CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918): Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien.

Description: The 1993 Michael Tilson Thomas recording of this mystical/ecstatic music having been long out of print (its Francophone narrator was Leslie Caron), and the 50-year-old, also out-of-print Uncle Lennie (adapted by himself with English narration by Fritz Weaver) gone also, it's useful to have a brand-new version actually French from top to bottom. This combination of speech, mime, dancing, choral, vocal and orchestral music lasted five hours in its original (never repeated) performance; this is 62 minutes and the usual recorded "suite" is only 22-23 minutes. Comes in a hard-cover, book-like container with a 46-page booklet inside. Live recording from April 9, 2009 at the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées. French-English texts. Isabelle Huppert (reciter), Sophie Marin-Degor (soprano), Kate Aldrich, Christine Knorren (mezzos), Chœur de Radio France, Orchestre National de France; Daniele Gatti.