APOLLO, AGON, ORPHEUS:

I can't think of another conductor I would rather hear in this music than Robert Craft, not just because he is more respectful of the text than just about anyone else, but because he has the confidence and integrity to respect the music's understated idiom--to suggest rather than announce--as well as a keen understanding of the rhythmic element that underpins it all. This last factor is particularly critical in Apollo, music whose extreme stylization can become a caricature if taken too slowly or denied the necessary lightness and grace. Craft's supple leadership keeps the piece moving along smartly, with a firm lyrical line threading through the acres of ornament. In Agon, his careful observance of dynamics ensures that the difficult-to-capture licks for harp and mandoline register with complete naturalness and clarity. Orpheus, one of Stravinsky's most striking and luminous pieces, has a cool beauty that Craft realizes particularly well, again by taking care over matters of phrasing and balance. I could be very specific as to the scores, but suffice it to say that just about every page contains relevant examples of what I am describing. More importantly, with excellent playing and sonics, all at a budget price, if you want this music you can't do better. [5/27/2005]

RITE OF SRPING, ROSSIGNOL:

Robert Craft's performance of The Rite of Spring, rescued from oblivion on Koch, proves that in the early ballets he can be both accurate as well as exciting. Extremely well played by the London Symphony, seldom have the complex textures in the Introduction to Part One or the Ritual of the Rival Tribes sounded so clear and natural. And yet, in the Dance of the Earth, or the concluding Sacrificial Dance, Craft pulls out all of the stops to really impressive effect. The sonics are excellent, both here and in The Nightingale--this latter a beautiful, neglected piece that sounds much better in its original operatic form than in its later, formally somewhat dysfunctional symphonic dress. Once again Craft leads a superb performance of the orchestral part, and the singers are mostly fine. Olga Trifonova's bright soprano does well by the nightingale, but Robert Tear and Pippa Longworth, as the fisherman and the cook, sound vocally stressed despite being clearly involved in their parts. Still, with transliterated text and English translation, this is a very good deal.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

PULCINELLA, BAISER DE LA FEE

These performances were released previously by Koch, and it's good to see them reappearing here at budget price. Like most of Robert Craft's Stravinsky discs, this is very, very good, and questioning the conductor's authority in this music is tantamount to casting doubt on the composer himself (though not on his own hit-and-miss conducting!). The coupling is apt: both works are based on earlier music--Gallo and Pergolesi (for the most part) on the one hand, Tchaikovsky on the other. As Craft points out in his notes, however, Pulcinella remains comparatively faithful to the originals, with changes principally in terms of rhythm and scoring. The Fairy's Kiss, though, takes Tchaikovsky's tunes as a starting point, modifying them considerably, with most of the music being effectively original. Compared to the reference recordings above, Craft can appear to value precision over sheer excitement (as in the finale of Pulcinella), but this is quibbling: overall he gets fine results from both orchestras as well as from his three singers (in Pulcinella). If you're looking for both ballets complete, the combination of value and artistic quality on offer here speaks for itself.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

OEDIPUS REX, LES NOCES

Robert Craft leads a thrilling performance of Oedipus Rex--incisive, swift, and as mercilessly inevitable as fate itself. From the opening bars, where those spine-chilling runs in the trumpet penetrate the orchestral tutti like screams of horror, you can tell that Craft has every detail of this work (his second recording) well in hand, and so for that matter does the Philharmonia. Anyone who believes that Craft is a dull conductor should listen to this urgent account--from the great choruses (first announcing Jocasta's entrance, with particularly clear timpani and piano ostinatos, and later her death), to the Verdian energy he brings to the Oedipus/Jocasta duet in Act 2. It would have been even better if Craft had followed Stravinsky's lead in his own early-1960s recording: repeat the "Gloria" chorus with the opening Act 2 narration in the middle. It's not a major point, and strictly speaking it's not what's in the score; but it's such marvelous music, and hearing it twice simply doubles the pleasure.

As for the singers, they do well--for the most part. After some initial unsteadiness Martyn Hill settles down to close Act 1 most affectingly, and his singing in Act 2 is very good. Jennifer Lane's Jocasta sounds younger than, say, Jessye Norman's, and her lighter touch gets around the notes better than many a bigger, heavier voice. As Creon, David Wilson-Johnson offers disappointingly approximate pitch in his big Act 1 aria, but he does much better in the slower-moving proclamations of the Messenger. The smaller roles come off without any problems, and the Simon Joly Male Chorus sings more confidently than it did in Craft's Symphony of Psalms. Speaker Edward Fox sounds like a bored Oxford don, but at least he admirably refrains from the annoying histrionics that some bring to the part (particularly in its French-language version). And Craft naturally makes sure that as Stravinsky wanted, Fox pronounces the protagonist's name "Eedipus" as opposed to the chorus' "Oydipus".

Craft's Les Noces--he would with good reason prefer the Russian title "Svadebka"--is simply spectacular. Not only does it feature both superb playing by the four pianos and percussion and marvelous singing by soprano Alison Wells and Martyn Hill, but it's clear that Craft has invested a great deal of care and attention in getting clear articulation of the Russian text. This is critical because, as Craft explains in his notes, the music flows naturally from the speech-rhythms of the words. So many performances of this marvelous piece sound like garbled chanting in an unrecognizable tongue. Craft ensures that for once we really hear the Russian, and just as significantly he balances his forces perfectly so that singers and instrumentalists play off each other with an astonishing degree of rhythmic tension. The resulting explosion of color and energy (you can hear this at any point, but the transition from the third to the fourth scene offers an excellent example) has few if any equals in other performances--including Craft's earlier one on Music Masters. Ideally clear and focused sound completes this very desirable package, given new life thanks to Naxos (these performances previously appeared, differently coupled, on Koch). [2/5/2005]

JEU DE CARTES, DANSES CONCERTANTES, SCENES DE BALLETS

I have no criticism whatsoever about the excellence of these performances. No one plays neo-classical and late Stravinsky as well as Robert Craft, and whether in his energetic and witty account of Jeu de cartes, or the nicely "sec" articulation he uses to characterize the Danses and Scènes, these performances are as fine as any available, and they are very well recorded. Mark Wait also is a fine piano soloist in the Capriccio, giving a swift and uncommonly high-spirited rendition. The Variations belongs among Stravinsky's most uncompromisingly arid compositions. Craft delivers the piece with his usual clarity and focus, but like some Webern, the fact that you can listen to this brief work multiple times to try to "get it" doesn't mean that you will want to or that it's time well spent. Indeed my only qualm about this disc, one that prevents my giving it the highest rating, is that if you enjoy neo-classical Stravinsky you likely won't want the Variations. Still, it's only a bit more than five minutes of music and you can always ignore it. If the coupling suits, then don't hesitate.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com