Customer Reviews

Stravinsky: Orpheus; Danses concertantes

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The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's conductorless Stravinsky is very accomplished as evidenced by an evenly matched and 'finished' instrumental tone, accuracy of pitch and a tight ensemble that expose a tremendous degree of detail. But there is poetry and passion in all this precision too. Both Orpheus and Danses concertantes receive delicate and sensitive playing from the orchestra.

Orpheus especially is not an easy score to bring off since much of it dwells between mezzo-forte and pianissimo. In a piece that is a study in stoical detachment, the OCO manage to bring out a degree of expressive playfulness and character.

At 50 minutes, this CD isn't very generous, but it is an impeccable contribution to Stravinsky's neo-classical period. I strongly recommend it.

The Amazon reviewer is whistling in the dark to call Stravinsky's Orpheus "one of his most attractive works." It is actually one of his most unappreciated, almost never played outside the ballet, for which Balanchine devised choreography that is as harmoniously restrained as what he provided for Apollon musagete, even though the story of Orpheus is intrinsically more exciting. There are o memorable melodies to compare with Stravinsky's truly popular works, and much of its neoclassical idiom is of the sort that critics at the time found displeasingly impersonal and introverted. It took brash courage for the Orpheus Chamber Orch. to perform such intricate, tightly filigreed music without a conductor, but that's the point they wanted to prove in 1999: no guiding hand is needed when you have truly masterful musicians.

Is the point proven here? So far as expressive playing goes, yes. The score is lightly orchestrated, nearly transparently, and to hear so much lovely phrasing, perfect ensemble, and rhythmic bounce is very appealing. Orpheus can be heard as pure music, almost "ballet blanc" despite the tale being enacted. But there's a limit when no one is on the podium to provide a point of view, a central conception that provides a higher level of drama. Here, I found myself fairly lightly engaged, which isn't so with the recordings under Salonen or the composer, even though the latter got nowhere near this kind of elegant execution. He got more prickles and sharp corners, which I prefer.

Danses concertantes is simpler, more buoyant music, o it stands to rights that the Orpheus ensemble can deliver a crisp, bright reading that needs no more. to be fair, the Gramophone reviewer was quite impressed by the delicacy and precision of everything on this Cd, and although he noted that Stravinsky's 1964 account delivers more impact and edge, the Orpheus was put on the same level.