James Levine's Petrushka is amazing, one of the most brilliant, hard-hitting, rhythmically sharp performances that you are ever likely to hear. The crowd scenes in the two outer tableaux sizzle with energy, while the more intimate moments feature some stunning solo work from the CSO principals, flute and trumpet especially. Les Noces is hardly less fine; the interpretive concept is much the same, with rhythmic precision to the fore. You sense that Stravinsky would have been thrilled by this hyper-accurate, unsentimental, but always sympathetic conducting. The singers don't have quite that authentic Slavic sound that we get from Ancerl, but there's very little to quibble about there either. The bright, "in your face" sonics complement the performances, but some listeners might find the engineering a touch too aggressive. Still, this "on demand" reissue from Arkivmusic.com is pretty thrilling by any measure.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com