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22CDs of top-class recordings of the 20th century's greatest composer for £1 a disc. You are guaranteed to discover gems you never knew, such as Charles Rosen playing the piano sonata, in among the famous and towering achievements like the Rite and the Firebird. You'll kick yourself if you don't get it, not least as postage is free!
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At last, these recordings, which were previously released as "Stravinsky - The Recorded Legacy" on Sony Classical (SX22K46290), have been reissued at a budget price. The previous incarnation (which is still available) came in a plastic presentation case with all CDs in single, double and triple jewel cases, also a very detailed booklet with all song & opera texts, synopses and translations and various background essays. That set cost between £89 and £120 depending on where you got it from. The present set dispenses with much of that in order to save at least £60.
So what you get in this release are the CDs in cardboard sleeves housed in a cardboard box, the advantage of this being that it takes up the bare minimum of space on the shelf. You also get a very minute booklet with only the details of the soloists, orchestras and recording dates and a short essay (in a few European languages). (So no song texts etc here, which is a bit annoying.) The positive side is that all the recordings are exactly the same as in the previous release, which is obviously the most important part and it's a great way of getting a lot of fantastic music for very little money (not to mention historically important versions of Stravinsky's music, conducted and/or overseen by the man himself). For me this was ideal as I wasn't really that interested in much of the vocal music so didn't really want to shell out for the more expensive set.
There's really no excuse for not buying this at this price, unless you feel you have to have all the extra packaging and paperwork which comes with the more expensive version (or you are broke, but even then you ought to try to get this).
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This must be the greatest bargin set ever released. For this price you would expect 'average' versions of Stravinsky's major works. What you get [not made clear on the box] are 22 CD's made up of all the stereo recordings made for Columbia by the composer himself; a few works directed by Robert Craft with Stravinsky in the studio; and a handful of vintage recordings of works not remade in stereo by the composer. These interpretations are of immense historical importance but, also, very fine performances in their own right. The sound is first class; the remastering also.
There is so much here to enjoy that it is difficult to single out individual works. A few of my personal favourites are 'The Firebird', 'The Rite of Spring', 'Apollo' [my desert island recording of a lovely work from Stravinsky's neo-classical period], 'The Ebony Concerto' with Benny Goodman, and 'Les Noces' with both Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland among the pianists! However, I'm sure this list will change considering just what treasure trove is included.
An essential collection at a stupid price. Buy it before Sony BMG realise their mistake.
