'Music is the only domain in which man realizes the present', says a 'very profound' by Igor Stravinsky from his autobiography. You could place this artistic credo as a motto above the audio monument that entranced the music world in 1991: the release of Stravinsky's discographic legacy in a large cassette with 12 collection boxes (22 CDs in total), mostly recorded in the 1960s. . Although in the
… past there was always a bit of giggles about Stravinsky's conducts, the box contained performances that have never actually been surpassed: listen to the 'real savagery' and 'astonishing electricity' (Penguin Guide to CD) of Le Sacre du Printemps, after the aristocratic grandeur from Apollo, the beautiful lyricism and swinging rhythms of The Rake's Progress, or to the serial Apocalypse of Requiem Canticles (conducted by Stravinsky's assistant Robert Craft, under the supervision of the master himself). In 2007, Sony re-released the set in a smaller package and at an attractive price. (HJ)more
