Posts tagged as "ernest-ansermet-series"

Wagner: Overtures & Preludes

May 26, 2016

This, Ansermet’s only Wagner recording for Decca, was made in November 1963. He paces the ‘Meistersinger’ Prelude implacably and his Wagner interpretations have plenty of fire as well as richness and gravitas. Much requested for reissue, this recording finally makes its appearance on CD in the international arena.

Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4, Rachmaninov: Isle of the Dead

May 25, 2016

While it remains a pity that Ansermet didn’t venture further into the bleaker landscapes of Sibelius, less may well be more, and these epic recordings of the Second and Fourth symphonies, together with a raw reading of Tapiola are collected together on CD for the first time. The mood of desolation continues with the Paris […]

Royal Ballet Gala

May 25, 2016

While the bulk of Ansermet’s recordings were made with L’Orchestre de la Susise Romande, there were a few with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra and the very occasional foray into recordings with London orchestras. One of these was with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1959 with producer Michael Williamson and engineer Kenneth […]

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Le Coq d’Or

May 25, 2016

While Ansermet’s stereo Suisse Romande recording of ‘Scheherazade’ is well-known and has been frequently reissued, his early (1954) Paris Conservatoire Orchestra recording of this piece is a relative rarity and here receives its first CD outing on Decca. It has, perhaps, that extra bit of fantasy over his later recording of the work and was […]

Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Works

May 25, 2016

Fantasy and folklore are the subject of this 2CD collection of orchestral pieces by Rimsky-Korsakov recorded between 1953 and 1963 by the Suisse Romande Orchestra and Ernest Ansermet. We encounter Antar, disillusioned son of a slave who rises to become a Bedouin chief and dies in the arms of a fairy queen. We meet a […]

Ravel – The Early Recordings (Ansermet)

May 25, 2016

Recorded between October 1951 and June 1953, these mono recordings have been much prized and sought-after by collectors and now reappear on CD at super-budget price. Ravel and Ansermet were well acquainted and that adds a special authenticity to these sublime readings, presenting the majority of Ravel’s orchestral music (Bolero and La Valse appear on […]

Ravel: Piano Concertos; Tzigane

May 25, 2016

This release brings together Ansermet’s complete Ravel concerto/concertante recordings with the first international release on CD of Swiss pianist Jacqueline Blancard’s aristocratic readings of the two Piano Concertos and Ruggiero Ricci’s dare-devilry in the Tzigane.

Liszt: Eine Faust-Symphonie; Hunnenschlacht; Magnard: Symphony No. 3

May 25, 2016

Liszt’s Eine Faust-Symphonie, based on the Faust legend, is an hour-long work for tenor, choir and orchestra, based on the Faust legend. The Suisse Romande Orchestra take to this complex score, one with which they could hardly have been familiar, with clear enthusiasm and imbue the performance with alertness and vivacity. The woodwind playing of […]

Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilegès; Shéhérazade; Deux melodies hebraiques; Trois poèmes de Stephane Mallarme; La Valse; Bolero

May 25, 2016

Fascinated by children, Ravel composed two one-act operas, ‘L’enfant et les sortileges’ and ‘L’Heure espagnole’. These priceless Ansermet recordings now return to the catalogue, coupled with the rare and much-requested disc of Ravel vocal works with Danco and Ansermet. As a coupling we have the Paris Conservatoire recordings of Bolero (the stereo version making its […]

Glazunov, Schumann, Glinka, Liadov: Orchestral Works

May 25, 2016

Glazunov’s wonderfully atmospheric ‘The Seasons’ ballet, joins other Russian compositions by Liadov and Glinka as well as the colourful orchestral arrangement by Glazunov and others of Schumann’s ‘Carnaval’, in stunning recordings by Ernest Ansermet as part of the Decca Ansermet Legacy on Eloquence. In addition to the Glazunov and Glazunov-by-arrangement Ansermet recordings, this generous 2CD set […]