Leonard Bernstein’s 1959 New York Philharmonic Rite of Spring is one of the classic performances, eliciting an enthusiastic “Wow!” from Stravinsky himself. This later (1972) version has similar dynamism and energy, though the London Symphony doesn’t quite match the New York players’ raw ferocity. However, the main disqualifier for this release is the recorded sound–cavernous, dynamically limited, lacking in bass, and distorted at climaxes. It seriously undermines the impact of the music.
Happily, the coupled Firebird and Prokofiev Scythian suites are free of such sonic afflictions and are both compelling and (especially the Prokofiev) viscerally exciting performances. Bernstein made even later recordings of the Stravinsky works for DG with the Israel Philharmonic–again in substantially better sound than the LSO Rite. The DG release seems to be more readily available than the earlier Sony. But in any case, both alternatives are preferrable to the current offering.
