Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring / Alexander Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy - Valery Gergiev / Kirov Orchestra

Alexander Scriabin (Artist), Igor Stravinsky (Artist), Valery Gergiev (Artist), Kirov Orchestra (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B00005NIF6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #93,083 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Gergiev's is a Rite of Spring with a difference. He stresses the primitive barbarism of Stravinsky's groundbreaking score--the strange wheezings of the winds, the wild yawps of the tubas, and the deep rumblings of the bass drum. It's a Rite that stands out at a time when so many internationalized western orchestras give the piece an overlay of sophisticated polish that can rob it of the shock factor that drove the audience at the Paris premiere to riot. There are also numerous personal touches that can be controversial, such as the pause before the final chord, which may bother some but which work in the context of the interpretation. Gergiev's Rite faces strong competition from recorded versions by Markevitch, Dorati, Monteux, and Stravinsky himself, but it's definitely among the top choices. The Scriabin's less compelling, though still fascinating. Gergiev's approach tends to sound sectional, as the overall line is subordinated to momentary thrills. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Raw Power of Nature, December 11, 2003

By	T. Cheng "tim69c" (Diamond Bar, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the finest Rite I have ever heard. I have long listened to Robert Craft (LSO) recording, Stravinsky's own CBS recroding, and Igor Markevitch. These 3 have long been my favorites and I have heard at least a dozen other versions that didn't make the cut. Here we have a conductor who feels this score in his blood. This is an interpretation that reaches deep into the darkness of the soil and earth. It feels the roots of the trees and living things deep down. Tempi are slightly slower than normal (in no way sluggish) that gives a certain gravitas not found in, for example, Craft's otherwise fine recording (however, let me say the sheer shock value from the timapni in Craft's is something that I have never heard equalled). The cellos growl like no other, and there is a certain RAWNESS that is palpable. The opening Dance of the Adolescents sounds like a locomotive in it's deep resonance and power (as opposed to IS's own rec, which sounds like he is toning things down). The final Sacrifical Dance is special in that the drums are heard as distinct as in no other, also with a certain "tribal" primitivness that I have only heard in IS's own recording. Yet the recording is with great emotion, if that can be said of Stravinsky. Listen to the opening famous basson melody... played with a Romantic vibrato that was new to my ears.

This is a once in a generation recording of a seminal work.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful performance from the Kirov, January 2, 2003

By	Daniel L. Ayala (Columbia, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I hadn't been a fan too much of Gergiev since a DG release of the 1945 version of Firebird and other stravinsky orchestral selections. However, this cd is a revelatory reading of both the Stravinsky and Scriabin pieces. This cd is simply unavoidable due to the hype its received over the past year or so.

Since i have been an avid NPR listener and since this was put into the PT50...i just had to check it out. So i did, and loved it. Gergiev does indeed take a very different approach which makes this cd so successful. The bass drum pounds rather than sounding muffled. The brass are not exploited as they have been in other recordings i have. Overall, a very powerful recording.

The Scriabin i think needs to be appreciated more by the other reviewers. Gergiev takes a wonderful and straightforward approach to this piece and then at the last 5 mins gives it a wollop that i do not think can be surpassed by anyone. There simply arent many recordings out there of the poem readily available so this one really i think holds its own in the market. I have 4 interpretations of this piece with Maazel, Ashkenazy and Boulez...and my favorite was the Boulez until i picked this up....now hearing the Boulez makes you want to cry. Really the Poem should get more credit, its beautiful and almost frightening toward the end...quite exalting, and definitely indicitive of its "ecstacy" like qualities.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a colorful, expansive interpretation, October 20, 2001

By	R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ah, Gergiev and the Kirov have finally recorded Stravinsky's "Rite"! This is a colorful, sprawling rendition, light and strong on woodwinds. It summons up images of Russian spring, flowering and bubbling. It reminds me of nothing so much as Debussy.

This is not what I expected from the acclaimed Russian conductor, but the detail and nuance are superb. The contrast with the classic 1969 recording by Boulez and Cleveland is striking. Neither is more powerful or passionate, but they employ very different qualities of passion and power. Boulez evokes images of our bloody modern world as opposed to an agrarian past. His is a hard, dark, intense vision with structural focus and clarity, and strong narrative force. If I was forced to choose one, I'd go with Boulez, but the beauty is the variety of interpretations, as Stravinsky himself emphasized, and Gergiev's is excellent!

Scriabin's "Poem of Ecstasy" makes a great pairing, highlighting the influence on Stravinsky of his formative milieu, and duplicating Gergiev's earlier pairing of Scriabin with Stravinsky's "Firebird."