Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms

“...vital, finely focused singing...The opening movement has a fierce urgency and the fugal exposition of the second is beautifully articulated.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 ****

“Herreweghe really engages with this music in a way few of his rivals have done, and he has marvellous singers and players to realise his view of the work. While Herreweghe understands the restrained mood of the work, he doesn't let this become stern or solid....[his] ear for balance proves to be impeccable, and enlightening” International Record Review, July/August 2010

“As one might expect from these forces, the asceticism of neo-Classical Stravinsky plays second fiddle to the orchestra's natural plushness. But while the textures sound a little weightier than we are used to, Simon Rattle's mastery in orchestral balancing ensures that nothing is compromised. There is some delectable playing here, especially from the woodwind in the Bachian counterpoint at the heart of the Symphony of Psalms, where the Berlin Radio Chorus also excels. And the richness of sound does nothing to dampen the rhythmic vitality that is at the heart of the two purely instrumental works” Matthew Rye, The Telegraph, 28th June 2008

“Rattle's performances, all taken from concerts in Berlin's Philharmonie, are as energised and impeccably played as one would expect, with the woodwind contributions a particular delight. Predictably, it's the last of the trilogy, the stark Symphony in Three Movements from 1946, that makes the biggest impression, with Rattle channelling its energy and athleticism uncompromisingly. Yet all three works have a litheness and confidence, a perfect balance between the sections, and, in the Symphony of Psalms, between the orchestra and the superbly groomed choir, that give the music a transparent, "classical" feel. Rattle's performance of the Symphony of Psalms gets the balance between celebratory exuberance and liturgical grandeur exactly right, releasing the energy of the finale in a controlled display of orchestral virtuosity.” The Guardian, 20th June 2008 ****

“Rattle gives [the woodwind] Mozartian prominence above the transparent strings, and this is music to which the British conductor brings a special empathy. In the Psalm settings, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, now under Simon Halsey, give exemplary accounts of their music. These are luxury interpretations in every sense, sumptuously recorded.” Sunday Times, 15th June 2008 ****

“The real highlight of this CD is Rattle's pressing but never impatient account of what in my view is Stravinsky's greatest symphony, the terse and poignant Symphony in C… Stravinsky himself is faster and lighter… but Rattle gives us both urgency and tonal body. Henceforth, his is a digital front-runner.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“The slow movements of both the Symphony in Three Movements and the Symphony in C are beautifully done.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 ***

“The Berliners are adept at finding exactly the right mode for each work –perkily antiquated for the Symphony in C, muscular and athletic for the Symphony in Three Movements and intense for the Symphony of Psalms. I wasn’t sure Simon Rattle could do spiritual, but here he proves he can.” The Telegraph, 14th July 2009 ****

“The Symphony in Three Movements doesn't so much start as erupt and Sir Simon Rattle's second recording of it has impressive immediacy, richer tonally than his rougher-edged 1980s recording with the CBSO, but textually warmer and with more refined solos. Interesting points of comparison arise at around 4'00” into the first movement (chamber-like textures involving strings and winds) and the serene passage for strings and harp at 2'08” into the second movement, the relative earnestness of the earlier version replaced here by a true but 'terrible beauty'.
In comparison with conductors like Boulez and Gielen, Rattle offers the most polished option, mindful of both mood and structure and beautifully engineered, but don't forget Stravinsky's own 1946 (New York Philharmonic) version, which reflects a new-born masterpiece in the heat of its creation.
Rattle's Symphony of Psalms is very sensitively traced, with a rowdy account of the reveille-style 'Laudate Dominum' passage in the last movement.
However, the real highlight of this CD is Rattle's pressing but never impatient account of what in my view is Stravinsky's greatest symphony, the terse and poignant Symphony in C, music forged in the wake of illness and death but that only ever suggests anguish, never confesses it. Tchaikovsky's spirit looms large, especially in the first movement, at the onset of the angry central climax where Rattle and his Berliners achieve considerable intensity. Rattle focuses each episode without sounding episodic and shapes the Larghetto's opening most poetically.
Stravinsky himself is faster and lighter (especially on his second, stereo, recording) but Rattle gives us both urgency and tonal body. Henceforth, his is a digital front-runner. (And if purchased as a download, a finely observed account of the Symphonies of Wind Instruments is thrown in as a generous bonus.)” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

'If ever a style of performance were to bring people towards Stravinsky's church music, this is it' (Organists' Review)

“It may cost less than half the price of Stravinsky's version, but the performance is at least as enjoyable, with far superior chorus and orchestra and in some respects goes to the heart of the drama more compellingly than the composer himself.” Gramophone Magazine, January 1968

“Oedipus Rex, to words by Jean Cocteau, is one of Stravinsky's most compelling theatre pieces, a powerful drama that re-enacts the full force of a glorious high spot in ancient culture. The fusion of words and music in Oedipus is masterly, and arrests the attention consistently, from the animated severity of the opening narration, through the calculated tension of its musical argument, to the tragic restraint of its closing pages. Karel Ancerl was one of Stravinsky's most committed exponents.
This particular recording was taped in the Dvorák Hall of the House of Artists, Prague, and earned itself at least three major awards.
Ancerl traces and intensifies salient points in the tragedy yet maintains a precise, sensitive touch.
His vocal collaborators include the noble Karel Berman (Créon) who, like Ancerl himself, suffered considerably during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Vera Soukupová is a fine Jocasta and the convincing but occasionally unsteady Ivo Zídek sings the part of Oedipus.
Both here and in the Symphony of Psalms – one of the most serenely perceptive recorded performances of the work – the Czech Philharmonic Chorus excel, while Supraphon's 1960s engineering (not the DDD suggested on the box) has an appealing brightness.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The volatility of The Firebird...is excitingly airborne in Nelsons’s hands, with plenty of the luminous orchestral detail...This is a performance with narrative coherence and dramatic vitality...always attentive to the enlivening spectrum of instrumental timbres that Stravinsky deployed” The Telegraph, 23rd April 2010 ****

“Nelsons is good on the unease of the opening [of The Firebird], the violence of the Infernal Dance and the strange undertones of sensuality in the swaying nocturne...[Symphony of Psalms is] powerfully done, with real fervour in the choral singing, and Nelsons gets the difficult mix of austerity and ritual grandeur absolutely right.” The Guardian, 13th May 2010 ***

“ This is not a sumptuous Firebird – indeed it is quite lean and hungry – but it is very sharply characterised and full of exotic sounds, beautifully captured and rising to a thrilling Infernal Dance and final climax.” The Observer, 6th June 2010

“There is plenty of colour and razor-sharp playing in this new version, the recording vividly capturing the orchestra in the splendid acoustics of Symphony Hall...The control in the woodwind fugue opening the second movement [of the Symphony of Psalms] is mesmerising, and the CBSO Chorus is meticulous in following the nuances of the score.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2010 ***

“Lili is chiefly remembered for her psalm settings, which presage Honegger and Messiaen, and which she accompanies with a seductive orchestral palate all her own. John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir give her pieces and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms a mesmeric translucence here, but it is the playing of the LSO that most impresses.” The Observer, 12th April 2009