Pierre Boulez always has done well by The Song of the Nightingale. Having recorded the complete opera too, he knows the music as well as anyone, and he paces the piece beautifully here (as on his first recording with the New York Philharmonic). It could be argued that he underplays the colorful first few minutes, but he’s one of the few conductors who manages to keep the thing sounding interesting right up to the final bars. He’s helped by absolutely brilliant playing from the Cleveland Orchestra, and particularly the principal winds (trumpet especially). These same players deliver an almost insolently virtuosic traversal of the suite from A Soldier’s Tale, though here the playing comes across as perhaps too smooth: the three little dances (tango, valse, ragtime) would have benefited from a stronger rhythmic profile, though this gentle approach keeps the opening and closing marches from getting overwhelmed (as sometimes happens) by an excess of enthusiasm from the percussionist. It’s good to have a new recording of King of the Stars, a rarely heard five-minute cantata for male voices and orchestra dating from the same time as The Rite of Spring, but it does sound a bit strange in these surroundings. As might be expected, Boulez & Co. toss off the Scherzo fantastique with accomplished ease. Recorded in 1994 and 1996 in consistently clear, natural sound, this is a strangely random Stravinsky assortment, but if it’s what you want, you won’t be disappointed. [9/13/2001]
