Posted by Barry Guerrero on February 14, 2001 at 02:17:32:
In Reply to: Rite of Spring posted by DJA on February 14, 2001 at 01:07:52:
It's very well recorded, and very "musical". There are a few other recordings of "the Rite" that have struck me as being a bit more savage - more unbuttoned. I do like it very much, but I also really like a late 60's "Rites of Spring" with Ozawa leading the CSO on RCA's 24 bit "High Performance" series. It's also quite a bit cheaper than MTT's. The Atlanta Symphony has recorded a really exciting one on Telarc, with Yoel Levi directing. Of course, Bernstein's original N.Y. Phil. one really impressed Stravinsky - very exciting. Then, even more "of course", is Stravinsky's own! Antal Dorati and Igor Markevich were also always very exciting in "The Rites of Spring" as well. Zubin Mehta did good ones with both L.A. and N.Y.
Dorati did just an incredibly exciting "Firebird", with the fastest "Infernal Dance" I've ever encountered.
Barry Guerrero
San Francisco