Ansermet/OSR: Stravinsky Petrouchka - French Decca LXT 5425

Jacket VG / LP NM- This beautiful LP from French Decca (LXT 5425, French pressing, orange/silver label, mono, original inner sleeve included) features Ernest Ansermet's brilliantly characterized realization of Stravinsky's Petrouchka (vers. 1947), recorded in the glowing acoustics of Geneva's Victoria Hall in 1957 with l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande on pungent and glittering form. Ansermet knew Stravinsky well and had conducted these scores almost since their inception. He brought a lifetime's wisdom and experience to this score and the results are electrifying, marked by a tremendous sense of occasion and inner frisson.  So many endless apologies are made for the supposed short-comings of the Suisse Romande Orchestra that a critical bias has nearly rendered their every Decca recording an also-ran.  These ‘faults’ have been greatly exaggerated, and how well they play against the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is less important than how well they play Stravinsky.  And they play this music