better recorded elsewhere --- listeners would do well to seek out Rite of Springs by Gergiev, Solti, or Abbado --- but as a group, they make a strong impression, and I have not found better, more infectious readings of the Symphony in C, Jeu des Cartes or the Symphony in Three Movements. The voices of Adrienne Albert in the Cantata and the Gregg Smith Singers in the Mass deserve special mention. For me, they make the recordings offered here definitive. (Some other personnel is surprising. The piano quartet in Les Noces consists of the composers Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, Samuel Barber and Lukas Foss.)
Stravinsky was getting along in years when he arrived at the Columbia studios, and he was not generally well regarded as a conductor in any case, but his performances benefit from the steady guiding hand of Robert Craft, who rehearsed the musicians in advance of the recording sessions, and who is indeed a fine conductor, as he has proven in his own recordings of Webern and Varese. "Robert is my ears," Stravinsky said. There is no higher compliment, I suppose, and Craft deserved it. These recordings are his greatest contribution to Stravinsky's legacy.
The brief notes in the booklet are not everything one could wish, but they never are in bargain boxes like this. Sony has been sitting for years on a treasure trove of historic Columbia recordings it has not seen fit to release on CD. We should be grateful that for once, they did something right.
The prime Stravinsky collection August 1, 2007
40 out of 40 found this review helpful
Stravinsky conducted by Stravinsky - this super bargain set collects the famous recordings that Stravinsky made of his own works for CBS (now owned by SONY). Even if there are many fine recordings of the core of Stravinsky's works, for instance Ansermet's (Decca) and Ancerl's (Supraphon), the composer's own legacy must be seen as the first choice for any Stravinsky collector - or, indeed, by anyone who wants to have the basic Stravinsky repertoire at home.
This boxed set of 22 CDs contains more Stravinsky music than any other contemporary box, and the price is a complete steal (less than $2.5 for each CD, and even cheaper if you buy it used).
Here are some examples of what you get for your money:
- The early ballets: Firebird, Petroushka, Rite of Spring, Les Noces, Pulcinella, and the later, neo-classical ones (e.g., Agon, Apollon).
- The symphonies (in E and in C and in Three Movements).
- Oedipus Rex and The Rake's Progress.
- Chamber music, such as Ragtime, Septet and Octet.
- Jazz suites, and the piano concerto.
- Songs and choral works, such as the Mass, the Cantata and the Symphony of Psalms.
- Later works, such as Threni.
- And much more... (including the Robert Craft recordings that Stravinsky supervised).
(For a complete listing of the content on each CD, see SONY's German Webpage.)
Sound quality is vintage analogue from the sixties, generally very fine and remastered as well. In addition, the box is of the slim cardboard kind, with each CD in a cardboard sleeve. Booklet is included, but (unfortunately) no texts and translations of libretti.
In short, this is an essential set. Warmly recommended even if you already have individual Stravinsky by Stravinsky recordings - I suggest you use them as presents to friends and relatives. Grab and save this one!
An amazing set and bargain... July 31, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Kudos to Sony for reissuing this 22-disc set of the recorded legacy of Stravinsky. Originally retailing for $350, the pricing of this set at under $50 is an absolute steal. The packaging is decidedly economical with no frills - a simple box wherein each cd is housed in a cardboard sleeve. Each sleeve features a photograph of Stravinsky during the recording sessions. Though the set comes with an overview booklet, the major drawback of this reissue is that it does NOT include any program notes or libretti. The original set was replete with detailed and comprehensive annotations, as well as the complete libretti for all of the vocal works. I would gladly have paid more for the inclusion of these vitals. Still, the 'bang for the buck' factor wins all. The pieces are grouped as follows:
BALLETS AND BALLET SUITES
SYMPHONIES, REHEARSALS AND TALKS
CONCERTOS
MINIATURE MASTERPIECES
CHAMBER MUSIC AND HISTORICAL RECORDINGS
OPERAS
35 SONGS
ORATORIO - MELODRAMA
SACRED WORKS
ROBERT CRAFT CONDUCTS UNDER THE SUPERVISI0N OF IGOR STRAVINSKY
The sound quality is admirable, the performances respectable (though the Columbia Symphony can be inconsistant), and with Stravinsky at the helm, these recordings are more than just a definitive historical document. It allows us to rediscover and fully appreciate the entire span of Stravinsky's musical life and genius.
Thank you Sony. July 31, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Stravinsky's music changed the world.
This repackaging of the cumbersome multibox set issued previously has been very well done. The performances are unique in that Stravinsky conducts all his major works (Robert Craft conducts 1 CD of smaller works extremely well). The sound is incredibly good throughout considering the hatchet jobs Columbia Records (now Sony) used to bestow on some of their artists in the 1960s. However, that some in that company had the presence of mind to capture these performances for posterity must be thankfully acknowledged.
5 stars for the real thing.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |
