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Works of Igor Stravinsky [22cd]

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Artist: Igor Stravinsky
Label: Sony Classical
Category: Music

List Price: ~~Ł23.99~~
Buy New: Ł15.68
You Save: Ł8.31 (35%)

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

8 reviews
Sales Rank: 476

Format: Box Set
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 76
Discs: 22
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 2.3

MPN: 710311
UPC: 886971031126
EAN: 0886971031126
ASIN: B000PTYUQG

Release Date: July 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships from U.S.A., to anywhere in the United Kingdom! Orders only take 7-10 days! We specialise in service to the U.K. and only ship airmail.

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Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

A tremendous set.... June 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

the master himself-why SONY/BMG dont do this with other artists is curious;
but the playing is excellent as well as the sound, for the dates of recording-and Im
exposed to pieces ive never heard, or even heard of before.
Who knew IS stuck his big toe in to the water of Jazz...?
The shoddy booklet is a real shame, but I cannot complain,
its a box set that doesnt require a fork lift to bring into the house-
and I spent EXACTLY $26.00 USD for it at TOWER Mail Order
true value for money.

5 out of 5 stars

Five Stars, with only a little disappointment... January 18, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I obviously agree with the enthusiasm shown by the preceding reviewers. Well beyond the bargain, this is a real cornerstone of the recording history. Many years have passed since the useless discussions in the Sixties about Stravinsky skills as a conductor, and with the grace of time we can honour now a neat, logical, unemphatic rendition of his masterworks.
However... (there is always a however), whilst the lack of the spoken and sung texts may be easily filled up with web services, Sony have not grabbed the opportunity of this compact re-edition of the 1991 Recorded Legacy megabox to heal an annoying flaw with respect to the original 1982 Centenary Edition in 31 LPs: the cancellation of ten works, which well depicted the artistic flavour of the Stravinsky years. One of the reviewers spoke of the discovery of a great pianist, Charles Rosen; well, many of the cancelled works gave exactly this type of information and feeling.
If someone is interested in knowing the details, the omitted works are: Pastorale for voice and piano (Tourel/Rogers); Tango for two pianos and Concerto for two pianos (Vronsky and Babin, the concerto however being substituted by a very old EMI recording by the Stravinskys); Serenade for piano (Rosen, also substituted by another old EMI recording by Stravinsky); Three Easy Pieces and Five Easy Pieces for four-hands piano (Gold and Fizdale); finally, and above all, the Pastorale for violin and wind quartet (Szigeti with Stravinsky and an unspecified wind quartet), the arrangement of The Star-spangled Banner (Stravinsky), the short Fanfare for a new Theatre (Heinrich and Nagel), and the Chanson Russe for violin and piano (Szigeti and Stravinsky).
Five stars, no doubt, also taking into account this imperfection. By the way, the Fanfare, the Star-spangled Banner, and the Chanson Russe are contained in another Sony box, the well known Original Jacket Collection - Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky (SX9K 64136).

5 out of 5 stars

What a magnificent collection ! October 27, 2007
4 out of 9 found this review helpful

I have always regarded Stravinsky as one of the most outstanding composers I have ever listened to but had not, until now, quite realised what a stunning variety of music he had written during his lifetime.
Sony have always been a reliable name to count on for top quality products and this box set has not failed to delight.
I only wish some of the other recording companies could produce similar high quality box sets at such bargain prices.
Congratulations to Sony and if the maestro is listening upstairs - bravo !!

5 out of 5 stars

Discs 3, 12, 13 and 20 ... October 20, 2007
8 out of 12 found this review helpful

This extraordinary gathering of the main body of Stravinsky's works, substantially conducted by the composer, is an obvious eye-catcher, especially at the very appealing pricing. It is indeed wonderful, but inevitably there are some drawbacks. Few listeners will want to sit down to listen to 22 CD's of one composer's output in a row; most listeners will find their ears wearying somewhat at the very dated sound quality - the majority of the recordings are from the 1960's, and although many come up surprisingly well, the sound is often plummy and sometimes worse. Crucially, the harsh truth is that the majority of the conducting took place when Stravinsky was in his eighties. We love the feel of the authenticity, but I am sure I will not be the only listener who pines for greater energetic impact.

The four CD's I have sampled so far are the 3rd (of 7 discs devoted to Ballet music), the 12th and 13th (the two "chamber and historic" CD's) and the 20th (first of two on "sacred works").

From the 3rd, Les Noces is sung in some kind of English translation. If you are used to this in Russian, the words are sure to sound perverse at times. But the four pianists are an amazing line-up - Barber, Copland, Foss and Sessions, and the singing is pleasantly clean-voiced in a piece that glistens with some of Stravinsky's finest ensemble writing. Less successful is Renard the Fox, a piece of entirely different cultural positioning which nonetheless is made to sound bizarrely similar to Les Noces. The disc closes with a rendering of The Soldier's Tale whose cheerfulness comes across despite the limited qualities of the sound.

Discs 12 and 13 give a different slant, with the composer himself at the keyboard (recordings from 1934, 1938 and, with Szigeti in the Duo Concertant, 1945). The sound from 1934 (the Serenade in A) is really too poor to make much of, but the 1938 take of the Concerto for Two Solo Pianos (Igor and son Soulima Stravinsky) has an undeniable sense of father and son enjoying themselves without stretching too hard to get all the notes exactly right. Szigeti sounds happy enough to be with the great composer to be too worried about his accompanist's fingers. The solo piano works only really come to life as true interpretative performances when Charles Rosen steps up to do the Sonata, which as you would expect is done with huge refinement and intelligence.

The bigger chamber works are also a mixed bag. Best for me was the Symphonies of Wind Instruments, where the playing is full of sympathy and I found myself forgetting the 1951 sound quality. Some of the other light pieces left me with eyebrows raised as to why the great man troubled to write down some of the limp ideas - the Tango for example is surely too lugubrious even to be taken as ironic.

The Sacred music disc however includes some fine things. The Mass is probably best of these - the performance had me wondering anew at Stravinsky's intriguing choice of double wind quintet to accompany the choral writing. I have long loved the Cantata, but there are few surprises here (apart from "Right Mighty Elizabeth" being tossed away like a scrumpled sweetwrapper) and most afficionados of this fine work will want something much better recorded for regular listening or study. Lastly I really wonder why the Bach "Chorale Variations" arrangement was included at all - the choir sound almost as though they are sight-singing and the work is of very limited interest in relation to Stravinsky's wider achievements.

But I am not cavilling overall - just cautioning listeners that this fantastic offer is not all fresh caviare. I am listening on with enthusiasm !

5 out of 5 stars

Deserves about 7 stars!! What a bargain!!! October 19, 2007
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

This is unbelievable. OK, the recordings have been around for years and presumably have paid their way, but it is still generous of Sony to offer a set of this musical and historical importance, excellence and sheer size for SO little money. I know the better-known Stravinsky - the earlier ballet scores, the symphonies, some of the chamber pieces, 'The Rake's Progress', 'Oedipus Rex' pretty well, but one of the great joys of this set is coming upon little-known, sometimes quite small pieces, which are so delightful. And was there ever a composer with such a range, writing for all kinds and combinations of voices and instruments and in so many styles (I had never heard the early 'Symphony', which is like a turn-of-the-century Russian sub-Tchaikovsky piece, and great fun ; or there are beautiful little songs to quirky texts, wonderful inventive variations on a Bach chorale, and many, many other things)? There are brief but very telling, even charming rehearsal sequences, an interview and some historical performances, all interesting. We hear Szigeti, Benny Goodman, Charles Rosen, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Roger Sessions, Evelyn Lear, Phillipe Entremont, Alexander Young and Stravinsky himself at the piano. Stravinsky was a marvellous conductor of his own works, and these interpretations are full of life, rhythmically precise, usually very expertly played and very well recorded. There is, for example, woodwind detail in 'Firebird' that I have never heard before, but it is not unnaturally highlit - it just sounds 'right'. Sony have not pushed out the boat on presentation - the 22 CDs are in simple card sleeves (though with lovely archive photos of Stravinsky), the booklet is minimal but OK and the CDs come in an adequate box, but really, who cares? This is a fantastic set which does full justice to a fascinating, towering composer, and at a price anyone can afford. Hooray!!