No Narration. Do you have a favorite version? I like Bernstein and the NYP. Gorkovenko and St. Petersburg RTV SO and Lenard and the Slovak RSO are also very good, maybe a little slow in some parts for my liking.
I am looking for best version of this work. Which one would you recommend?
I came across André Previn and Claudio Abbado's versions but obviously both feature narration (latter with Sting) and I would like one with no words to just enjoy the music. Maybe one with narration would be nice too.
I believe the Lenard is the one I grew up with, and I've always found it satisfactory. The Gorkovenko is good, but the tempos are a bit sedate (the total work runs 24:14 compared to Lenard's 21:08). Stokowski's is much more briskly paced and aggressive, if that's your cup of tea -- there's absolutely nothing subtle about his introduction of the wolf! On the whole, I think Lenard strikes a good balance.
I've not heard the Bernstein or the Daugherty to compare, but I'll check them out.
The only recording I have without narration is the 1960 Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic which, as mentioned above, is likely to be the same recording as the narrated one (by LB). Strangely, whilst the narrated recording is a single track, the music only recording has 16 cues.
Of the narrated versions, I'd put the Peter Ustinov/Karajan/Philharmonia Orch/1957 top ... I'm sure it's the one I heard at school.
But I do smile at Sean Connery's narration (Antal Doráti/Royal Philharmonic Orch/1966) ... with his dumb duck line (new words courtesy of Gabrielle Hilton). I recall reading that the assigned conductor (Muir Mathieson, Adrian Boult ... or other well-known British maestro) walked away from doing it when he was made aware of the revised text
I struggle to stay with the story (whoever narrates) ... but I enjoy the music!
Sophia Loren even did the narration for a version in French!
I have recordings narrated in French, German & Dutch ... all with the same orchestral performance (Zubin Mehta/Israel Philharmonic Orch/1982-3) ... but I've not listened to any of them fully. The English version is narrated by Itzhak Perlman but I find his smooth American voice at odds with the text.
Sophia Loren even did the narration for a version in French!
I have recordings narrated in French, German & Dutch ... all with the same orchestral performance (Zubin Mehta/Israel Philharmonic Orch/1982-3) ... but I've not listened to any of them fully. The English version is narrated by Itzhak Perlman but I find his smooth American voice at odds with the text.
...The English version is narrated by Itzhak Perlman but I find his smooth American voice at odds with the text.
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli.
Thank you ... I hadn't meant to indicate otherwise. But, if you listen to this, you'd think he was American* ... almost as if he'd spent much of his life there.
I am looking for best version of this work. Which one would you recommend?
I came across André Previn and Claudio Abbado's versions but obviously both feature narration (latter with Sting) and I would like one with no words to just enjoy the music. Maybe one with narration would be nice too.
Which ones are your favourites?
The Abbado version with Sting is excellent and is coupled with an equally fine 1st Symphony, but of course comes with narration.
