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
Berlioz: Cantatas cover

Berlioz: Cantatas

Jean-Claude Casadesus
Josef Suk: Asrael cover

Josef Suk: Asrael

Vladimir Ashkenazy
Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie cover

Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie

Hannu Lintu, Angela Hewitt, Valerie Hartmann-Claverie
Poulenc: Stabat Mater; Gloria; Litanies à la Vierge noire cover

Poulenc: Stabat Mater; Gloria; Litanies à la Vierge noire

Paavo Järvi, Orchestre de Paris, Patricia Petibon
Petrushka cover

Petrushka

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thierry Fischer
Les Voyages de l’Amour cover

Les Voyages de l’Amour

Ensemble Meridiana
Bartók, Ligeti cover

Bartók, Ligeti

Matthias Pintscher, Ensemble InterContemporain
Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 cover

Bruckner: Symphony No. 6

London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle
Telemann: Concerti per molti stromenti cover

Telemann: Concerti per molti stromenti

Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin