Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Introduction
2. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Le Jardin enchant� de Kastchei/ The Enchanted Garden of Kashchei
3. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Apparation de I'oiseau de feu, poursuivi par Ivan Tsar�vitch/Appari
4. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Danse de l'oiseau de feu/Dance of the Firebird
5. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Capture de l'oiseau de feu par Ivan Tsar�vitch/Capture of the Fireb
6. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Supplication de l'oiseau de feu; Apparation des treize princesses e
7. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Jeu des princesses avec les pommes d'or (Scherzo)/Play of the Princ
8. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Brusque appatation d'Ivan Tsar�vitch/Sudden Appartion of Ivan Tsare
9. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Chorovod (Ronde) des princesses/Chorovod (Round) of the Princesses
10. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Lever du jour;Ivan Tsar�vitch p�n�tre dans le palais de Kactchei/Su
11. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Carillon f�eeerique; Apparation des monstres; Gardens de KAstchei e
12. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Danse de la suite de Kaaaastchei enchant�e par l'oiseau de feu/Danc
13. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Danse infernale de tous les sujets de Kaschei/Infernal Dance of all
14. L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird), ballet in 2 scenes for orchestra: Disparation du palais et des sortil�ges de Kastchei; Animation des

Disc 2:

1. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Introduction
2. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Harbingers of Spring
3. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Ritual of Abduction
4. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Spring Rounds
5. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Games of the Rival T
6. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Procession of the Wi
7. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Wise Elder
8. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part I: The Adoration of the Earth: Dance of the Earth)
9. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part II: The Sacrifice: Introduction (Pagan Night)
10. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part II: The Sacrifice: Mystic Circles of the Young Girl
11. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part II: The Sacrifice: Glorification of the Chosen One
12. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part II: The Sacrifice: Summoning of the Ancients
13. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part II: The Sacrifice: Ritual of the Ancients
14. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), ballet in 2 parts for orchestra: Part II: The Sacrifice: Sacrificial Dance (Chosen One)

Disc 3:

1. Pers�phone, melodrama in 3 parts, for reciter, vocal soloist, double chorus & orchestra: The Abduction of Persephone
2. Pers�phone, melodrama in 3 parts, for reciter, vocal soloist, double chorus & orchestra: Persephone in the Underworld
3. Pers�phone, melodrama in 3 parts, for reciter, vocal soloist, double chorus & orchestra: Persephone Reborn

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36194 in Music
• Brand: RCA
• Released on: 1999-04-27
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .42 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
Here's a Stravinsky set to raise eyebrows. Where is Petrouchka, the standard coupling for Firebird and Rite in collections of the great early Stravinsky ballet scores? Instead, we get the too rarely heard Perséphone, and it's the highlight of the set. Premiered in 1934 to a text by André Gide, Perséphone is a retelling of the Greek fertility myth of the earth's winter death and spring renewal. The tale drew from Stravinsky some of his most delicate and beautiful music in the neoclassical style of the period, a sibling to the ballets Apollo and Orpheus and the cantata Oedipus Rex (it also includes string figures that recall those works).

Stephanie Cosserat, in the title role, is a youthfully persuasive narrator, very different from Vera Zorina's oracular reciter on Stravinsky's own recording. Stuart Neill's tenor is a big plus, and the orchestra and chorus play and sing with involvement. Michael Tilson Thomas brings out the cool tenderness of the score, and the recording, made at a live performance, is truthful. His Firebird is lushly dramatic, and the Rite's barbaric thrust is leavened by some soulful wind playing. Recorded competition in the two ballets is fierce (along with Gergiev's recent Firebird on Philips, there are classic versions by Ansermet, Dorati, Haitink, and others, including the composer) but Perséphone makes this set an attractive proposition. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

persephone is beautifully coherent and lyrical
I agree with most reviews I have read--MTT takes overall a lyrical view of all three works. Persephone benefits most from this. All works clearly exhibit MTT's ability to maintain a rock solid rhythmic pulse. Recordings are clear and well-focused. Since I collect all versions of these works, they were must acquisitions. Now that I've heard them, I'd put all three works near the tops of my "lists". Haitink's Firebird on Philips provides more shear wonder and beautiful phrasing. Zander's Rite is still very thrilling, though I recall a late 50's Monteux on RCA with the Orch. Paris Cons. that struck me at the time as nearly overwhelming. Igor Markevich's several recordings are similarly in a special class. So, MTT provides intiguing insights into the workings of the Rite's orchestration, but you won't whisper "wow" at its end. Persephone is, on the other hand, altogether wonderful.

Superb readings with excellent sound to complement them
The San Francisco Symphony has experienced a rebirth with Michael Tilson Thomas, and nowhere are the results more dramatically demonstrated than in this outstanding CD set. Whether Thomas's personal relationship with Stravinsky makes any difference in his readings is hard to say - someone should ask him - but the ballet warhorses come to life in this CD and Persephone is a revelation to those who, like me, had never heard it before. The sound quality of these CDs is also outstanding, particularly on a system that can handle a wide dynamic range and present a realistic illusion of the orchestra arrayed across the stage. Most large label recordings do not match the sound quality of this one. It deserved all of its Grammys, including the engineering award, as in this case the engineering serves the music and proves what a big label can do when it tries hard enough.

Great Recording
This is the best recording of the Rite of Spring on CD ever! The engineering is top notch (much better than most recordings these days), which befits the Rite and the Firebird. As for the performance itself, the recording of the rite is excellent, with lots of contrast between the heavy percussive parts and the more lyrical passages. There are also some dramatic tempo changes in the work which are played out quite well. Overall, I prefer this Rite to the Bernstein recording.

The Firebird is acceptable. The finale is not as overpowering as the Gergiev recording, but the work is easier to listen to as a whole than the Gergiev version.

Then to top it all off, Persephone is included in this set, probably one of the few recordings made of this work, and is also a good listen.