ESA-PEKKA SALONEN CONDUCTS STRAVINSKY (7 CDs)

Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is particularly renowned for his interpretations of 20th-century music – not surprising as Salonen is himself a brilliant composer – and one of his specialities is Stravinsky. A new 7-CD set brings together his Sony Classical Stravinsky recordings with orchestras in London and Stockholm, including all the well-known ballets – The Firebird is CLASSIC fm’s top recommendation (“intoxication and visceral excitement”), while MusicWeb International raved about The Rite of Spring (“I have never heard hysteria like that thrown off with such velocity in the howling violins of the final Sacrificial Dance”). Besides ballets, the box contains less popular masterpieces such as the Cantata, Renard, the works for piano orchestra and the towering opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (“a brilliant subtle recording … allows the glowing mezzo of Anne Sofie von Otter to soar” – New York Times).

Stravinsky:
Petrushka
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Firebird
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Rite of Spring
Philharmonia Orchestra
Pulcinella
London Sinfonietta
Orpheus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Jeu de cartes
Philharmonia Orchestra
Ragtime, for eleven instruments
London Sinfonietta
Octet for Wind Instruments
London Sinfonietta
Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra
Paul Crossley (piano)
London Sinfonietta
Symphonies of Wind Instruments
London Sinfonietta
Concerto for Piano & Wind Instruments
Paul Crossley (piano)
London Sinfonietta
Movements for Piano & Orchestra
Paul Crossley (piano)
London Sinfonietta
Violin Concerto in D
Cho-Liang Lin (violin)
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Apollon musagète
Stockholm Chamber Orchestra
Cantata
Yvonne Kenny (soprano), John Aler (tenor)
London Sinfonietta, London Sinfonietta Chorus
Oedipus Rex
Anne Sofie von Otter (Jocasta), Vinson Cole (Oedipus), Nicolai Gedda (Shepherd), Hans Sotin (Tiresias), Simon Estes (Messenger), Patrice Chéreau (narrator)
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Chorus, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir