Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat & Concerto for chamber orchestra

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Pick of 1999. — Classic FM Magazine More…

Catalogue No: 8553662
Label: Naxos
Length: 75 minutes

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Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) (performed in English)

Work length1:00:43

$30.00

$39.00

David Timson (narrator), Benjamin Soames (narrator), Jonathan Keeble (narrator)
Northern Chamber Orchestra
Nicholas Ward

Part I: I. The Soldier's March

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: II. Soldier: Phew... this isn't a bad sort of spot...

Track length0:59

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: III. Airs by a Stream

Track length2:31

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: IV. He is a little old man...

Track length4:14

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: V. The Soldier's March (Reprise)

Track length1:46

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: VI. Soldier: Hurray, here we are!

Track length2:56

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: VII. Pastorale

Track length2:39

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: VIII. Narrator: In the Market Place...

Track length2:15

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: IX. Pastorale

Track length0:38

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: X. Narrator: He took the book and began to read

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: XI. Airs by a Stream (Reprise)

Track length0:50

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: XII. Soldier: They have nothing - and yet they have it all.

Track length4:02

$1.00

$1.30

Part I: XIII. Airs by a Stream (Reprise)

Track length0:48

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: I. The Soldier's March (Reprise)

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: II. Narrator: Now he comes to another land

Track length2:26

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: III. The Royal March

Track length2:39

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: IV. Narrator: They gave the word for the band to play

Track length4:50

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: V. The Little Concert

Track length2:59

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: VI. Narrator: The princess is lying on her bed

Track length0:16

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: VII. Tango

Track length2:08

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: VIII. Valse

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: IX. Ragtime

Track length2:07

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: X. Narrator: The Soldier and the Princess are in each other's arms

Track length0:38

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XI. The Devil's Dance

Track length1:21

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XII. Narrator: The Devil falls exhausted

Track length0:14

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XIII. Little Chorale

Track length0:41

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XIV. The Devil's Song

Track length0:42

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XV. Great Chorale

Track length3:52

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XVI. Narrator: 'Suppose, suppose we went there!'

Track length1:36

$1.00

$1.30

Part II: XVII. Triumphal March of the Devil

Track length2:18

$1.00

$1.30

Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat for chamber orchestra 'Dumbarton Oaks'

Work length15:06

$3.00

$3.90

Northern Chamber Orchestra
Nicholas Ward

I. Tempo giusto

Track length4:57

$1.00

$1.30

II. Allegretto

Track length4:33

$1.00

$1.30

III. Con moto

Track length5:36

$1.00

$1.30

Reviews
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Reviews

Pick of 1999.

2010

In this full-length The Soldier's Tale (the English translation by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black), the actors have the full measure of their parts, and the musicians, taken as a group, about two-thirds the measure of theirs. The notes are there, but not always the will to make something of them. Perhaps one shouldn't expect violin- and trumpet-playing of the flair and feature of Manoug Parikian and Maurice André in the classic 1962 Markevitch recording (now part of a two-disc set on Philips, and spoken in the original French). On the other hand Nicholas Cox's always fully responsive clarinet- playing on the Naxos recording is a vast improvement on Markevitch's narrow-toned and quavery clarinettist. If Nicholas Cox seems to do a little better out of the Naxos balance than some of his musical colleagues, it's probably because of his more consistent projection of character.
In general, it's a very natural balance that welds the years and miles between the separately recorded actors and musicians into a reasonably convincing illusion of a single-stage whole (with the actors placed in front of the musicians), though it's less convincing than the Markevitch, where the same acoustic was used by both actors and musicians (and where Jean Cocteau's narrator can become almost submerged).
The generous bonus here is Stravinsky's modernised 'Brandenburg Concerto', Dumbarton Oaks, marginally more presently recorded than the musical contributions to the main work, but with the same mixture of determination to put it across (a wonderful strutting marcato at the start of the finale) and lapses into a competent neutral. So, should you be interested at the price? If you only know TheSoldier'sTale through the Concert Suite (most of the music; none of the words), and can sample before purchasing this complete recording, try two 'low points' – the very opening ('The soldier's march'), and the close ('The devil's triumphal dance') – and if the proceedings don't strike you as tame and lacking vitality, this could be a very rewarding use of a fiver.

Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat & Concerto for chamber orchestra

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