Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Stokowski: Bach Transcriptions cover

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Stokowski: Bach Transcriptions

Released

Montreal-born conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin consistently conducts with illuminating authority.  His reading of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring complements his penchant for aggressive, vivid, and precise sonority; the performance is equal parts ferocity and panache. The Rite is here paired with the deluxe Bach orchestral transcriptions by Leopold Stokowski, the most famous of which — the “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” — most will recognize from its appearance in Fantasia.  While the transcriptions sound as though they were originally designed to titillate the Gilded-Age heirs and heiresses in the 1920’s Philadelphia crowd, they are retro-fabulous in the best way possible. Historical-performance enthusiasts will either look on in horror or give in to the mayhem.

Sean Wood

Suggestions
Carnevale 1729 cover

Carnevale 1729

Il Pomo d'Oro, Stefano Montanari, Ann Hallenberg
Bruckner I/IX cover

Bruckner I/IX

Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique cover

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Mahler 10 cover

Mahler 10

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 cover

Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944

Enoch zu Guttenberg, Orchester der KlangVerwaltung
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 cover

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Myung-Whun Chung, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Violin Sonatas: Elgar, Debussy, Respighi cover

Violin Sonatas: Elgar, Debussy, Respighi

James Ehnes, Andrew Armstrong
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; Kindertotenlieder; Rückert-Lieder cover

Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen; Kindertotenlieder; Rückert-Lieder

Kent Nagano, Christian Gerhaher, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms cover

Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Boulez