Stravinsky: Symphonie en 3 mouvements & Jeu de cartes

Conductor James Conlon is famous for having committed during his entire career into exploring off-the-beaten-tracks works by underrated modern composers (Schreker, Zemlinsky, Martinů…). Years before recording a noted performance of The Nightingale with Natalie Dessay, Conlon had already highlighted rare Stravinsky works in this 1987 recording with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. The ballet Jeu de cartes and the somber Symphony in 3 Movements (his “war symphony” as the composer described it), whose discography is pretty thin, are beautiful testaments of Stravinsky’s neo-classical period.