Customer Reviews

Stravinsky: Pulcinella; Danses Concertantes

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

 

 

This is something of a hidden gem of the Naxos catalogue, and in the end at least comparable to the Craft recordings. The performances are stylish, enjoyable, airy and features an overall very good group of soloists. At certain points technical details might be called into question - there are moments where the music seems to go just a little too fast for the players - but overall this is outweighed by the character they bring to it. Bostridge is obviously fabulous, but Janes and Herford are far from disappointing.

Despite Pulcinella's important status in Stravinsky's development as a composer (and in the history of 20th century music for that matter), the Danses Concertantes is a far superior work (no less than a masterpiece, in my view). Here as well Sanderling offers a dynamic performance full of fun, if occasionally a little rough around the edges performance-wise. Recommended.

The vocals on this, especially the male voice on the Prest part, are really weak and intimate in comparison to the soaring voices on the recording I prefer: the blue double-CD with the London SO I believe. I was unhappy with this Naxos but I've only heard two versions (plus one of the Suite) so I'm not prepared to give this worse than a three.