This is Stefano Bertoncello's Blog (ステファノ・ベルトンチェッロ - トゥーグッドイアーズ − ブロガー、オーディオ&ミュージック・コンサルタント) devoted to pacific topics like Music - live and reproduced - i.e. discs, audio, guitars - both vintage and new, concerts, workshops, and related stuffs. Furthermore: travelling - as a mind-game and real globetrotting, and books, movies, photography... sharing all the above et al. and related links... and to anything makes Life better and Earth a better place to stay, enjoying Life, in Peace.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Flea-market treasures - Igor Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat" on Philips "Tresors de la Musique"
Record title: Jean Cocteau - Histoire du soldat
Record label: Philips / 420 773-2
Medium: CD
Year recorded: 1962
Additional performer(s):
Main soloists:
Jean Cocteau (lecteur)
Peter Ustinov (devil)
Jean-Marie Fertey (soldier)
Anne Tonietti (princess)
Conductor(s):
Igor Markevitch
Orchestra(s):
Composer(s):
I. Stravinsky
Track listing:
Histoire du soldat
Playing time 54:03
Comment:
Recorded Vevey, Switzerland 10/1962
Ulysse Delécluse - clarinet
Henry Helaerts - bassoon
Maurice André - trumpet
Roland Schnorkh - trombone
Charles Peschier - percussion
Manoug Parikian - violin
Joachim Gut - double-bass
Main soloists, Jean Cocteau (lecteur), Peter Ustinov (devil), Jean-Marie
Fertey (soldier) and Anne Tonietti (princess), Markevitch directing.
Conductor: Igor Markevich. In October 1962, on the occasion of his 50th birthday, Igor Markevich presented as a gift to the Swiss village of Vevey, where he had spent the greater part of his youth, an unusual concert. On this occasion, one of the musical diversions was a performance of Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat with the exceptional performers who are heard in this recording, made by Philips a few days later in Vevey.
A legendary recording!
The above is a cut & paste from the Web... BUT, folks... ah!
I found - for the cost of a coffee - a mint, first French pressing of the Philips' disc and when, yesterday evening, I put on the Garrard the heavy wax, my jaw dropped!!!
Peter Ustinov and Jean Cocteau... JEAN COCTEAU!!! were in my studietto...
A recording from 1962 with EVERY and ALL the merits of Philips' recording skill... the voices are simply unbelivable in trueness and the soundstage is huge and EXTREMELY lively... the hoochie-coochie one-of-a-kind voice of a younger Peter Ustinov is - alone - worth the disc... like the Cocteau's drawing on the (original) cover-art.
I was like captured by the French text and the music intervowing... percussions, double-bass, extremely beautiful violins...
BTW, a musing: the poor Princess - i.e. Anne Tonietti, only sings a minuscule part, only few words in all recording, at the very end;-)
A must have in this VERY edition, still available with some luck - on Web or at some flea market... or, better than nothing, Amazoning for the disk, at least...
A truly superb recording!
No comments:
Post a Comment