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25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A nice DVD presentation but..., August 5, 2001
This review is from: Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) / Symphonies D'Instrument Vent / Boulez, London Symphony Orchestra (DVD)
Boulez is not the best conductor of this work, notwithstanding his friendship with Strravinsky. To be sure, he can conduct "Le Sacre" with the steely precision of a pianola roll; he's a past master at awkward rhythms and overcoming hideous performance difficulties (and this work is full of both). His interpretation here is accurate but too sedate for me. It is even more gentlemanly than his renderings of the early 1970s. Le Sacre is raw and primitive and screams out for passion which Boulez fails to lend it. It might sound good the first time you hear it; the orchestra is up to scratch; the climaxes are nicely loud and it moves on in its merry, noisy way. There are worse interpretations. But as recorded performances go, it is not one that bears repeated audition. He does much better with the Symphonies of Wind Instruments, a more formal neo-classical work that comes across better for the conductor not attempting to get passionate about it. It is possible that at times in their lives, Boulez and Stravinsky might have coincided in their musical objectives but there really is nothing akin about Boulez at any time and the Stravinsky who wrote this work. If the studio insisted on a Boulez recording, they might have chosen his Varese interpretations - utterly competent - and left Le Sacre du Printemps to a more passionate interpreter.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Le Sacre, October 30, 2006
This review is from: Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) / Symphonies D'Instrument Vent / Boulez, London Symphony Orchestra (DVD)
Despite the negative feedback on this selection already, I would have to disagree with most of it. While parts of it are slower than most CD recordings from other conductors, it really isn't THAT much slower than what's written in the score. Something else I noticed here and there were some somewhat drastic tempi changes, speeding up or slowing down.
However, despite these downsides, if you are an aspiring composer/orchestrator/musician/music aficionado, I highly suggest this DVD. Especially if you watch this with the score and can follow along instrument entrances, etc.
The quality of the video and the sound is quite good as well. So if tempo changes here and there and a slightly slower overall tempo doesn't bother you very much, definatley add this to your collection.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a great concert rendition, June 12, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) / Symphonies D'Instrument Vent / Boulez, London Symphony Orchestra (DVD)
First off I would like to compliment Pierre Boulez in his wonderful rendition of Le Sacre du Printemps. True there is no ballet in this performance but one cannot simply make a ballet performance of this monumental work. If you notice the orchestra takes up the whole entire stage and in order to perform this in ballet form, you would need a huge huge pit. But about Boulez's interpretation.. it is great. The tempos are just right. The tempos are not too slow or too fast. Considering the fact that he himself was a friend of Stravinsky's and was counselled by him in this work he does this work well. The orchestra is great and performs the work wonderfully. All in all a very good dvd.
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