Customer Reviews

Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring, Fireworks, Petrouchka / Ozawa, Tilson Thomas, Chicago Symphony

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ozawa's account of Stravinsky's most famous ballet is really something. The conductor has the Chicago Symphony playing with total attention and conviction, which is obviously saying something. True, Ozawa's Rite may not have as much color as Chailly or Thomas, but what it does have is absolute rhythmic control. There is never a sense of heaviness or ponderousness in the tutti passages, only power. In this sense, Ozawa's teutonic approach is less Russian Romanticism than modern, which may irk those that prefer a contextualized Rite, but there is no denying this is both a remarkable recording.

Ozawa's Petrouchka (with Michael Tilson Thomas at the piano) is slightly more successful if only because the Boston Symphony offers more timbral nuance than Chicago. At the time this recording was made, Ozawa had just taken the reigns of the Boston Symphony from Liensdorff. Based on this performance, one would think the partnership was destined for success. History, however, would prove otherwise. Here, though, the playing is remarkable. Fabulous percussion, gutsy brass, and appropriately french-sounding winds. Ozawa also is more interpretively interesting here than in the Rite, walking the tightrope between the Firebird of the past and the Rite to come. Still, his slick and stylized approach is missing that last ounce of Stravinskian angularity you find from others, including Dohnanyi, with a surprisingly idiomatic Vienna Philharmonic, Boulez, Chailly, and, of course, Robert Craft. But Ozawa's performance is certainly worthy of your attention and better than some of the less successful performances, such as Solti's atrocious Chicago Symphony recording.

Fireworks, a short symphonic sketch by the young Stravinsky, shows the influences of his teachers, especially Paul Dukas, in the orchestration. Although not a seminal work, it is no mean filler.

The recording quality is of equal quality. Highly recommended.

Being among my top favorite pieces in the 20th century (after all, this piece turned the view of classical music upside down), I have tested myself listening to various versions by different performers. As far as much as I listened, my top two will have to be Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic (the most brashing, bashin, mind-crushin'!!!) and this equally thrilling performance with Ozawa leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Officially, this is a major highlight throughout Ozawa's conducting legacy, still a very young man with seemly imperishable vigor and force very equilavent to his teacher Lenny. The Boston Symphony is an excellent orchestra to work with (the woodwinds and brass especially); otherwize the Chicago Symphony could have been the only other choice.

In my perspective, I had to admit that, just by focusing on the level of being barbaric and noxious, it slightly lacks that to Lenny, but on the other hand, it's brilliant controlled nail-biting high tempo can cover that.

Definitely worth buying!!! GO FOR IT!!!!!

This performance of the Rite is probably the best I have heard. The quality of the recording is amazing, I have to listen to it at reduced volume to prevent things from falling off the shelves in my house! Ozawa leads his Chicago forces flawlessly, confidently bringing out the powerful, driving rhythms in full force, while bringing to the slow moments a sense of tension and mystery. Ozawa's recording of Petrouchka, with Michael Tilson-Thomas and the Bostonians, is no less powerful and exciting. The short orchestral piece, Fireworks ends things with a bang.

When I first heard this recording, I almost wet myself. Be warned--this is not music to go to sleep to. In this recording, Seiji Ozawa captures the essence of Stravinsky's apocalyptic chef d'oeuvre and beats its furious, passionate, maniacal rhythm into the listener's head until you feel like the girl dancing herself to death in this ancient pagan rite. It's scary, but it's the best I've heard.

Petrushka is quirky and Fireworks is eccentric and fun, but the real star here is the unquenchable wrath that flies out of the speakers when you descend into the raging brimstone of Rite of Spring. BUY THIS CD!

I have three recordings of "The Rite of Spring". I've known it in every detail since 1972 when I was 17 and I know the score inside out. This is the only performance (recorded or live) that I've ever heard that raised the hairs on the back of my neck, made me grip the seat and break out into a cold sweat, and ultimately made me understand what "The Rite" is all about. The recording does full justice to the performance. This is a "must have" for anyone who wants to understand the point of the work.

A very nice account of these amazing works. Ozawa makes a brilliant and colorful interpretation of Petruchka and a very exciting version of The Rite of Spring. The last but not the least: Fireworks is a thrilling but quite unknown work, that is worth listening.

Besides, the sound of this High Performance series is amazing. Congratulations to BMG! This collection and the Living Stereo series are truly essential to all music lovers. Great!

One wonders why this pairing of Seiji Ozawa and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestra all under the spell of Stravinsky was issued. Not that the performances individually need reinforcement because they don't. Perhaps it is the long relationship between Tilson Thomas and Ozawa or their similar approaches to this repertoire that was the driver. Whatever the reason, here are recordings that are a treat.

Tilson Thomas elects the 1947 version of Petrushka and offers a clear-headed, rhythmically sound, exciting performance. The warm Boston sound is intact and enhances his overall mood of the work. Ozawa and the Chicago forces give an all stops out performance of 'Le Sacre du printemps', a performance that is about as visceral and pagan as any on record. And the bonus of the brief but effective 'Feu D'artifice' fantasy is given a robust reading.

There are many recordings of 'Le Sacre du printemps' in the recorded repertoire: obviously every conductor wants to imprint his mark on this masterpiece. The sonics are all-important when the work is recorded and in the case of this recording the sonics are excellent. But there may soon be a startling surprise for lovers of this mighty, historically important music. This week Esa-Pekka Salonen gave a resplendent, detailed, emotionally charged performance that was recorded live by DGG in the Disney Hall. And if the technicians are able to cope with the amazingly live clarity of the acoustics of this grand architectural triumph, the recording may be the gold standard immediately upon release. Salonen has previously and successfully recorded the work with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1990. The growth in stature in the intervening years has never been more obvious that this current state of Salonen's Stravinsky. Watch for it! Grady Harp, January 06

I have heard the "Rite of Spring" many, many times and have several favorite recordings. The one here with Ozawa and the CSO is just fine, and I have no complaints -- great music plus great sound.

For me the real star of this disc is "Petrouchka". I don't see how the playing of this wonderful music could be much better, and the sound quality is also excellent. I had not heard this music for many years, and had forgotten how good it is.

If you have been away from "Petrouchka" for a while, or have never heard it (hard to believe), you will not be disappointed with this recording.

Both the Rite of Spring and Petrouska are very well rendered in this recording... Ozawa's reading is insightful and very clear... The recording quality is great... Highly recommend this recording...

This disc presents an inspired coupling of two extraordinarily fine recordings by Ozawa in his Young Turk days before he got too comfortable. He has two of the finest American orchestras at his disposal playing with fire and virtuosity, preserving remarkable accuracy and beauty of tone - though not too much in the case of the "Rite" - despite the freedom and propulsiveness of these interpretations. A young Michael Tilson Thomas is just wonderful as the pianist in "Petrouchka" in a performance which triumphantly captures the peculiar, mawkish charm of the score.

This is not the only way to play the "Rite of Spring"; Gergiev's more massive and detailed approach also pays off but this account will leave you thrilled, breathless and disturbed; Ozawa's faster tempi and hell-for-leather élan come as close to a criminally graphic representation of ritual murder in music as you are likely to hear. Stravinsky himself is more "measured" (hardly the word for such a piece, I know) in his account and I am conscious of Ozawa sacrificing some orchestral and instrumental effects, such as how the last crashing discord is delivered, to sheer bludgeoning impact - but I love it. The sound quality and dynamic range are stunning for the era.