Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps
Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story"

Over the years I've heard many, many good recordings of Igor Stravinsky's masterwork Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), which all captured the music's heathen, ritualistic savagery, but none in such glorious orchestral detail and clarity as in this 'live' recording with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrea Battistoni. Usually, during the louder and fiercer passages all you get is an impenetrable wall of sound but in this case, this wall has open windows from which you can hear the bite of the strings, the power of the horns, and the many layers of the percussion instruments. All conveyed with Battistoni's sense of primitive ferocity and grasp of pinpoint rhythmic precision.

Years ago the audio engineers at Denon developed a process called "one-point recording" in order to convey the natural depth gradation of the instruments in stereo reproduction. It serves this performance very well as you can feel the width, depth and scope of the orchestra, and clearly discern even the finest details.

And the same can be said about Battistoni's take on Bernstein's West Side Story. The brash, New-Yorkish jazzy swagger that permeates the work is top of mind here. The Mambo and Cool Fugue are staggering standouts in this performance. This Japanese orchestra can really swing.