Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
A certain amount of acoustic reverberation is welcome in orchestral recordings, if it has been controlled for a particular effect, but it is omnipresent in Andris Nelsons' 2009 recordings of Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird and the Symphony of Psalms. From the very beginning of the complete music for The Firebird, resonance dominates and creates an aural haze that is so thick that details only emerge as if from a dense fog, and the timbres of certain instruments are blurred into an echoic cloud that seems almost artificially engineered. Other recordings made in Birmingham Symphony Hall by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra certainly have a vibrant acoustic quality, but it is so strong here, it must be a product of microphone placement, mixing, or both. Be that as it may, The Firebird survives this soft-focus reproduction much better than Symphony of Psalms, because its impressionistic colors and intensely lush, chromatic harmonies are already somewhat dream-like and mysterious, whereas the dry sonorities and punchy rhythms of the symphony need a much crisper presentation than they get here. The blurred textures and harmonies that are tolerable in The Firebird become a distraction in the Symphony of Psalms, and the work's dissonant counterpoint and lean, staccato chords bleed into each other in an unsatisfactory way, despite the impressive wall of sound that's created in fortissimo sections and the glorious sound that Nelsons and the orchestra produce on cadences.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From €13,50/month
The Firebird
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
Symphony of Psalms
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer - Bible, Lyricist
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer - Bible, Lyricist
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus - City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - Andris Nelsons, Conductor - Igor Stravinsky, Composer - Bible, Lyricist
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
Album review
A certain amount of acoustic reverberation is welcome in orchestral recordings, if it has been controlled for a particular effect, but it is omnipresent in Andris Nelsons' 2009 recordings of Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird and the Symphony of Psalms. From the very beginning of the complete music for The Firebird, resonance dominates and creates an aural haze that is so thick that details only emerge as if from a dense fog, and the timbres of certain instruments are blurred into an echoic cloud that seems almost artificially engineered. Other recordings made in Birmingham Symphony Hall by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra certainly have a vibrant acoustic quality, but it is so strong here, it must be a product of microphone placement, mixing, or both. Be that as it may, The Firebird survives this soft-focus reproduction much better than Symphony of Psalms, because its impressionistic colors and intensely lush, chromatic harmonies are already somewhat dream-like and mysterious, whereas the dry sonorities and punchy rhythms of the symphony need a much crisper presentation than they get here. The blurred textures and harmonies that are tolerable in The Firebird become a distraction in the Symphony of Psalms, and the work's dissonant counterpoint and lean, staccato chords bleed into each other in an unsatisfactory way, despite the impressive wall of sound that's created in fortissimo sections and the glorious sound that Nelsons and the orchestra produce on cadences.
© TiVo
Details of original recording : Recorded July 21-22, 26-27, 2009, Symphony Hall, Birmingham
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 27 track(s)
- Total length: 01:08:20
- Main artists: City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus Andris Nelsons
- Composer: Igor Stravinsky
- Label: Orfeo
- Area: Russie
- Genre: Classical Symphonic Music
- Period: Modern Style
(C) 2015 Orfeo (P) 2015 Orfeo
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.