Customer Reviews

Igor Stravinsky: Le Chant du rossignol; Feu d'artifice; Pétrouchka

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Is there a better example of recorded orchestral sound anywhere? Probably not. Maazel's Vienna Philharmonic pulls out all the stops and the RCA recording team catches it all in wrap-around silk.

Petroushka is really amazing; using the original scoring, Maazel conjures sublime balances and manages the very rhythmic score without over-emphasizing its difficulty. The whole thing comes off very much like a Punch and Judy routine, which is what it's supposed to be. The first theme in the last movement is something especially special. The tonal opulence here is nearly overwhelming as the melody goes from oboe to horn to full orchestra with its whirlwind revolving counterpoint.

In Le chant du rossingol, Maazel duplicates the intensity of his never-bettered Berlin Philharmonic recording from the sixties. But here, with the Vienna Philharmonic and RCA, the sound is again outrageous. The opening lines burst into flame; the brass tuttis and woodwind runs are fluorescent. The fisherman's song is particularly haunting and lyrical.

Fireworks is, well, fireworks. An early colorist piece, not really up to the standards of the other two here.

So, Maazel has mellowed, and some think that means he's no longer effective. For those critics, check out this disk. He's never been more effective in this repertoire.

In 2000 when this CD was released, there were only a handful of Stravinsky recordings from the Vienna Phil. that I know of, so if you want to hear this magnificent orchestra in full force (Maazel uses the original, expanded score from 1911), here they are in excellent sound. In concert Petrushka demands a vast orchestra, and it's wonderful to hear dozens of inner details that aren't usually evident in the average recording.

All the more pity, then, that Maazel softens the contours of the score so drastically. The bristling piano interjections and snare-drum rolls have been muzzled, and almost nowhere are the rhythms nearly as incisive as they need to be. One always hopes against hope that Maazel won't make perverse decisions in standard scores -- here the hope is dahsed. The Song of the Nightingale Suite makes for an imaginative filler, and just to underline how perverse he can be, Maazel suddenly wakes up and delivers one of the most energized accounts I've ever heard. The flute and violin solos that portray the nightingale's florid sosngs are exquisite. Five stars. (Newcomers should be warned that despite the Hans Christian Anderson title and the exotic Chinese setting, much of this score, derived from Stravinsky's opera, is as raw and shocking as the Rite of Spring.)

Is the addition of a gorgeously played, if somewhat undernourished "Fireworks" enough to justify a purchase when the main event is a disappointment? Perhaps.

This is the most frustrating CD of Stravinsky recordings I have ever heard! I own the score to all of these pieces. The only good recording on this CD is the one of Fireworks. I think Maazel needs to take a course in music theory. In the first scene of Petrushka, there is a solo note on the contrabassoon. It has a staccato and a fermata. The note is an eighth note. In the recording the instrumentalist holds it to the length of a half note! Stravinsky wouldn't have put a staccato on the note if he wanted it to be held that long! Also, the ending pizzicato in the strings aren't together at all.
In the song of the Nightingale, several of the orchestra hits aren't together. Also, the chinese march is conducted way to slow.
The only thing good on this CD is Fireworks.
So if you want to listen to the most retarded recording of Petrushka or the worst recording of song of the nightingale OR you just want an extra coaster around the house, Buy, BUY, BUY! But if you want a good recording, look elsewhere. Any recording is better than this.