Stravinsky: Firebird Ballet, Petroushka Ballet, Symphony in 3 Movements, Scherzo a la Russe, 4 Studies; Sir Simon Rattle [Original recording remastered]

Igor Stravinsky (Artist), Sir Simon Rattle (Artist), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0000CE7FY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,499 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #21 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Scherzo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Prepare for Full Dynamics, February 23, 2008

By 

Chino Davis (Manhattan Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stravinsky: Firebird Ballet, Petroushka Ballet, Symphony in 3 Movements, Scherzo a la Russe, 4 Studies; Sir Simon Rattle (Audio CD)

This CD offers a very nice slice of Igor's output--it's esp. good to have a complete, original 1910 version of "The Firebird," (thought I'll admit to being a little disappointed with the rendering of that great, whirling passage in the Introduction that must have been pinched for the opening bar of the ancient "Batman" TV series...).

And it's a good value for two discs.

But be warned: the recording sounds excellent, but it is done with "full dynamic range"; I have to double the volume to hear the quiet passages, and then the loud moments become earth-shaking. Yes, I've tried both discs in multiple stereo systems. I don't mind this kind of fully-immersed listening from time to time, but it is not always convenient, and this disc suffers for that. I hope the very pure are not dissuaded by this complaint--I salute you for supporting the producer's boldness, and ignoring this listener's timidity.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, July 16, 2005

By 

J. K. Snyder "music critique" (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stravinsky: Firebird Ballet, Petroushka Ballet, Symphony in 3 Movements, Scherzo a la Russe, 4 Studies; Sir Simon Rattle (Audio CD)

I love listening to music with full scores, it makes the music more clearly and less confusing. I'm lucky that I purchased The Firebird (1910)Dover miniature score for a great price so I could follow the great masterpiece. I'm annoyed though that this recording comes with Petrushka (1947) because Dover only has the 1911 version, and I'm going to have to look somewhere else.

Besides the experience of actually seeing the music, the quality was excellent. The Introduction is ominous, the variation of the Firebird is playful, and the Round dance is beautiful. I didn't realy like that the Infernal Dance wasn't that thunderous and went a little too fast, but the hypnotic bercuse made up for it.

I love this recording.