Le Sacre Du Printemps Petrouchka

So. !!! ??? Here's my bottom line on this reading: If you love (or even, just like) either one of these famous Stravinsky ballets from the turn of the last century, you gotta give these performances a serious listen.The idea is brash enough. Use turn of the 20th century period instruments to recreate the debut performances of Petrouchka and of Le Sacre du Printemps. Period means, in this case, gut strings, small bore brass instruments, and turn of the century woodwinds. Either this notion is starting to intrigue you as a fan and as a listener; or perhaps, you are already starting to suspect this will end up, just horrible. Les Siecles in exactly the turn of the past century band that fits with the flash of the idea at hand. Wonderfully, in this live recording – yes, I said, Live ! - the period orchestra is absolutely on top form as musicians and as instrumental virtuosos. Francois-Xavier Roth leads them by having a clear sense of direction from first bar to last bar. Mostly, this conductor seems to work his magic by virtually disappearing, in favor of just letting Stravinsky's music as originally written strike fire as it pours forth from the gut strings, period woodwinds, and small bore brass.My own personal ear-test for period performances boils down to asking myself: Am I hearing the genuine voice of the composer being played?In this instance, the easy answer is: Yes.Igor Stravinsky is coming through, loud and clear, with enough rhythm and a wide-deep tonal color palette that would probably would make most players in today's orchestras twinge with a touch of envy. The enchantment of these CD readings sounds as if no modern instrument prestidigitator need come away from hearing either ballet, settled into too smug a superior mood. Les Siecles prove themselves masters and virtuosos.I cannot sufficiently analyze the aural spell of welcome music-making that just floods off the players in both works. It is easy to agree with the other reviewer who opined, “This sounds like dance music!” If you are one of those listeners who has mainly heard Le Sacre du Printemps being played by one of the bit ten orchestras for all its considerable worth, this performance may help bring you back to a renewed sense of this being glorious enough as ballet music; plus this being just remarkable as music, music, music. The evolving, changing pulse is vividly conveyed, yet those familiar and obsessive Stravinsky ostinatos somehow come across as relaxed-songful despite all the crisp, edgy rhythms. Ditto, for Petrouchka. Even the skittish keyboard writing manages to make a fully positive musical impression, though historical pianos are not my favorite sound in the whole HIP world.

The original instruments reveal new colors and balances in the Rite's orchestration. More than that, the performance itself is outstanding: exciting and energetic. This recording is now one of my favorite performances; I listened to it four times in a row the day I got it. Great sound too! All the same praises apply to Petrouchka, which may even be more spectacular than the Rite.

Taste is a personal thing, I know, but I am surprised to be in a minority of one (currently) in not being bowled over by this Rite. It is interesting, pleasant and fresh, no doubt about that, but compared with any of the great versions it is to me a little tame, a little under-characterised, a little ordinary. But let us focus on its strengths - the freshness and "authenticity" (whatever that is) and Stravinsky's original inspiration (not that different from the work we know but interesting for all that) do make for an enjoyable and interesting experience. If I heard it in a concert I would find it memorable. I enjoy the work of Les Siecles and Roth is a fine conductor but we have had so many stunningly shockingly great Rites that it is no surprise that he hasn't given us something that truly communicates as well as some others have done what an earth shattering work this can be. Play any part of it alongside the recordings of, say, Monteux with the Boston SO or the Markevitch from 1959 or Gergiev's or Ancerl's or... and you will hear so much more of what this work is capable of doing to you!We have been here before in recordings of later music by period bands. They tell us something new, they give us stimulating new (old?) sounds and sometimes allow details to be heard that are not generally heard with a modern orchestra - fine - but they can also make claims to remove the interpretive veneer imposed by generations of great conductors. This last point is contentious. That "interpretive veneer" often involves insights that are the product of something akin to genius. Great music can and should be re-imagined but this cannot involve brushing aside the best of what has gone before. Nor is it likely to be very common for a new comer to equal the best of much recorded works like the Rite. Many great conductors recorded the work several times and yet only some of the results have been really special. There is no substitute for the presence of a great interpreter and and the most successful period performances are led by a "new" generation of great interpreters (think of Harnoncourt, think of Jos van Immerseel, think of Herreweghe) and, like the earlier generations, even they have only occasionally been caught in all their greatness, Roth may or may not be a great conductor (I do like much of what I have heard from him even in works that I know well) but I do not think he gives us a great Rite, here.And when it comes to the Rite what is this alleged interpretive veneer? The work is fresh, we have recordings that the composer conducted and recordings that he praised, we have recordings of orchestras that sound very French and we even have messy and badly played recordings from soon after the work's première. Some interpreters have always been at pains to show us what a shocking work it can be and others have shown us how intricate and clever it is and still others show us Stravinsky the colourist or the master musical drama. And, by the way, it is just as likely that the sound in Igor's inner ear was that of a Russian orchestra rather than a French one so an orchestra that purports to sound like a French orchestra of the time may not be such a direct route to the sound the composer had in mind after all.So, to me this is an interesting Rite but not a great one and perhaps not even an especially good one. I must say, though, that I love the Petrushka on offer here. I have long preferred the original version of this work and have often felt oppressed by the noisiness of many reputed accounts of the later version. This one, though, is a joy and a true revelation from start to finish. It has character and subtle shades of colour without brashness. It is for this Petrushka that I will treasure this record.

Absolutely spectacular. Sounds like dance music, but the balances, timbres, phrasing are absolutely out of this world! The Petrouchka is ear candy if ever there were such a thing, and the Sacre is hard not to just play again and again. I haven't loved a performance (not just the music) of these pieces so much... in ... well, ever. I have no idea why the "period" component of this band should contribute so much, but when I think back to the driven, machinistic performances by great 20th/21st century orchestras, I think something of the music was lost in the virtuosity. And that doesn't work as an explanation either, because there's plenty of virtuosity here, just more music. I'm ordering everything these people do, this is such a gift.

I have little praise to add, on top of the other reviews - it deserves all of it. I'd just like to address the one 'dissenting voice' in case it deters potential buyers.One review claims this is a boring, passionless recording that might induce sleep. Obviously those are subjective claims - the man is entitled to his opinion, and nobody can really say otherwise. But he also makes a number of objective claims, all of which turned out to be complete and utter nonsense. He claimed that Roth chooses a slow tempo, and maintains it throughout. In fact Roth's tempo in many sections is one of the fastest on record, whilst others are what you would expect. The review also claims that it sounds as though the orchestra is playing to a click-track. Again, not true. There are several occasions when the tempo increases noticeably within a section, driven by excitement, and it remains as flexible as any other throughout. The review complains of the recording sounding lightweight. Well there is some truth to that, but perhaps he missed the sleeve notes, that detail how the instruments varied from their modern counterparts. The low brass, in particular, were physically smaller instruments, and less powerful for it. In addition the score literally has very different dynamics for a whole bunch of sections.Surely the point of a recording is to shed new light. If it were just to sound like your favourite, idealised way of performing each part, then there would only be a need for one recording. Perhaps I wouldn't put this recording on when I want a really violent Rite, but it caused me to hear more new things than any other recording, and is therefore now among my favourites. My only complaint is that it's not the BBC Prom recording made by the same group, which I think was even more visceral, and at which the sound engineers did an even better job.

This recording does not disappoint. The sound quality is clear and well-balanced and the interpretation is exciting and vibrant. I like the period instruments and the two Stravinsky pieces chosen for this recording complement each other well. Even on only a couple of listenings, I found myself tuning into elements of the composition I'd not noticed previously. I am not a Stravinsky aficionado but this recording has inspired me to listen to more of his work (and to listen again to those pieces of his work I already own). The booklet enclosed with the CD is informative and personally I appreciate this; it gives me further insight into the composer, the recording process and the pieces themselves and deepens my understanding when I listen to the music. Thoroughly recommend.

A brilliant performance brilliantly captured, this recording was everything i had hoped it would be and fully justified the BBC Music Magazine rating of 5*/5* it was recently awarded.There are things to bear in mind, however.This performance uses a reconstruction of the score used at the very first performance of Le Sacre and uses early 20th century "period" instruments in an effort get as near as possible to what Stravinsky himself heard. I think it works really well but there are, of course, some details of instrumentation and scoring that may jar with listeners used to Stravinsky's last revision of the score. Also, the period instruments are just not as loud as their modern progeny so the dynamics of the piece are more subtle.That said, the resultant package is terrific and this is a Sacre to relish alongside Rattle's blazing "modern" account on EMI. The Petrouchka ain't bad either!

I hesitated buying this CD.... I shouldn't have.These are superb performances with a very powerful sense of drama I never heard in these pieces before.The period instruments deliver superbly clear textures and reveal so many details not heard in many other recordings.These are fresh revealing performances that will thrill anyone who loves these works.

After reading all of the reviews and hearing this orchestra and conductor on the 2017 Proms, I decided to take a chance on purchasing the disc. I had also heard the recording broadcast on BBC radio 3 and was convinced this was a later revision of the two ballets, so different did it sound. I am completely bowled over by the passion and commitment of the performances; the period instruments really make them sound freshly minted. Highly recommended, even if you have your favourites among more established , modern instrument and official edition recordings.