If you are an Igor Stravinsky fan and have 23 pounds to spare

[dfan]

amazon.co.uk (not .com, sadly) has a 22-CD set of pretty much Stravinsky's entire output, almost all conducted by Stravinsky himself, for the astonishing price of 23 pounds (shipping to the US was another 3). It is hard to imagine a better deal. I have been gorging myself all day.

Comments

wow

[davidglasser]

I simply cannot believe this. Um, done. Thanks!

[damiel]

23 pounds is definitely a fair price to pay. Its equivalent of 158,876 dollars probably less so.

I don't like all of Stravinsky's output, and although I would gladly part with that many pounds, I'm very protective of the amount of shelf space that 22 CDs would take in Manhattan.

This is a reissue of a collection Sony had in print a while ago. I say it's a matter of time before it gets reissued here too in the boxed-set format.

Which brings us to the question, is it always a good move to trust the performances by the composer as conductor? I honestly don't know with Stravinsky. With Britten I think it's a definite yes, and with Copland a more reserved "maybe."

[dfan]

I'm very protective of the amount of shelf space that 22 CDs would take in Manhattan.

The whole thing is like 2 inches thick - the CDs are all in little cardboard sleeves and there's just a thin booklet, no libretti etc. Definitely one of the appeals for me.

This is a reissue of a collection Sony had in print a while ago. I say it's a matter of time before it gets reissued here too in the boxed-set format.

I hope so, though I've learned not to be too optimistic about UK releases making it to the states. I also couldn't resist the price and the (physical) size.

Which brings us to the question, is it always a good move to trust the performances by the composer as conductor? I honestly don't know with Stravinsky. With Britten I think it's a definite yes, and with Copland a more reserved "maybe."I know that Stravinsky's conducting reputation is not awesome. But so far (I've been through most of the ballets) I really like these, although I am probably less sensitive to conducting nuances than a lot of listeners. I totally agree

[dfan]

Aw, but it's sung in English.

[haineux]

Last year I heard Michael Tilson Thomas conduct the Rite. There was one spot where I didn't like it -- he told the trombonists to honor the score marking "as loud as possible" quite literally. It was too loud, I thought. Everything else about it was superb. I also got the recent recording of the same piece from some recent past session.

Thomas did a series of several documentary programs about certain pieces. The one on the Rite was superb.

I don't have an iPhone. I have a Crappy Nokia. I would figure out how to make an edited Rite my ringtone, but I keep forgetting, and I don't have the stupid magic cable and software and etc.

Been shooting up a lot of Ravel recently. And Debussy. Makes me feel like a full on french cockroach with the beret and the cigarette.

[dfan]

The Rite can be tricky - it was really shocking at the time, and naturally is less so now, but people still want it to have that sort of effect, so things can get amped up more than is really called for.

I listened through the Debussy piano music a few months ago, awesome stuff.