Rite Of Spring - new release on Uni SACD

"The Rite of Spring" (Le Sacre Du Printemps) has been an all time fave of mine since forever. I have heard many of the (at least hundreds) recorded versions and have been lucky enough to see the Boston Symphony perform it live at the Tangelwood Music Shed in Lenox, MA. Most everyone should be familiar with this as a featured piece in Disney's "Fantasia."

Recently released on SACD, (Deutch Grammophon) it features The Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. It is the first perfomance to be recorded live at the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA. A spectacular recording which captures a brilliant performance enhanced by the acoustics of a state of the art concert hall - designed by architect Frank Gehry. Stravinsky's influence can be traced via a dotted line to everyone from Gershwin and Bernard Hermann ("Psycho") to King Crimson, Yes and ELP. The original performance of this piece in Paris, 1913 caused riots in the streets - and while not as radical now as back then, this is still a startling and provocative piece. Combined with Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" another Russian composer whose "Pictures At An Exhibition" was co-opted by ELP, it is an essential addition to your MC collection.

Performance is pretty good but I have strong reservations about the sound. Significantly, the accompanying pieces are a Bartok/Mandarin and the original Bald Mountain, not the commonly performed R-K version.

I almost picked this up till I saw it was live. I don't want 5.1 to hear people cough

solaris said:

I almost picked this up till I saw it was live. I don't want 5.1 to hear people cough

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There is no coughing or audience noise whatsoever - and (IMHO) the sound is excellent!

I think I heard one cough but it was not obtrusive and, certainly, not a reason to avoid this recording.

Kal

There is a 'classic' Le Sacre on SACD already...Stravinsky conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Though 'only' two channel, it's remained my favorite all these years. ;>

There is a 'classic' Le Sacre on SACD already...Stravinsky conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Though 'only' two channel, it's remained my favorite all these years. ;>

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My favorite as well. The only one I've heard so far where the rhythms sound right. The orchestra is incredibly tight.

Felix E. Martinez said:

My favorite as well. The only one I've heard so far where the rhythms sound right. The orchestra is incredibly tight.

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No doubt that this is an important recording conducted by the composer himself. "Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring & Firebird Suite" (Sony Classical 89062)- with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra was recorded originally in 1960 (Firebird was recorded in 1967). This single layer, Stereo SACD was released in 1999. I will add this to my "to buy" list - however...

As this is a multichannel forum and many members have requested classical recordings in surround that will provide a worthwhile MC listening experience, this recent, brand spanking new recording on UNI (Deutch Grammophone 00289 477 6198) is in my opinion, highly recommended.