Igor Stravinsky, drawn by Picasso on New Year’s Eve, 1920

The great Russian composer Igor Stravinsky felt that if one was going to become a great composer, one also had to be a great conductor. Stravinsky recorded many of his works more than once, improving as a conductor over time.

Unlike most of the greats of classical music, with Stravinsky, whose career spanned much of the 20th century, we have audio and visual documentation of him actually conducting and playing his own music. The various Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky albums released by Columbia Records are an essential part of any decent music collection.
 

 
This performance was taped in Spring of 1959 when Stravinsky was visiting Japan. The maestro is seen here conducting “The Firebird” (the 1945 “Symphonic Suite” version, not the 1910 ballet) with the NHK Orchestra:
 

Stravinsky playing Stravinsky, this is his “Piano Sonata” (Sonata: I. Moderato; Sonata: II. Adagietto; Sonata: III. Allegro moderato) written in 1924.
 

Stravinsky conducts “Petroushka” with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in this superb 1928 recording.
 

Stravinsky conducts several short pieces recorded with The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana at the Teatro Kursal Casino in Lugano, Switzerland during 1954 and 1955.
 

“Symphony # 1 in E-flat” with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra
 

“The Rite of Spring” recorded in 1960 with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra
 

In this extremely charming documentary, Stravinsky does all the talking. Who would have thought he was so wickedly funny? The guy had the comic timing of an old Borscht Belt comic!