Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat - Markevitch
Tower Universal Vintage PROC-2077
Stereo Hybrid
Classical - Vocal
Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat
Jean Cocteau (Le Récitant)
Peter Ustinov (La Diable)
Jean-Marie Fertey (Le Soldat)
Anne Tonietti (La Princesse)
Ulysse Delécluse (clarinet), Henri Helaerts (bassoon), Maurice André (cornet), Roland Schnorkh (trombone), Charles Peschier (percussion), Manoug Parikian (violin), Joachim Gut (double bass)
Igor Markevitch (conductor)
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Comment by Athenaeus - April 2, 2019 (1 of 4)
A fun recording of a work one seldom hears. This is the first time I buy a disc of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du soldat" so I can't make any comparisons. All I can say is that I found the sonics of this Tower Records release to be very satisfying. Apparently, the audio engineers used the original master tapes. The interpretation is also excellent. The only thing I could quibble about is Peter Ustinov's reading; I didn't sense he was fully embracing his role as the Devil. The booklet comes with the full text, not some useless summary. Including librettos and texts is becoming ever rarer these days; Tower Records are to be warmly commended for providing a proper booklet. You need to know French, however, since the translation is in Japanese only.
Comment by hiredfox - April 6, 2019 (2 of 4)
The recently released tongue-in-cheek LSO version is also very attractive and amusing and at a much more sensible price.
Comment by ubertrout - April 7, 2019 (3 of 4)
Stravinsky: L'histoire du soldat - Stokowski is also still available for reasonable prices too, and is a good choice IMO.
Comment by SACD-MAN (threerandot) - April 10, 2019 (4 of 4)
I love the Stokowski version and just had to have it on SACD. I am interested in hearing other versions, but I think the narration of Madeline Milhaud and Stokowski leading will be hard to beat. Great sound on that one too.