The Rite of Spring discography

Bassoon solo in the opening measures of the Introduction, "A Kiss of the Earth", The Rite of Spring ( Play ).

This is a sound and video discography of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring. The work was premiered in Paris on May 29, 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It was presented by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky and was conducted by Pierre Monteux. The list includes many of the most noted recordings of the work but is by no means exhaustive. The avant-garde character of the music, combined with Nijinsky's innovative choreography, caused a near riot at the first performance. It has since gained wide acceptance both as a ballet and as a concert piece.^[1]

The discography is not exhaustive; new recordings frequently appear, as do reissues of older recordings. In the tables, the year given is not necessarily an accurate guide to the time of the actual performance, since sometimes recordings are held for many years before release.

On the 22 March 2008 broadcast of BBC 3'S CD Review - Building a Library, music critic Rob Cowan surveyed recordings of The Rite of Spring and recommended the 2004 recording by the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Peter Eotvos (conductor), as the best available choice.^[2]

In 2014 the avant garde jazz trio The Bad Plus recorded The Rite of Spring on the Sony Masterwork label.^[3]

Discography

Audio recordings: (orchestral)

Year of recording/issue	Orchestra	Conductor	Label and format	Notes	References
1929	Orchestre Symphonique de Paris	Pierre Monteux	HMV 78rpm (4 discs); Pearl CD (release date not indicated)	First recording	[4]
1929	Walther Straram Concerts Orchestra	Igor Stravinsky	Columbia 78rpm (5 discs); Pearl CD (release date not indicated)	Recorded 4 months after Monteux's version	[4]
1930	Philadelphia Orchestra	Leopold Stokowski	Victor 78rpm (4 discs); Sony CD (2013)	First US recording	[4]
1940	New York Philharmonic	Igor Stravinsky	Columbia/CBS 78rpm (4 discs). Sony CD (2013)		[4][5]
1946	Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra	Eduard van Beinum	Philips 78rpm; Philips/Epic LP
1951	Boston Symphony Orchestra	Pierre Monteux	RCA mono LP; Sony CD (2013)		[6]
1951	Philharmonia Orchestra	Igor Markevich	HMV mono LP; Testament CD (2004)	First British recording	[7][8]
1954	Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra	Antal Dorati	Mercury Records LP; The Dorati Edition CD (2012)		[9][10]
1955	Philadelphia Orchestra	Eugene Ormandy	Columbia/CBS LP; Sony CD (2013)	Uses 1943 version of Danse sacrale	[11]
1957	Paris Conservatoire Orchestra	Pierre Monteux	RCA Victor
1958	New York Philharmonic	Leonard Bernstein	Columbia/CBS LP. Sony CD and LP (2013)
1958	L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande	Ernest Ansermet	Decca mono/stereo LP: Decca CD (1999)		[7][12]
1960	London Symphony Orchestra	Eugene Goossens	Everest mono/stereo LP; Everest CD (2008)		[7][13]
1960	Columbia Symphony Orchestra	Igor Stravinsky	Columbia/CBS mono/stereo LP: Sony CD (2013)	Uses 1943 version of Danse sacrale	[7][8]
1960	Royal Philharmonic Orchestra	René Leibowitz	Reader's Digest stereo LP. Chesky Records CD (1993)	Recorded as "London Festival Orchestra"	[14]
1962	USSR State Symphony Orchestra	Robert Craft	Akkord stereo LP		[7]
1963	Czech Philharmonic Orchestra	Karel Ančerl	Supraphon stereo LP; Supraphon CD (2002)		[15]
1963	Orchestre National de l'O.R.T.F.	Pierre Boulez	Concert Hall stereo LP		[7]
1964	Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra	Herbert von Karajan	Deutsche Grammophon mono/stereo LP. DG CD (2007)		[6][7]
1966	USSR Symphony Orchestra	Yevgeny Svetlanov	Melodiya LP		[6]
1967	Philharmonia Orchestra	Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos	EMI stereo LP.		[16]
1968	Chicago Symphony Orchestra	Seiji Ozawa	RCA stereo LP. Sony CD (2013)		[17]
1969	Cleveland Orchestra	Pierre Boulez	Columbia/CBS stereo LP. Sony CD (2005)		[7][8]
1970	Los Angeles Philharmonic	Zubin Mehta	Decca stereo LP		[7]
1971	New England Consevatory Symphony Orchestra	Gunther Schuller	NEC stereo LP		[7]
1972	London Symphony Orchestra	Leonard Bernstein	Columbia/CBS LP. Sony CD (2013)	(Bernstein Century Collection)	[12]
1973	London Philharmonic Orchestra	Bernard Haitink	Philips LP		[18]
1975	London Symphony Orchestra	Claudio Abbado	Deutsche Grammophon stereo LP.
1975	Berlin Philharmonic Ochestra	Herbert von Karajan	Deutsche Grammophon stereo LP. DG CD (2000)		[7][8]
1976	Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra	Colin Davis	Philips stereo LP. Philips CD (2003)		[19][20]
1976	Chicago Symphony Orchestra	Sir Georg Solti	Decca
1978	New York Philharmonic	Zubin Mehta	CBS Masterworks stereo LP, quadrophonic LP, 4-Track Reel-to-reel		[21]
1979	Philadelphia Orchestra	Riccardo Muti	EMI/Angel stereo LP. EMI CD (2002)		[22]
1980	Cleveland Orchestra	Lorin Maazel	Telarc stereo LP: Telarc CD (2005)		[23]
1981	Detroit Symphony	Antal Dorati	Decca/London stereo LP; CD	Winner, Grand Prix du Disque; First digital recording of the work	[24]
1982	Israel Philharmonic Orchestra	Leonard Bernstein	Deutsche Grammophon stereo LP; DG Virtuoso CD (2012)		[25]
1984	Montreal Symphony Orchestra	Charles Dutoit	Decca CD		[26][27]
1987	City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra	Simon Rattle	EMI CD		[13][26]
1988	London Philharmonic Orchestra	Charles Mackerras	EMI CD		[23]
1988	National Youth Orchestra	Simon Rattle	Academy Sound and Vision CD		[23]
1990	Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Rex Lawson (pianola)	Benjamin Zander	Innovative Music Productions CD	Piano roll version from 1921	[26]
1990	BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels	Alexander Rahbari	Naxos CD		[28]
1990	London Symphony Orchestra	Kent Nagano	Virgin CD		[8][26]
1991	Atlanta Symphony Orchestra	Yoel Levi	Telarc CD		[28]
1991	Cleveland Orchestra	Pierre Boulez	Deutsche Grammophon CD		[25]
1995	London Symphony Orchestra	Robert Craft	Naxos CD	1913 version	[23][26]
1996	San Francisco Symphony	Michael Tilson Thomas	RCA/BMG CD		[29]
1999	Kirov Opera orchestra	Valery Gergiev	Philips CD		[12]
2004	Junge Deutsche Philharmonie	Péter Eötvös	BMC Records CD		[25]
2006	Los Angeles Philharmonic	Esa-Pekka Salonen	Deutsche Grammophon CD		[23]
2008	Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra	Mariss Jansons	RCO Live CD		[6]
2010	Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela	Gustavo Dudamel	Deutsche Grammophon CD		[5]
2010	Budapest Festival Orchestra	Iván Fischer	Channel Classics CD		[5]
2013	Philadelphia Orchestra	Yannick Nézet-Séguin	Deutsche Grammophon CD, 96 kHz/24bit FLAC		[30]
2013	Berliner Philharmoniker	Simon Rattle	EMI Classics / Warner Classics CD, 44 kHz/24bit FLAC	Recorded in concert	[31][32]

Audio recordings: (derivative)

Year of recording/issue	Orchestra	Conductor	Label and format	Notes	References
2009	Various	Various	Macro Recordings CD	Digital edit by Stefan Goldmann combining 14 different recorded orchestral versions in 144 edited segments.	[33]

Audio recordings: piano versions

Year of recording/issue	Performers	Label and format	Notes	References
1969	Eden and Tamir (Bracha Edan Alexander Tamir)[34]	Decca LP	4-hand piano version	[35]
uncertain	Mayumi Kameda Jean Jacques Balet	Cypres CD	4-hand piano version	[35]
1977	Ronald Farren-Price Rosslyn Farren-Price	Move Records LP	4-hand piano version	[36]
uncertain	Nikolai Petrov Alexander Ghinden	Melodiya CD	4-hand piano version	[35]
1979	Dickran Atamian	Delos CD	2 hands version arr. Sam Raphling	[35]
1981	Michael Tilson Thomas Ralph Grierson	EMI/Seraphim LP EMI CD (2002)	4-hand piano version	[35]
1987	Dag Achatz	BIS CD	piano 2 hands, arr. Dag Achatz	[12]
after 1994	Tamriko Siprashvili Mark Anderson	Nimbus CD	4-hand piano version	[35]
1995	Benjamin Frith Peter Hill	Naxos CD	4-hand piano version	[28]
2007	Philip Moore Simon Crawford-Phillips	Deux-Elles CD	4-hand piano version	[23]
2007	Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo	Wergo CD	4-hand piano version	[6]
2008	GrauSchumacher Piano Duo	Neos CD	4-hand piano version	[6]
2009	David Nettle Richard Martin	Netmark CD	4-hand piano version	[29]
2010	Fiona York John York	Nimbus CD	4-hand piano version	[29]
2010	Malcolm Wilson Philip Martin	Somm CD	4-hand piano version	[29]
2012	Eva-Maria Zimmermann Keisuke Nakagoshi	Dorian Sono Luminus CD	4-hand piano version	[25]

Video recordings

Year of recording/issue	Orchestra/Ballet company	Conductor	Label and format	Notes	References
1966	London Symphony Orchestra	Leonard Bernstein	ICA DVD released 2012	Video recording of BBC concert 27 November 1966	[5]
1990	Moscow Classical Ballet and Orchestra	Pavel Sorokin	VAI DVD released 2010	Choreography by Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev	[29]
1993	London Symphony Orchestra	Pierre Boulez	Image Entertainment DVD	Recorded at the Alte Oper Frankfurt
1993	Berliner Philharmoniker	Bernard Haitink	Arthaus Musik DVD released 2010	Recording of Royal Albert Hall Concert 1993	[29]
2006	San Francisco Symphony Orchestra	Michael Tilson Thomas	Avie DVD		[23]
2008	BBC Symphony Orchestra	Pierre Boulez	Medici Arts DVD	Video recording of BBC concert (date uncertain)	[8]
2009	Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Leipzig Ballet	Henrik Schaefer	Medici Arts DVD	Choreography and design by Uwe Scholz	[29]
2009	Mariinsky Orchestra & Ballet	Valery Gergiev	Bel Air Classiques DVD and Blu-ray	Reconstruction of original Nijinsky choreography	[13]

Notes and references

Citations

1. Hill, pp. 29–31
2. Cowan, Rob. "Building a Library: Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring". CD Review - Building a Library. BBC Radio 3. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
3. http://www.npr.org/2014/03/16/286816490/first-listen-the-bad-plus-the-rite-of-spring
4. Hill, p. 162
5. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 1)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
6. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 6)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
7. Hill, p. 163
8. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 3)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
9. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring". The Gramophone. March 1955. p. 40.
10. "Stravinsky: Petrouchka (Complete) / Le Sacre Du Printemps (Rite of Spring) / Four Etudes For Orchestra". Amazon. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
11. http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Sony/88765454312 Presto Classical, The Rite of Spring, Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra
12. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 8)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
13. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 2)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
14. "Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka; Le Sacre du Printemps". Amazon. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
15. "Ancerl Gold Edition 5 - Stravinsky: Petrushka, Rite Of Spring". ArkivMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
16. "Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring, Etc / Burgos".
17. "Stravinsky: Rite Of Spring, Etc / Ozawa". ArkivMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
18. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 12)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
19. "Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Ballet". The Gramophone. March 1978. p. 61.
20. "Stravinsky: The Firebird / Petrouchka (1947 version) / Rite of Spring / Orpheus". Amazon. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
21. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring".
22. "Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibiton; Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring". Amazon. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
23. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 7)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
24. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 13)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
25. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 4)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
26. Hill, p. 164
27. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 11)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
28. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 9)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
29. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 5)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
30. "AllMusic Review by Blair Sanderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
31. "Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps". HDtracks. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
32. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring". Amazon. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
33. "Stefan Goldmann: Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps Edit". Retrieved 15 November 2013.
34. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0006_0_05553.html
35. "Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (page 10)". Presto Classical. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
36. http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/5894491?selectedversion=NBD6762283

Book source

• Hill, Peter (2004). Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62714-1.