Borodin’s second and third symphonies plus the Overture and Polovstian Dances from Prince Igor and ‘In the Steppes of Central Asia’ collected on a single CD. This is all of Ernest Ansermet’s Borodin recordings for Decca; recordings widely praised for their dynamism and thrust.
A rare foray for Ansermet into the Baroque era. Henri Helaerts and Roger Reversy were principal winds with the Suisse Romande and their solo work appears in many an orchestral work in his recordings. For this collection of Baroque concertos, Helaerts is soloist in two Vivaldi Bassoon Concertos recorded 16 years apart – in 1952 […]
Bach’s music featured early in Ansermet’s career and he conducted the fourth Orchestral Suite in his last concert. Playing Bach in the 1960s was not quite the affair it is today but it would be false to assume that Ansermet’s Bach is the bloated, romanticised affair that was current in the 1960s. While his readings […]
Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the fifth volume, The Heart of Tchaikovsky, showcases classical music’s ultimate Romantic, his music often a reflection of his passionate, sometimes torrid life. From the love theme of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, to music from his ballet, ‘The Nutcracker’ and the core of his First String Quartet (Andante cantabile), […]
From Roussel’s delightful tribute to the animal kingdom in ‘Le festin de l’araignée’ via two of Dukas’ symphonic masterpieces (‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ in state-of-the-art sound) to Chausson’s powerful and massive Symphony in B flat, this generous anthology in the ‘Decca Ansermet Legacy’ features the conductor in music he knew intimately and performed inimitably.
This volume of Debussy’s dramatic works and ballet music is dedicated, by and large, to ‘rarities’ by the composer. Few of Debussy’s works have divided critical opinion more than ‘Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien’, banned as it was by the Archbishop of Paris six days before its premiere. The beautiful, rarefied ‘Six Épigraphes Antiques’ were […]
A brilliant collection of some of Tchaikovsky’s most moving and most exciting moments. Continuing Eloquence’s popular ‘Best Of’ series – ideal for the newcomer.
Tchaikovsky poured his emotions into his symphonies, particularly the last three, and posterity has rewarded him by making them inescapable parts of the standard orchestral repertoire. The orchestral suites, however, have not attained the popularity of the symphonies, perhaps because they trade tragedy for wistfulness and exaltation for charm. All four are the work of […]
A wonderful collection of Franck tone poems, most of them drawn from Daniel Barenboim’s now deleted recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and adding the wonderfully airborne Ansermet performance of ‘Les Eolides’. Try the sheer orchestral terror of ‘Le Chasseur Maudit’ (‘The Accursed Huntsman’) or the blazing brass of ‘Redemption’ for sonic thrills or revel in the […]
Ballet hybrids often eclipse the originals from which they are drawn and such is the case with the music on this disc. Including such popular pieces as the ‘Can Can’ from Orpheus in the Underworld and the ‘Barcarolle’ from The Tales of Hoffman, there is possibly no better recording on the market than Solti’s Gaite […]
This and the other two 2CD sets – 4800834 and 4800837 – represent all of Ansermet’s Prokofiev recordings for Decca (with the exception of a mono recording of the March & Scherzo from The Love for Three Oranges – the stereo version appears here).
The three 2CD Tchaikovsky/Ansermet sets represent his complete Tchaikovsky recordings for Decca.Ansermet’s recording of ‘The Nutcracker’ is in a league of its own, and many will find fascinating his own sequencing of numbers from ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘The Sleeping Beauty’. Refined, yet passionate, many of the pieces on these recordings make their first international appearance […]
