Sean Connery, Narrator Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherl
Release Date: 20 January 2014
Label: Australian Eloquence
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 0028948084753
Genres: Classical
Description
So perennial are the texts and music for Peter and the Wolf and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, that many a celebrity has recorded it. Both works have drawn some of the most famous actors, including Meryl Streep and here, a young Sean Connery (in 1966). It was vividly recorded for Decca's Phase 4 series, as was, in 1973, Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé. The lieutenant in question is a creation of bureaucracy, a non-existent character fleshed out with a life to satisfy the curiosity of the Tsar, who has misheard a phrase (in Russian, "the lieutenants, however") as the lieutenant's name. The suite follows the soldier's life story from birth, through first love and marriage, and the famous sleigh-ride in the Troika, before finally being put to rest in a fictitious death and burial.
'the orchestra is in fine form, Dorati seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly and invests the music with all its point and humour without overdoing it … and Sean Connery is an excellent narrator … The recording is splendid in both forms, combining brilliance with warmth and above all else, everything is presented in straightforward style, without misplaced humour or over-dramatization' (Peter and the Wolf, Young Person's Guide) Gramophone
Tracklisting
Josef Krips; Various Orchestras
Josef Krips
Neville Marriner; ASMF
New Vienna Octet, Vienna Wind Soloists
Wiener Oktett
John Mauceri; The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Julie Andrews
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt; LSO; Alfred Brendel
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt; VPO; LSO; Sutherland; Backhaus
