Putting together a series dedicated to works commissioned or staged by Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes is a great idea, promising both popular favorites as well as unknown treats. It’s a bit of a pity that this release is dedicated entirely to the former, and in the event it’s only two-thirds successful. La Péri starts with a rousing account of its preludial fanfare and continues with plenty of color and atmosphere. The same holds true of Jeux, perhaps not as gorgeously played as, say, Haitink’s (Philips), but with more than sufficient mystery and an apt touch of menace. Sylvain Cambreling also deserves credit for holding together a work famously bereft of readily discernible form, other than an ending that returns more or less to the motives of the beginning.
The big letdown here is The Rite, a performance with one of the heaviest, slowest, dullest interpretations of Part One ever committed to disc. What on earth was Cambreling thinking? You can find just as much clarity from the likes of Craft (Naxos) or Boulez (Sony), but with plenty of excitement too. Things are more normal in Part Two, and the concluding Sacrificial Dance works up a respectable head of steam, but I sincerely doubt that you’ll want to wait that long. Since neither the Dukas nor the Debussy lacks for excellent performances on disc (try Boulez on Sony in the former as well), it’s difficult to imagine who would want this disc given a non-competitive rendition of the Stravinsky, unless of course the concept is more important than the musical results. I have high hopes that later releases will fulfill this series’ tantalizing promise.
