Does any other composer of the 20th century offer such varied riches? If The Firebird, glowing with the iridescence of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, brought him his international breakthrough in 1910, The Rite of Spring sealed his fame and set him on the long path towards the terse archaism of Agon in 1957. Chameleon-like and with tireless creativity, Stravinsky kept pace with the aesthetic evolutions, convolutions and dislocations of his times. In his evocation of the Russia of history and prehistory, in the insolently virtuosic elegance of his pastiches, in his adaptations of Classical myths, in his rediscovery of his faith, and in his late conversion to serialism, he transformed every challenge into an opportunity.
The release of this edition marks 50 years since the death of Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), the most influential composer of the 20th century.
After he died in New York on 6th April 1971, the New York Times wrote:
“When the history of 20th‐century music comes to be written, Igor Stravinsky will occupy the most prominent position in the period from about 1910 to the beginning of World War II. More than any other composer, he put his mark on an entire generation. He was a shaper, a seminal force, a creator who was the symbol of the musical avant‐garde not only in the public eye but also … in the estimation of his fellow musicians.”
Igor Stravinsky Edition: An authoritative and representative survey of Stravinsky’s music in superlative interpretations by an array of outstanding musicians, including some of today’s leading Erato / Warner Classics artists and Stravinsky himself as historical bonuses
23CDs
The recordings span nearly a century of history, from 2019 back as far as 1928.
The edition comprises all major works and less frequently heard smaller works. Certain works appear in both their original orchestral versions and in transcriptions, by Stravinsky himself and by other musicians e.g. for solo piano, piano duo, piano and violin, accordion duo.
3CDs are devoted to historical recordings, dating from the late 1920s and 1930s, with Stravinsky appearing as conductor and as pianist.
The performers in the set include:
Conductors
Ernest Ansermet, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Mariss Jansons,
Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Riccardo Muti,
Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Franz Welser-Möst
Pianists
Martha Argerich, Michel Béroff, Nelson Freire, Marcelle Meyer, Beatrice Rana, Fazil Say,
Lars Vogt
Instrumentalists
Alban Berg Quartet, Gidon Kremer, Sabine Meyer, Truls Mørk, Itzhak Perlman,
Maxim Vengerov
Singers
Grace Bumbry, Natalie Dessay, Jerry Hadley, Marjana Lipovšek, Samuel Ramey,
Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, John Tomlinson, Dawn Upshaw
Artists
Ensemble Intercontemporain (chamber ensemble), Grand Chœur de l’Université de Lausanne, Chœur de Radio-France, Jacques Jouineau, Yehudi Menuhin (violin), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Geoffrey Parsons (piano), François Le Roux (baritone), Natalie Dessay (soprano), Marie McLaughlin (soprano), Violeta Urmana (soprano), Opéra national de Paris (opera company), Ensemble instrumental, Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Marjana Lipovsek (contralto), John Tomlinson (bass), Robert Lloyd (bass), Dawn Upshaw (soprano), Jerry Hadley (tenor), Samuel Ramey (bass), Opéra National de Lyon (opera company), Ian Bostridge (tenor), Adam Walker (flute), Michael Collins (clarinet), Lawrence Power (viola), Michel Béroff (piano), Maxim Vengerov (violin), Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Gidon Kremer (violin), Alban Berg Quartett (string quartet), Sabine Meyer (clarinet), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Bruno Canino (piano), Tabea Zimmermann (viola), Beatrice Rana (piano), James Crabb (accordion), Geir Draugsvoll (accordion), Truls Mørk (cello), Lars Vogt (piano), Fazil Say (piano), Marcelle Meyer (piano)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Choir of King's College Cambridge, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Bath Festival Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Eliahu Inbal, Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons, Pierre Boulez, Sir Neville Marriner, Charles Dutoit, André Vandernoot, Sir Simon Rattle, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Stephen Cleobury, James Conlon, Dmitri Kitayenko, Zubin Mehta, Sir Charles Mackerras, Hiroyuki Iwaki, John Nelson, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Igor Stravinsky
