Stravinsky:
- Le sacre du printemps
Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker bring us a recording of the ground-breaking ballet “Le Sacre du printemps”, whose premiere a century ago marked a turning point in 20th century music history. The program on this release also includes new recordings of Stravinsky’s Symphonies for Wind Instruments and Apollon Musagète, another of the Russian master’s breathtaking ballets.
Selections are:
Stravinsky:
- The Rite of Spring
- Symphonies of Wind Instruments
- Apollon musagète
Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
Although the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps in Paris on 29th May 1913 famously set off a near-riot, the work quickly became recognized as one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century. The 100th anniversary of the premiere will be commemorated with performances all over the world in 2013 and, no doubt, with some additional recordings.
The Sunday Times wrote on the 31st of March 2013:
“Stravinsky famously disliked Karajan’s supersmooth 1960’s account with this orchestra, but he surely would have responded more positively to Rattle, who never allows sheer beauty of sound to undermine the rhythmic pulsing…The Berliners’ strings may be plusher than Birmingham’s, and the woodwind soloists are instrumental royalty, but Rattle preserves the visceral barbarism of this ever-astonishing score.”
Here is Sir Simon Rattle, leading a short extract of this Stravinsky masterpiece:
And next, here is the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra and Ballet, conducted by Valery Gergiev and Rodion Tolmachev – solo bassoon:
http://youtu.be/ZGNbULNCiwQ
Finally, here is the “Sacrificial Dance” from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring:
Tags: Stravinsky, sacre du printemps, Rite of spring, Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic