Esa-Pekka Salonen, London Sinfonietta - Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Octet, Renard & Ragtime (1991)

Taken as a sampler of the witty aspect of Stravinsky this CD is quite good. Esa-Pekka Salonen has been a champion of Stravinsky's entire output for years now and even in this recording dating back to 1990 his affinity for Stravinsky's idiom is secure. The 'Ragtime' is especially droll and the "Renard the Fox" (called a burlesque tale in song and dance) is taken seriously enough for the comedy to come forth. The 'Octet' for wind instruments is given an excellent reading.

It is the 'Pulcinella' (after Pergolesi and others) is here performed in the 1965 Revised Edition with soprano, tenor and bass with singers who are fine (Yvonne Kenny, John Aler, John Tomlinson), and while the performance is classy, and important to have in the library, the old reliable 1949 Revised Version for instruments alone (cutting out 17 minutes of some of the less interesting passages devoted to voices) remains more satisfying. Again, hearing what fifteen years of growing into scores has done for Salonen's conducting is illuminating. As heard in the recent performance with the LA Phil this music is more humorous, witty, and graceful: part of that may also be the superior forces performing in the LA Phil as opposed to the recording of the London Sinfonietta.

Overall, this is a fine recording to flesh out the twentieth century portion of the music library