Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale, Divertimento, Octet, Suites 1 & 2 -London Sinfonietta, Chailly

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)

Divertimento- "Le Baiser de la fèe"

Suite No.1

Suite No.2

Octet

 The Soldier's Tale (Suite)

London Sinfonietta

RICCARDO CHAILLY

Since Stravinsky once described Webern as "sphinx-like", it will not be unreasonable if posterity judges Stravinsky as being "chameleonlike", inasmuch as one could never tell which compositional style he would be wearing from day to day. Certainly, after the opulence of the three great Russian ballets written just before the First World War, few could have predicted that in the decade following he would concentrate his attention on the sparer, clearer resources of the chamber orchestra. Yet whichever clothes he was wearing, the distinctive voice of the composer was always the same. This attractive disc from the London Sinfonietta under Riccardo Chailly is a must; not for continuous listening—there are two many short movements for that—but for dipping into. The textures are clear and bright, the sound well focused and, in the suite from The Soldier's Tale, there is some fine solo playing from Nona Liddell (violin) and James Watson (trumpet) in particular. -- PETER MARCHBANK