Cheap Stravinsky: Petrushka; Pulcinella (Music) (William Shimell, Igor Stravinsky, Riccardo Chailly, Jacques Zoon, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Ruud Van Den Brink, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Pietro Ballo, Peter Masseurs) Price

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Customer Reviews of Stravinsky: Petrushka; Pulcinella

I bought this for the Pulcinella, but the Petrushka is great, too
I bought this CD for Pulcinella and love the way that Riccardo Chailly keeps things lively and, well, dancing. Even in the slow numbers, the emphasis on keeping the rhythms danceable is just wonderful. While the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a fine ensemble, Chially leads them in keeping all the sounds beautiful and even the dissonances are exquisite. <
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>The Petrushka is also wonderful. The orchestra sounds are so well combined that the shimmering effects and soaring melodies not only make you want to dance, but sing along. This is a performance I would certainly want to have heard live. It must have been a great session and would be great in a concert hall. <
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>Some make a great deal of the fact that Stravinsky used other composer's music in putting together Pulcinella. This ignores how much he added, how much borrowing was done in the past by composers such as Handel (and nearly everyone else) and how ridiculous the idea that each piece must not only be completely new, but absolutely unqique. That is a formula for the death of art. As Stravinsky himself noted, the best commentary on a piece of music is another piece of music. Amen. <
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>Fine disk, too bad it seems to be unavailable. Somebody should get it back in print because there aren't enough recordings of Pulcinella in my view of things.

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Big, bright, square--where's the style?
This is such a virtuosic, cleanly played, and well recorded CD that I'd feel guilty rating it low. Even so, I expect more than that. Stravinsky needs style. Petrouchka is, after all, a ballet about murder, unrequited love, jealousy, and errie visitations from a ghost. None of that atmosphere is present under Chailly, who moves from section to section with the same bold, extroverted splash. I can see why others love it, but for real chatacter I turn to Temirkanov with the Leningrad Phil. (RCA), which is slashing and spooky, interrupted by spurts of violence, or to Ozawa and the Chicago Sym. (RCA), which is even better played that this CD and recorded in gorgeous Living Stereo. Other performances have caught my fancy from Boulez, Bernstein, and the work's premiere conductor, Pierre Monteux. <
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>The same generally holds for Pulcinella. Chailly conducts a bright, forward, but rather stiff orchestral part--where's the wit or the neo-classical elegance? His vocalists are skillful but faceless. All in all, if you like big-boned Stravinsky in a symphonic style--something the composer himself never used--this is a fine example.

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Not only a definitive Stravinsky, a definitive CD
Upon hearing this recording of Petrouchka and Pulcinella, I was completely blown away. These are by far the best interpretations of these pieces I have ever heard. In Petrouchka, Riccardo Chailly leads the listener through all the excitement of the Stravinsky's Shrovetide puppet-world with technical perfection and astounding aural beauty. Jacques Zoon and Peter Masseurs do an excellent job as the solo flutist and trumpeter. My favorite part of this CD, however, is Pulcinella. I first heard Pulcinella on Sir Neville Marriner's recording of it with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, a somewhat lacking (alright, severely lacking) performance. When I heard Pulcinella again on this CD, it sounded like a completely different piece. Chailly draws incredible excitement from the Royal Concertgebouw, and the technical aspects of the piece are absolutely unbelievable. The soloists, especially Jaap van Zweden, are exceptional, and the singers sing the part with as much light-hearted humor as suits this piece. This is my favorite CD in every aspect (interpretation, technique, character, energy, etc), and if you don't already own it, GET IT NOW!!!!