Stravinsky - Apollo, The Rite Of Spring (City Of Birmingham Symphony Orch/Rattle, 1989)

Picked up this cracking little 80s recording recently for a couple of reasons: I like Rattle's Stravinsky in general, and also here was a work of Igor's that I hadn't heard before.  Apollo, or Apollon Musagète in its full original title, is a two-tableaux ballet dating to the late 1920s and centred around the Muses of Greek mythology.  The recording here by the Birmingham Symphony under Rattle is Stravinsky's 1947 revision of Apollo.  In contrast to the strident, outrageous in its time Rite, Apollo is gentle, lyrical and almost Romantically lush, making it a great fit for Rattle, with a great sounding orchestra.  The Rite Of Spring that accompanies Apollo on this disc is also the 1947 version, and doesn't go for over-the-top fireworks but brings out lots of nice subtleties.  A really enjoyable collection overall.

link

pw: sgtg

Igor Stravinsky at SGTG:

Agon (plus bonus post: Firebird, Petroushka & Rite, Rattle 2017)

Aldous Huxley In Memoriam/Pribaoutki (live 2022)

Olivier Messiaen - Turangalîla Symphonie / Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps (1987)

This classic double-disc release from the 80s came up in the comments last time I posted Messiaen, so about time I got around to posting it.  The pairing of Turangalîla with Quartet For The End Of Time brings together two of Messiaen's most celebrated masterpieces, and this set is also essential because it sounds so great, with world-class musicians all round.

Simon Rattle's take on Turangalîla is one of typically lush attention to detail, and makes for interesting side-by-side comparison with my personal favourite rendering under Antoni Wit (see links below), where everything is a bit more in-your-face.  The ondes Martenot does blend better with the orchestra in the Rattle version, I reckon - it's played here by Tristan Murail.

After such mind-meltingly colourful music comes the stark contrast of Quatour Pour La Fin Du Temps.  Famously written and premiered in a prisoner of war camp, the four players effortlessly evoke Messiaen's sombre but spiritually hopeful apocalypse.  The cello (Siegfried Palm) and piano (Aloys Kontarsky) duet sounds particularly affecting.  More Messiaen/Rattle next week.

Disc 1 link
Disc 2 link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Quatre Études De Rythme
Des Canyons Aux Étoiles
Turangalîla Symphony / L'ascension (Naxos recording cond. by Wit)
Et Exspecto Ressurrectionem (Philips recording cond. by Haitink)
Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum (Erato recording cond. by Boulez), etc