Stravinsky: Firebird, Rite Of Spring, Persephone / Tilson Thomas, San Francisco SO [Box set]

Igor Stravinsky (Composer, Conductor), San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Stuart Neill (Performer), Michael Tilson Thomas (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Stuart Neill
• Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Igor Stravinsky
• Composer: Igor Stravinsky
• Audio CD (April 27, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00000IOCZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,307 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Here's a Stravinsky set to raise eyebrows. Where is Petrouchka, the standard coupling for Firebird and Rite in collections of the great early Stravinsky ballet scores? Instead, we get the too rarely heard Perséphone, and it's the highlight of the set. Premiered in 1934 to a text by André Gide, Perséphone is a retelling of the Greek fertility myth of the earth's winter death and spring renewal. The tale drew from Stravinsky some of his most delicate and beautiful music in the neoclassical style of the period, a sibling to the ballets Apollo and Orpheus and the cantata Oedipus Rex (it also includes string figures that recall those works).

Stephanie Cosserat, in the title role, is a youthfully persuasive narrator, very different from Vera Zorina's oracular reciter on Stravinsky's own recording. Stuart Neill's tenor is a big plus, and the orchestra and chorus play and sing with involvement. Michael Tilson Thomas brings out the cool tenderness of the score, and the recording, made at a live performance, is truthful. His Firebird is lushly dramatic, and the Rite's barbaric thrust is leavened by some soulful wind playing. Recorded competition in the two ballets is fierce (along with Gergiev's recent Firebird on Philips, there are classic versions by Ansermet, Dorati, Haitink, and others, including the composer) but Perséphone makes this set an attractive proposition. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars persephone is beautifully coherent and lyrical, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stravinsky: Firebird, Rite Of Spring, Persephone / Tilson Thomas, San Francisco SO (Audio CD)

I agree with most reviews I have read--MTT takes overall a lyrical view of all three works. Persephone benefits most from this. All works clearly exhibit MTT's ability to maintain a rock solid rhythmic pulse. Recordings are clear and well-focused. Since I collect all versions of these works, they were must acquisitions. Now that I've heard them, I'd put all three works near the tops of my "lists". Haitink's Firebird on Philips provides more shear wonder and beautiful phrasing. Zander's Rite is still very thrilling, though I recall a late 50's Monteux on RCA with the Orch. Paris Cons. that struck me at the time as nearly overwhelming. Igor Markevich's several recordings are similarly in a special class. So, MTT provides intiguing insights into the workings of the Rite's orchestration, but you won't whisper "wow" at its end. Persephone is, on the other hand, altogether wonderful.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb readings with excellent sound to complement them, February 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Stravinsky: Firebird, Rite Of Spring, Persephone / Tilson Thomas, San Francisco SO (Audio CD)

The San Francisco Symphony has experienced a rebirth with Michael Tilson Thomas, and nowhere are the results more dramatically demonstrated than in this outstanding CD set. Whether Thomas's personal relationship with Stravinsky makes any difference in his readings is hard to say - someone should ask him - but the ballet warhorses come to life in this CD and Persephone is a revelation to those who, like me, had never heard it before. The sound quality of these CDs is also outstanding, particularly on a system that can handle a wide dynamic range and present a realistic illusion of the orchestra arrayed across the stage. Most large label recordings do not match the sound quality of this one. It deserved all of its Grammys, including the engineering award, as in this case the engineering serves the music and proves what a big label can do when it tries hard enough.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Recording, May 11, 2000

By 

David Gottner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stravinsky: Firebird, Rite Of Spring, Persephone / Tilson Thomas, San Francisco SO (Audio CD)

This is the best recording of the Rite of Spring on CD ever! The engineering is top notch (much better than most recordings these days), which befits the Rite and the Firebird. As for the performance itself, the recording of the rite is excellent, with lots of contrast between the heavy percussive parts and the more lyrical passages. There are also some dramatic tempo changes in the work which are played out quite well. Overall, I prefer this Rite to the Bernstein recording.

The Firebird is acceptable. The finale is not as overpowering as the Gergiev recording, but the work is easier to listen to as a whole than the Gergiev version.

Then to top it all off, Persephone is included in this set, probably one of the few recordings made of this work, and is also a good listen.