Whatever the limitations of Stravinsky's baton technique, no one else on disc conjures the same bustling excitement at the outset of Petrouchka. Overlapping, polyrhythmic textures in Petrouchka and in Le Sacre du Printemps come off with Mozartian lucidity, Mendelssonian lightness, and, well, Stravinsky-esque rhythmic exactitude (notwithstanding a few hesitant entrances). The clarity partly stems from the composer's use of his leaner revised scores, helped by close-up, analytical mike work by CBS. There are, of course, slicker, more sonically opulent versions of these 20th century landmarks. And then there are Stravinsky's. --Jed Distler

I never understood why conductors have to make such a complicated hash of these pieces.
If you like these pieces, then you are in for a treat. Simple, clean approach with no fuss, just brilliant music that makes so much sense when played right.

An erstwhile friend presented this to me because one of my two nicknames in college used to be Petrushka (just a fond, familiar, a la Russian way of saying my name). The CD sat unopened in my car for a few days until a bored passenger offered to tear off the cellophane and pop it into the CD player (replacing, I am embarrassed to confess, a CD of the Pussycat Dolls).

Well, as the notes filled my car, I found myself so totally overwhelmed that I had to sit in the parking lot for a long time after I had dropped off my friend. This is the sort of music that melts away existence; that consumes you until you are just a shiver; that picks you up and transports you to that unknown place you had dreamt about oh-so long ago; that makes your thoughts tremble with sheer astonishment at the brutal, primal genius of it all...

Ok, I gave it a valiant try. It is impossible to describe such powerful music without mouthing cliches... As a mere mortal, all I can say is: listen, and weep.

Some of the songs end so abruptly, that it is almost a shock to the system. Twice I checked to see if my CD player was still working. I do not know if the songs themselves where written that way or the person who put this album together did this. I keep imagining a man listening to the music with big scissors just chopping it wherever and whenever he feels like it and saying ok this looks like a good place to end a song. That is unnerving.

The music itself is simply beautiful. This is my first Stravinsky purchase and certainly not my last.

i think when the opportunity comes to hear music in exactly the way the author meant it to be heard is a rare gift. with stravinsky himself conducting, his work here is as perfect as it can ever be performed. the Rite of Spring is one of the most important works, i dare say, EVER. Listen with focus and stravinsky's genius is obvious.

Nobody does Mr. S like Mr. S. These albums that came out on Columbia are still the ultimate. Why would anyone else bother to try to match the master? This guy was a freaking genius, for goodness sake. You other guys get a life.