Georges Bizet Claude Debussy Maurice Ravel - Andr Cluytens (20 tracks) +Album Reviews

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Georges Bizet, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel
André Cluytens
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (10) - Disc #1
1. Symphony In C Major: I. Allegro Vivo
2. Symphony In C Major: II. Adagio
3. Symphony In C Major: III. Scherzo. Allegro Vivace
4. Symphony In C Major: IV. Finale. Allegro Vivace
5. Images Pour Orchestre: No. 1: Gigues / No. 2: Iberia
6. Images Pour Orchestre: I. Par Les Rues Et Par Les chemins
7. Images Pour Orchestre: II. Les Parfums De La Nuit
8. Images Pour Orchestre: III. Le Matin D'Un Jour De Fete
9. Images Pour Orchestre: No.3: Randes De Printemps
10. La Valse: Poeme Choregraphique
Track Listings (10) - Disc #2
1. Manfred Overture, Op.115
2. Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14: Episode De La Vie D'Un Artiste: I. Reveries-Passions: Largo-Allegro Agitato E Appassionato Assai
3. Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14: Episode De La Vie D'Un Artiste: II. Un Bal: Valse. Allegro Non Troppo
4. Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14: Episode De La Vie D'Un Artiste: III. Scene Au Champs: Adagio
5. Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14: Episode De La Vie D'Un Artiste: IV. Marche Au Supplice: Allegretto Non Troppo
6. Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14: Episode De La Vie D'Un Artiste: V. Sange S'Une Nuit Du Sabbat: Larghetto-Allegro-Allegro Assai-Allegro-Dies Irae-Ronde Du Sabbat-Dies Irae Et Ronde Du Sabbat Ensemble
7. Lohengrin: Prelude To Act III
8. Boris Godunov: Coronation Scene (Prologue, Scene II): Solemn Procession - Prince Shuisky: 'Long Live Tsar Boris Feodorvich!'
9. Boris Godunov: Coronation Scene (Prologue, Scene II): Boris: 'My Soul Is Sorrowful'
10. Boris Godunov: Coronation Scene (Prologue, Scene II): People: 'Glory, Glory, Glory!'

CD Details

All Artists: Georges Bizet, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, Richard [Classical] Wagner, Modest Mussorgsky, André Cluytens, Radio France National Orchestra, Paris Conservatory Concert Society Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Theatre National de L'opera-Comique Orchestre, John Lanigan
Title: André Cluytens
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: EMI Classics
Release Date: 6/4/2002
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 724357510622

CD Reviews

Cluytens comes away with a lot better than average

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I can't agree with the reviewer below that Andre Cluytens was a great conductor. He certainly had his chances to prove otherwise, being one of EMI's house favorites for French music in the 50s and 60s; most unusually for a French conductor, he made a Beethoven cycle with the Berlin Phil. (readily available on the used CD market and beloved by fans) and regularly conducted Wagner at Bayreuth. None of it really stuck; Cluytens was a good, reliable stick man with no special ideas.

The Great Condcutors series has done well by him, however. Perhaps becasue the bulk of his many recordings wee with EMi--the main source for this series--the compilers oculd pick and choose. CD 1 contains a lively Bizet Sym. in C (1953 mono), far from the most sparkling ever done but nice and in good sound. Even better is his Debussy Images (stereo 1963), which greatly benefits from the idiomatic playing of the Paris Conservatoire orchestra. It doesn't rival Boulez for detail and finesse, but that's not the point here. CD 1 ends the French trifecta with Ravel's La Valse with the Philharmonia (even better stereo, 1958) that exchanges impact for swoony atmospherics--no perfumed ironies allowed.

CD 2 mixes in a bit of German and Russian with the French. A 1957 Schumann Manfred Over. with the Berlin Phil. is respectful and clean. The major work on this CD is a live 1964 Symphonie fantastique from Tokyo, again with the Paris Conservatoire orchestra--a memorable souvenir in decent radio stereo. The Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin is unusual for featuring the Paris Opera orchestra; it's straightforward and full-sounding. Finally, we get 10 min. of the Coronation scene from boris Christoff's well-known EMI recording of Boris Godunov from 1962. It's cleanly Gallic rather than moodily Russian. The best part is Christoff's appearance and the real Kremlin bells rather than Cluytens' leadership. Overall, Clutens is well represented without surprises or any risk of inspiration. Four stars."