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Review by akiralx January 6, 2005 (11 of 14 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Very much a disc of two halves - the Rite of Spring is well played but sounds really too comfortable compared to other fine versions by Markevitch, Boulez, Karajan, Muti and Inbal - among others. The sound too lacks impact with a low transfer level. This work really needs more aggression to come into its own than we get here.
However the Nielsen Fifth (probably his best symphony) is much better, more abandoned and visceral, and the sound is more vivid with greater presence - and it seems to be 'cut' at a higher level than the Stravinsky. This is comparable with Blomstedt on Decca and is a solid recommendation.
Both recordings (made a month apart in early 2004) make discreet use of the rear channels although the Stravinsky seems more loaded towards the fronts, so the Nielsen is the finer recording sonically as well as interpretatively - it rates below the very best SACDs I have from a sound reproduction viewpoint, but is still good.
So forget the Rite, there are just too many better performances around, but the Nielsen is worth investigating, a pity it comes yoked to the Stravinsky.
The ratings I give reflect the imbalance here: the Nielsen is much the better of the two, and probably rates at least 4 stars for performance, and similar for sound.
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Review by Jonalogic August 25, 2010 (10 of 19 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
Following my recent strand on over-marking, these performances are going to get what they deserve, without any gloss.
I think the the other reviewers are being far too kind to these quite dismal performances. Jarvi is a very understated conductor, to put it mildly. This Rite is actually boring - quite possibly the worst I have ever heard on vinyl, CD or SACD over the past 50 years. With about 20 or so recordings of this piece in my collection, that's quite an achievement. Although the playing is safe and competent throughout, this reading is utterly without menace, violence, thrill or excitement. It makes Karajan's limp and justifiably harangued performance of the vinyl age (his first one) sound like a riot of excitement by comparison...
Stravinsky’s comments on that particular effort… "tempi di hoochie-coochie" and "duller than Disney's dying dinosaurs" seem tailor-made for Jarvi’s dull-as-ditchwater version 40 years on. Ouch, now THAT's what I call 'telling it like it is'. Nice one, Igor.
This one wouldn't cause a riot in a dustbin, which is where this disc was filed after one audition.
Rites on SACD are tricky. Janson's with the Concertgebouw shares the overall limpness and safe quality of the Jarvi, although it's better played by the RCO. Stravinsky's own version on CBS/Sony in wonderful, but poorly recorded. Great performance but poor sound also amply describes the fine Cleveland/Boulez version on CBS/Sony.
Actually, I find the RPO/Simonov version on Membran the only extant version on SACD graced by both a good performance as well as good (although blatantly multi-miked) sound. I have high hopes for the forthcoming Litton/Bergen version on BIS. I can guarantee that Litton will not underplay this piece.
The Nielsen 5 on this disc is a better reading, by far, than the Stravinsky. It's actually competent. But compare with Horenstein, Schmidt or Blomstedt shows what's missing here. It sounds too generic, and utterly lacks the required icy Nordic passion. So, zero stars for the Rite performance and 3 for the Nielsen- giving 1.5 stars overall.
The sound? I am not a great fan of Telarc sound, it's well known (excepting some of their fine earlier Soundstream recordings). However, they give the Rite generally accurate sound with truly staggering dynamic range and fine-sounding low percussion. In common with many of their later recordings, however, it's very distant and softened in the process i.e it's not transparent enough for fully illuminated back-stage.
The Nielsen has noticeably better sound quality - somewhat closer in perspective and tonally far more even and transparent. So the sound gets 5 stars for the Nielsen and 4.5 for the Rite. But this can't compensate for the wholly deficient performances. of course.
I would, perhaps, be kinder to Jarvi if he hadn't done this before. I regard him as a serial killer of fine 20th century music. I present as evidence his dreadful Bartok Concerto for Orchestra (albeit shared with a far better Lutoslawski) on Telarc, plus his flaccid Britten Young Persons' Guide. All of these all-time lows in performance. I rest my case, m'lud.
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Review by madisonears September 26, 2007 (9 of 11 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
I have to agree that the Rite lacks some of the primal intensity that other conductors have brought forth in the past, but the orchestra plays flawlessly. If one can speak of this piece having a more lyrical aspect, then Jarvi finds it, as he usually seems to do. Within the frame of Jarvi's interpretation, this is a perfectly executed performance. It is still very exciting, not at all "lame" or "virginal". The recording helps to bring out the most beautiful sonorities of the orchestra's excellent playing. This disc features truly gorgeous sonics, not at all lacking impact. If you prefer the orchestra in your lap so you must bob and weave to avoid being struck by violinists' bows, then, no, you won't be happy. If you relish the sound of an orchestra in a hall with real acoustic space (even in stereo) and three dimensionality, you will love the sound of this recording. Every detail of the score is audible, each instrument is delineated with perfect tonality and lots of space around it, yet with very much of a wholeness to the orchestral image, and there is plenty of impact when played back at the appropriate level. I think that people really aren't ready for the full dynamic range that is now available on SACD. Many are accustomed to more compressed sound, even on digital recordings, and when they finally have a really dynamic recording in front of them, either they or their system doesn't quite know what to make of it. This recording, played back at realistic levels, will pulsate the walls of your house but never sound congested or noisy in any way.
The Nielsen is also very exciting, although it's a new piece to me and I haven't quite assimilated it completely. Sure sounds good.
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