It was bound to happen: the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has finally gotten around to recording Stravinsky’s “Orpheus”. At 50 minutes, this disc offers somewhat short measure, but it’s still a heck of a lot cheaper than schlepping out to a concert, and the performances are very, very fine. This conductorless chamber orchestra has every musical strand of Stravinsky’s mythological ballet literally quivering with energy. The transparent textures and razor sharp rhythms are critical in a score that is, for the most part, very subdued–but how fresh and beautiful this music is! The “Danses concertantes” receives a performance of similarly sharp focus, though it may take a couple of listenings to fully appreciate the work’s brittle wit. Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic offer a beefier, more emphatic view of the “Danses”, but Orpheus’ inevitably smaller scaled approach works equally well in what is, after all, a very modestly scored work.
