Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Petrushka / Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)
Whatever the limitations of Stravinsky's baton technique, no one else on disc conjures the same bustling excitement at the outset ofPetrouchka. Overlapping, polyrhythmic textures inPetrouchkaand inLe Sacre du Printempscome off with Mozartian lucidity, Mendelssonian lightness, and, well, Stravinsky-esque rhythmic exactitude (notwithstanding a few hesitant entrances). The clarity partly stems from the composer's use of his leaner revised scores, helped by close-up, analytical mike work by CBS. There are, of course, slicker, more sonically opulent versions of these 20th century landmarks. And then there are Stravinsky's.--Jed Distler