Notes and Editorial Reviews
Readers may not remember, but Iván Fischer recorded the Firebird Suite before, in 1991 for Hungaroton. That performance was superb and it came with an equally dynamic and exciting Petrushka. This one is just as terrific, and far better recorded. The earlier sonics were dry and wiry, while this production is as warm, natural, and realistically balanced as anything available today. Fischer's reading combines an exceptional care for detail (Dance of the Firebird) with plenty of excitement in the Infernal Dance and Finale. It's a great performance by any standard, and worth the price of the disc all by itself.
Fischer is no slouch in The Rite either. The opening wind solos are positively sexy, and again there's no lack of
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power in the more violent outbursts. The polyrhythmic Procession of the Sage is incredibly clear, and the only possible reservation concerns some daringly slow tempos in Part Two. I'm thinking particularly of the brass interlude in the otherwise admirably kinetic Sacrificial Dance, where the string ostinatos come across as too disconnected and mechanical. Otherwise, this is just about as finely played and completely realized a vision of the work as any in the catalog. The Scherzo and Tango are delightful encores that take the playing time to just over an hour.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording
1.
Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor:
Iván Fischer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1919/1945;
2.
Scherzo ŕ la russe by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor:
Iván Fischer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943-1944; USA
3.
Le sacre du printemps by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor:
Iván Fischer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1913
4.
Tango by Igor Stravinsky
Conductor:
Iván Fischer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1940; USA
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