Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex, Les Noces / Wells, Craft
Naxos

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex, Les Noces / Wells, Craft

$19.99

Details

Composer
STRAVINSKY
Artist
Ma, Andrew, Hill, Edward, Greenan, Alan, Fox, Robert, Ewing, Joseph, Craft, Susan, Cornwell, Bickley
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Jan 18, 2005
Catalog #
8557499
UPC
747313249923

About


Robert Craft leads a thrilling performance of Oedipus Rex--incisive, swift, and as mercilessly inevitable as fate itself. From the opening bars, where those spine-chilling runs in the trumpet penetrate the orchestral tutti like screams of horror, you can tell that Craft has every detail of this work (his second recording) well in hand, and so for that matter does the Philharmonia. Anyone who believes that Craft is a dull conductor should listen to this urgent account--from the great choruses (first announcing Jocasta's entrance, with particularly clear timpani and piano ostinatos, and later her death), to the Verdian energy he brings to the Oedipus/Jocasta duet in Act 2. It would have been even better if Craft had followed Stravinsky's lead in his own early-1960s recording: repeat the "Gloria" chorus with the opening Act 2 narration in the middle. It's not a major point, and strictly speaking it's not what's in the score; but it's such marvelous music, and hearing it twice simply doubles the pleasure.


As for the singers, they do well--for the most part. After some initial unsteadiness Martyn Hill settles down to close Act 1 most affectingly, and his singing in Act 2 is very good. Jennifer Lane's Jocasta sounds younger than, say, Jessye Norman's, and her lighter touch gets around the notes better than many a bigger, heavier voice. As Creon, David Wilson-Johnson offers disappointingly approximate pitch in his big Act 1 aria, but he does much better in the slower-moving proclamations of the Messenger. The smaller roles come off without any problems, and the Simon Joly Male Chorus sings more confidently than it did in Craft's Symphony of Psalms. Speaker Edward Fox sounds like a bored Oxford don, but at least he admirably refrains from the annoying histrionics that some bring to the part (particularly in its French-language version). And Craft naturally makes sure that as Stravinsky wanted, Fox pronounces the protagonist's name "Eedipus" as opposed to the chorus' "Oydipus".


Craft's Les Noces--he would with good reason prefer the Russian title "Svadebka"--is simply spectacular. Not only does it feature both superb playing by the four pianos and percussion and marvelous singing by soprano Alison Wells and Martyn Hill, but it's clear that Craft has invested a great deal of care and attention in getting clear articulation of the Russian text. This is critical because, as Craft explains in his notes, the music flows naturally from the speech-rhythms of the words. So many performances of this marvelous piece sound like garbled chanting in an unrecognizable tongue. Craft ensures that for once we really hear the Russian, and just as significantly he balances his forces perfectly so that singers and instrumentalists play off each other with an astonishing degree of rhythmic tension. The resulting explosion of color and energy (you can hear this at any point, but the transition from the third to the fourth scene offers an excellent example) has few if any equals in other performances--including Craft's earlier one on Music Masters. Ideally clear and focused sound completes this very desirable package, given new life thanks to Naxos (these performances previously appeared, differently coupled, on Koch). [2/5/2005]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 10 tracks

  1. 1 Prologue 07:51
    Track
    1
    Title
    Prologue
    Duration
    07:51
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Edward Fox, Martyn Hill
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Male Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  2. 2 Introducing Creon 07:48
    Track
    2
    Title
    Introducing Creon
    Duration
    07:48
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Edward Fox, David Wilson-Johnson, Martyn Hill
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Male Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  3. 3 Introducing Tiresias 09:56
    Track
    3
    Title
    Introducing Tiresias
    Duration
    09:56
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Edward Fox, Andrew Greenan, Martyn Hill
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Male Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  4. 4 Introducing Jocasta 11:04
    Track
    4
    Title
    Introducing Jocasta
    Duration
    11:04
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Edward Fox, Jennifer Lane, Martyn Hill
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Male Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  5. 5 Introducing the Messenger 09:05
    Track
    5
    Title
    Introducing the Messenger
    Duration
    09:05
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Edward Fox, David Wilson-Johnson, Joseph Cornwell, Martyn Hill
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Male Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  6. 6 Epilogue 06:38
    Track
    6
    Title
    Epilogue
    Duration
    06:38
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Edward Fox, David Wilson-Johnson
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Male Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  7. 7 Scene 1: The Tresses (At the Bride's House) 05:11
    Track
    7
    Title
    Scene 1: The Tresses (At the Bride's House)
    Duration
    05:11
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Alison Wells, Susan Bickley, Martyn Hill, Alan Ewing
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Chorale, International Piano Quartet, Tristan Fry Percussion Ensemble
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  8. 8 Scene 2: At the Bridegroom's House 05:40
    Track
    8
    Title
    Scene 2: At the Bridegroom's House
    Duration
    05:40
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Alison Wells, Susan Bickley, Martyn Hill, Alan Ewing
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Chorale, International Piano Quartet, Tristan Fry Percussion Ensemble
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  9. 9 Scene 3: The Departure of the Bride 03:02
    Track
    9
    Title
    Scene 3: The Departure of the Bride
    Duration
    03:02
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Alison Wells, Susan Bickley, Martyn Hill, Alan Ewing
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Chorale, International Piano Quartet, Tristan Fry Percussion Ensemble
    Conductor
    Robert Craft
  10. 10 Scene 4: The Wedding Feast 10:16
    Track
    10
    Title
    Scene 4: The Wedding Feast
    Duration
    10:16
    Composer
    Igor Stravinsky
    Performer
    Alison Wells, Susan Bickley, Martyn Hill, Alan Ewing
    Ensemble
    Simon Joly Chorale, International Piano Quartet, Tristan Fry Percussion Ensemble
    Conductor
    Robert Craft