Featured Musician: A Maazel Celebration

The discs under consideration here.

Jeremy Lee writes

Haitink + Berlin + Stravinsky = Humor, Brilliance, Savagery

Jeremy Lee writes

This 2CD package from Tower Records Vintage Collection contains some of the greatest performances of Stravinsky’s ballets ever recorded.  This should be interesting because back in 1973 Haitink recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra these very pieces, which were

Muti’s Petrushka and Rite: Voluptuous, Virile, Vigorous

Jeremy Lee writes

It’s interesting how many boring, all-too-civilized Rite of Springs there are out there, from the dour dutifulness of Haitink/LPO to the over-polished Boulez/DG, a “Rite for a Fashion Victim” as Gramophone would have put it.  Therefore it’s most refreshing to hear a recording that allows

Top Ear First Anniversary Special: The Surprise Reviews (Part II): Criminal Mastermind, Brain Surgeon, Avant-garde warrior Pierre Boulez offers dainty delights

Leonard Ip writes

Among Pierre Boulez’s voluminous DG recordings of 20th century works, this Berg and Stravinsky album stands out to the connoisseur as a neglected gem. In collaboration with the ever so versatile Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman (who plays the violin here), clarinetist Michel Arrignon and his own

Stravinsky’s Piano Works: Weird and Wonderful

Jeremy Lee writes

Normally, if you come across an album of Stravinsky’s piano music, you’d probably only care for the infamously difficult Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka and not listen to the rest–it’s probably fair to say it’s the only famous piano work by Stravinsky. For me as a newbie, however, randomly borrowing albums from the