Recordings of Igor Stravinsky's great ballets in their original orchestral versions are numerous, and piano transcriptions are increasingly found on disc, though these different presentations are usually released under separate covers and seldom side by side in a box set. Because Dennis Russell Davies is equally gifted as a conductor and a pianist, and has mastered the technical and interpretive difficulties of L'Oiseau de feu, Pétrouchka, and Le Sacre du printemps, he makes the orchestral and keyboard performances cohere ...
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Recordings of Igor Stravinsky's great ballets in their original orchestral versions are numerous, and piano transcriptions are increasingly found on disc, though these different presentations are usually released under separate covers and seldom side by side in a box set. Because Dennis Russell Davies is equally gifted as a conductor and a pianist, and has mastered the technical and interpretive difficulties of L'Oiseau de feu, Pétrouchka, and Le Sacre du printemps, he makes the orchestral and keyboard performances cohere and complement each other in this remarkable four-CD box set. Performing the orchestral scores with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, and the piano reductions with his wife and musical partner, Maki Namekawa, Davies supplies the clarity and rigor demanded by these challenging works, while exploiting all the coloristic possibilities. The orchestral recordings are vibrant and lush, while the piano interpretations are notable for incisive attacks, nuanced phrasing, and clean textures, which...
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