STRAVINSKY: Vol III (Robert Craft Collection)

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (4 ratings)
STRAVINSKY: Vol III (Robert Craft Collection) album cover
Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 40   Total Length: 76:30

Write a Review 3 Member Reviews

Please register before you review a release. Register

user avatar

Excellent early & rare IS: buy it elsewhere

Baculus

The Craft recording is of the original ballet score, done under the supervision of IS for Columbia. It is, as bklynd says, taut and hard-driving, and a good complement to later versions and recordings. This is the only currently available recording of the complete Rossignol, the Erato being out of print. It's excellent early IS, I recommend listening to it while reading the Hans Anderson story, as it follows the plot quite closely. As to cost: eMusici will note with the new cost of $0.49, the break-even point for a standard Naxos $6.99 MP3 download is 14 tracks, at eg ClassicsOnline. Don't blame eMusic for the licensing arrangement, and thank Bach the per-track structure makes many Naxos [andother] albums a steal.

user avatar

yes, buy it.

bklynd

Yes, I'm pretty sure I have these from when they were released the first time by the (now defunkt) MusicMasters label. This version of the Rite is very tight and brisk - it kind of emphasizes it as a taut modern construction rather than the ass-kicking phantasmagoria that it can be. The Nightengale (which is harder to get) is very nicely done with top-notch singers. Since the physical CD will cost you less than the DLs, I think the solution is obvious: buy it! (But even the $7 it would cost here to get the Nightengale is worth it, IMO.)

user avatar

Ripoff!

SHARPER

Robert Craft was Stravinsky's right hand man for years and is a very capable conductor. I'm sure this is a fine recording, but 40 short selections covering only 75 minutes? The Rite of Spring could have been done with just two. Same for Le Rossignol.

Recommended Albums

eMusic Features

0

Classical Innovators

By Gavin Borchert, eMusic Contributor

Pianist Glenn Gould used to poke fun at what he called the "Plateau, Peak and Precipice" view of musical history, which he said "has encouraged us to conceive of historical action in terms of a series of climaxes and to determine the virtues of artists according to the manner in which they participated in or, better still, anticipated the next climax." He was long an advocate of composers who were less overtly innovative, and whom… more »