Customer Reviews

L'Histoire Du Soldat Suite / Capriccio Espagnol

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This is a delightfully crisp interpretation of Stravinsky's whimsical "L'Histoire du Soldat", which can be performed as a theater piece with narration and dance, or as on this CD, simply as a chamber composition for 7 instruments; clarinet, cornet, trombone, double-bass, and with a percussion battery representing the devil, and a violin the soldier.
Recorded in '83, there is a "closeness" to the sound on this CD that serves the music well.

One is accustomed to hearing Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol" as a lush orchestral extravaganza, so this arrangement by composer/pianist Easley Blackwood for a small ensemble (flute, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, violin, cello, bass and piano), might sound very strange at first. I think it works on a different level, and though it's not the way I'd like to hear this composition all the time, one can easily appreciate this lovely piece in this "skeletal" version.

Stravinsky having been Rimsky-Korsakov's student, makes this an interesting recording. To quote the booklet insert: "...it brings together two works which, although stylistically worlds apart, are nevertheless imperceptibly connected by virtue of a significant personal and historic relationship between the composers".
The Chicago Pro Musica is comprised of virtuoso musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, organized by clarinetist John Bruce Yeh in 1979. These pieces highlight violinist Albert Igolnikov, but you'll get to hear and appreciate them all as individuals as well as a group in this unusual but pleasing and inventive recording. Total time is 41:47.

i purchased this cd when it was first released back in 1983 or 1984. i was blown away by the performance, but fairly disappointed with the excessive hiss on the recording. a made a cassette of this recording and eventually sold the cd, a decision i've regretted. i've often thought of this recording, and just this morning, came across the cassette i recorded...22 years ago! i popped that bad boy into the car player and marvelled all the way to work at the amazing arrangement and performances throughtout.

i've looked for this recording occassionally over the years but my recollection is that it has been out of print. i'm glad to find it here and am purchasing it today.

note: if you are familiar with 'the soldier's tale,' you no doubt are familiar with the narrarated version. this is a bit different as it is an instrumental, reduced in arrangement for a small chamber group with percussion. as this is obviously a repressing, i cannot speak yet to the sound quality. but, excessive hiss aside, this really is an amazing recording, sonically and performace-wise.