Stravinsky - Orchestral Works
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal; Sinfonietta de Montréal / Dutoit
Newton 8802013

Release date June 2010

Newton Classics was launched in June by Theo Lap, well-known in the international record industry from his time at labels such as EMI, Deutsche Grammophon and Warner Classics. I have always had a healthy respect for this irrepressible Dutchman; he is passionate about music, not just the record industry, and has a discerning ear for good quality. True to form, he declares that his new label 'has no bias to any particular area of repertoire, no dogma, no restricted vision', and goes on to promise well-packaged and sensitively-priced reissues of recordings that have proved successful in the past. The first two months' releases reflect that promise: discs include Katia and Marielle Labeque playing Gershwin, Gérard Souzay in a collection of French song, Bach choral works under Münchinger, Chopin piano concertos from Jorge Bolet and Seiji Ozawa conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Dvořák. Nestling amongst the July releases is this superb four-disc set of Stravinsky from Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Culled from Decca recordings made between 1984 and 1992 in the wonderful acoustic of Montreal's Église St-Eustache, these are true gems. The weakest performance on the set is The Rite of Spring - it is simply too refined and lacking in urgency to match the visceral nature of several recent recordings. But the ravishing beauty of Dutoit's atmospheric Firebird, the beautifully-judged Chant du Rossignol, and the quality of the wind-playing in the Symphonies of Wind Instruments alone would be reason enough to buy the set. Add in a fine Petrushka and several other works (including Danses Concertantes, Apollon Musagète and a most enjoyable 'Dumbarton Oaks') and this becomes an essential purchase. New liner notes by David Gutman complete the package.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister