Search - I. Stravinsky :: Igor Stravinsky: A Portrait - His Works - His Life

For the Stravinsky Newcomer, or Even Those Who Think They Al

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This portrait of Igor Stravinsky joins those already available on Naxos concerning Bartók Béla Bartók: A Portrait, Prokofiev Sergey Prokofiev: A Portrait and Shostakovich Dmitry Shostakovich: A Portrait. The package contains a 100-page essay on the composer, his life and music, by David Nice, and a two-CD compilation of whole movements from many of his works, such things as Firebird, Petrushka, Rite of Spring, The Soldier's Tale, Les Noces, Pulcinella, Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Oedipus Rex, Apollon musagète, Symphony of Psalms, Agon, The Rake's Progress and much more.



The essay by Nice is liberally sprinkled with boldface indications for tracks from the CDs that illustrate the text. So one can be reading about, say, Stravinsky's religious beliefs and be directed to the a movement from the Symphony of Psalms.



The performances of the music, in many instances, could hardly be bettered as many of them are taken from the ongoing Naxos reissues of the recent Robert Craft-conducted recordings. Craft was Stravinsky's amanuensis, friend and 'godson', and is surely the most experienced and respected conductor of Stravinsky currently working. There are also numerous quotations from Craft's voluminous writings on Stravinsky.



Like its counterparts this 'Portrait' is very nicely done and certainly more than worth its bargain price.



Strongly recommended for the appropriate audience. One can easily imagine this set going into school and public libraries as well as into the collections of those curious but not very knowledgeable about one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century.



Scott Morrison"