Ernest Ansermet

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
One of the best of EMI's Great Conductors releases, this features the Swiss maestro performing the Modern, French, and Russian music in which he excelled. The first disc includes a terrific 1956 version of Stravinsky's Chant du Rossignol, brilliantly recorded, full of bold rhythms and atmospheric scene-painting, illustrating Ansermet's long experience as a ballet conductor. The Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade that follows it is the second of Ansermet's three recordings of the piece, from Decca's first 1954 Paris stereo sessions and still sounding good. Ansermet captures all its moods and colors, from the tension of the first movement to the flowing, languorous Orientalisms throughout. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra is a well-judged, energetic interpretation. Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead derives from the same sessions as the Scheherazade, and captures its brooding quality with a rare transparency, another trait of Ansermet's conducting. His affinity for French music is heard in a lovely version of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, a sparkling Ravel La Valse (which, like the Stravinsky, he premiered), and a scintillating "Fète Polonaise" from Chabrier's Le Roi malgré lui. Most of the set's contents remain among the better versions of these works, so its appeal extends beyond the ranks of conductor collectors and Ansermet fans. --Dan Davis

Tracks:

Spartacus-Excerpts: Adagio Of Spartacus And Phrygia
Spartacus-Excerpts: Variation Of Aegina And Bacchanalia
Spartacus-Excerpts: Scene And Dance With Crotala
Spartacus-Excerpts: Dance Of Gaditanae And Victory Of Spartacus
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Sabre Dance
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Aysheh's Awakening And Dance
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Lezghinka
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Gayaneh's Adagio
Gayaneh-Excerpts: Gopak
The Seasons, Op. 67: Winter
The Seasons, Op. 67: Spring
The Seasons, Op. 67: Summer
The Seasons, Op. 67: Autumn

Amazon.com

Khachaturian's popular ballet scores benefit from his vigorous leadership and the surprisingly idiomatic playing of the Vienna Philharmonic. All the favorite crowd-pleasers are here, including the Sabre Dance. This pairing of ballet suites was a demonstration disc back in LP days and the engineering is still impressive. For those not on Khachaturian's wave length (he does skate perilously close to kitschy vulgarism), the generous filler is a delight--Ansermet's dynamic account of Glazunov's ballet. Its four movements depict the four seasons in an idiom flavored by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov's teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, and the music's all the more fetching for it. Ansermet sometimes could be a bit too sedate, and his orchestra was never a world-class group, but his conducting is nothing short of vivacious here, and the orchestra, captured in vivid sound, is with him all the way. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Spartacus/Khachaturian.......2007-01-10

Portions of this work were used in the BBC Oneden Line in the 1980s. The title had me baffled for years until I checked the reviews. I was surprised and extremely pleased to have the entire version.

Poor digitalization.......2007-01-05

How nostalgic to can hear 33 1/3 rpm vinyl scratches between the selections! Also, I hear some gurgling that sounds as if a cassette tape is running through dirty heads. This is the only digitally transferred CD on which I've ever heard either of these annoyances.

flamboyant readings of Khachaturian!.......2005-10-31

This CD is really a treasure! Khachaturian's brilliant ballet scores played amazing by Wiener Philharmoniker, under the baton of the composer!

It is a little surprising that, Wiener Philharmoniker plays generally Austro-German musics, from Haydn to Mahler and Alban Berg. But they are very good in these virtuosic orchestral scores. For example, Sabre Dance is whirling, excellent! I like especially the dances "Lezghinka" which a very fast dance of Caucasian-Musluman people and the "Gopak" which starts slow and gradually go faster and faster and finishes in a hysteric tempo! There is a beautiful slow movement, "Adagio" which you can remember form the film 2001: A Space Odyseyy.

At this price and at this sound quality, you can not go wrong with this legendary recording of 1962 by Khachaturian.

Highly recommended.

Vivid performances!.......2005-04-25

The serene and exotic lyricism of this notable work has never been exhibited with so eloquence and majesty ever before. This adagio of Spartacus and Phygia's passionate performance is imbued of profane exoticism, radiant sensuality and suggested eroticism. As you know the string and winds section of the Vienna were in that decade one of the most remarkable around the world. The variation of Aegina and Bacchanalia is loaded with admirable acrobatic fierceness. Scene and dance with crotaria is simply outstanding. Kachaturian as director maintained the rigorous balance, and the muscle never shatters the expression musical. The last section Dance of Gaditane and Spartacus' victory is extremely interesting, the bass clarinet makes a rapture filigree work, anticipating the tragic ending. The whole orchestra will emerge creating a real homage to Dionysisus and surrounding the hall with that Balkan wildness.

The Gayaneh suite begins with the super known Sabre Dance, an admirable exercise of portentous sound and exhibition of high caliber pyrotechnic. The tragic and premonitory omen waltz is almost a perpetuum mobile that strikes the main melody in Aysheh's awakening and dance. In Lezghinka we have to admit the superior histamine doses given by Tekjnavorian . It' s worthy but it is not even closer to incandescence and febrile spirit demanded: I found it weak, lack of the required emotion. In the case of Gayaneh's adagio so well known for the great audiences since Kubrick 's 2001 Odyssey we have to recognize it' s simply great, serene, persuasive, intimate with admirable fond. Hopak is excellent too, reflecting the joy of living so characteristic o this slave country.

Ansermet' s Seasons is splendid though I rather choose the Albert Wolff's performance of the fifties.

And just as historical reference, it is a must for you to acquire this golden recording. Excellent sound edition.

Hudsucker Proxy.......2003-11-11

For a number of years, I've been under the impression that the "Adagio of Spartacus" was simply called "The Hudsucker Proxy Theme." Now I know that where I have been giving credit to Carter Burwell and the Hudsucker Proxy soundtrack, I should have been giving credit to this album - it has both the Adagio of Spartacus and the Sabre Dance - the two best songs from the Hudsucker Proxy, in their original forms. If you are a fan of Hudsucker, BUY THIS ALBUM!

Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été; et al / Crespin, Ansermet

Average customer rating:

Long lost friend
Crespin rules still!
CRESPIN
Berlioz
Truly, some of the finest singing one will ever hear!

Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été; et al / Crespin, Ansermet

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Russian Album

ASIN: B00000JXZ4
Release Date: 1999-08-10

Tracks:

Les Nuits D'ete: Villanelle
Les Nuits D'ete: Le Spectre De La Rose
Les Nuits D'ete: Absence
Les Nuits D'ete: Sur les lagunes
Les Nuits D'ete: Au Cimetiere
Les Nuits D'ete: L'Ile Inconnue
Sheherazade: Asie
Sheherazade: La Flute enchantee
Sheherazade: L'Indiffirent
Trois Chansons De Bilitis: La Flute De Pan
Trois Chansons De Bilitis: La Chevelure
Trois Chansons De Bilitis: Le Tombeau Des Naiades
From Banalites FP: Chanson D'Orkenise
From Banalites FP: Hotel
From La Courte Paille FP: Le Carafon
From La Courte Paille FP: La Reine De Coeur
From Chansons Villageoises FP: Les Gars qQui Vont A La Fete
Deux Poemes de Louis Aragon: 'C'
Fetes Galantes

Amazon.com

Here is a great French artist singing the songs of her native country in her native language, with the natural inflection and empathy of one to the manner born. Her voice is beautiful, pure throughout a huge range, focused, intense, infinitely nuanced; she can make it float ethereally or glow with a shimmering radiance, brighten and darken it and carry on two-way conversations. Identifying complete with each song, she communicates its mood, atmosphere, character, expression. She captures the pensive dreaminess, plaintive yearning, outpouring of grief and lamentation, as well as the gaiety and lighthearted teasing of Berlioz' many-faceted Les Nuits d'Été. In Ravel's Shéhérazade, her voice becomes part of the exotic, languidly oriental atmosphere created by the lush, sensuous, glittering orchestration, surging up with the sweeping buildups to thrilling climactic high Gs and B-flats, matching the tremulous flute solo in the second song. The orchestra plays wonderfully, exploiting Ravel's infinitely imaginative, vivid coloration to the utmost. Crespin evokes the secretive intimacy, dream-drugged passion and ice-bound rigidity of Debussy's Songs of Bilitis. In the Poulenc songs, the contrast between the almost tear-choked mournfulness and the frolicking humor is riveting. John Wustman's splendid partnering adds greatly to the enchantment of this delightful recording. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Long lost friend.......2007-01-27

I bought the vinyl LP of this way back in the 1960s, and since then it has been loved almost to death -- scratches, pops, jumps...

What a delight to find it rejuvenated on CD. Regine Crespin's is surely the definitive performance.

Crespin rules still!.......2007-01-11

Régine Crespin's recording of Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été is quite simply still - after forty-plus years - the finest I've ever heard, and that includes some fifteen different recordings. Add her immaculately clear enunciation of the verbal text to the gorgeous vocal qualities of those long-held vowels, and her fantastically acute articulation and phrasing of Berlioz's musical re-imagining of Gautier poems, coupled with deeply sensitive accompaniment by Ernest Ansermet and his Suisse Romande orchestra, and we really have no need for other recordings (not that I don't welcome them, as long as they don't make Mme Crespin's go out of print). This, as Gramophone magazine recognized upon original release, is one of the really great triumphs of musical recordings, an immediate and lasting classic. You owe it to yourself to get to know this recording. The Ravel Shérézade, while a lesser composition, is of comparable performance and recording quality.

CRESPIN.......2006-11-20

I am fortunate, indeed, to have seen and heard Regine Crespin perform two of her most famous roles at the Metropolitan Opera. One was the title role in "Carmen" and, although perhaps too mature for the role, her acting was as strong as her singing...and her singing was magnificent. This was a Carmen to be reckoned with. The other role was even more impressive: The Mother Superior in Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites." First I saw her perform it in English and then at another performance in French. Her death scene was one of the most harrowing I've ever experienced on any stage. This recording will introduce everyone to the beauty, subtlety, charm and fine interpretations of Madame Crespin. And the Berlioz' "Les Nuits D'ete" is arguably the best available.

Berlioz.......2004-04-30

Regine Crespin is so clear, so subtle, you are drawn into the music and listen from within.

I recommend everything she has ever done.... many a titles but most especially "La Spectre de la Rose", which is the absolute killer.

Truly, some of the finest singing one will ever hear!.......2004-03-04

Many might argue with my view of Berlioz' "Les Nuit d'Ete." I've never warmed to the piece in the past and even Crespin's voice cannot change my mind on the matter. I can only revel in her stunningly perfect singing which is truly a pleasure. Immediately following, however, is Ravel's "Scheherazade" and it is for this striking cycle that this CD is invaluable. Crespin presents each of these three songs with effortless legato, lovely piannissimi, dramatic dynamics and endless colors. I now listen to this performance wherever I can: at home, in my car and with anyone who will take the time to enjoy it with me. At the same time, I would not want to give up my recording by another great soprano Victoria de los Angeles. The latter, while not as vocally perfect, provides an even greater degree of verbal expressiveness and variety. Even so, Crespin's performance provides different and equal rewards. Fortunately, I can have both discs in my collection. I warmly recommend them to yours.

Ravel: Shéhérazade; Berlioz: Nuits d'été

Average customer rating:

Ten stars for Crespin/Ansermet; ZERO for the remastering!
Régine Crespin: Ave Atque Vale

Ravel: Shéhérazade; Berlioz: Nuits d'été

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
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ASIN: B000FG5PHM
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Tracks:

Villanelle
Le Spectre De La Rose
Absence
Sur Les Lagunes
Au Cimetiere
L'lle Inconnue
Asie
La Flute Enchantee
L'indifferent
La Flute De Pan
Le Chevelure
La Tombeau Des Naiades
Chanson D'Orkenise
Hotel
La Carafon
La Reine De Coueur
Les Gars Qui Vont A La Fete
'C'
Fetes Galantes

Customer Reviews:

Ten stars for Crespin/Ansermet; ZERO for the remastering!.......2007-07-19

Of course ten stars for Crespin/Ansermet but really the remastering is a shame and a scam. For one who knows the work of recording engineer James Lock, both on LPs and then first ADRM CD issue of this recording [on JBL large studio monitors], it is telling that no one at Decca in 2006 dared to put his name and claim responsibility for this remastering: yes the noises that plagued the original recording are subdued, muted -at least in the high frequencies- but to borrow to the vocabulary of wine tasting, "les finales sont brulantes", burning finales... Where a crisp fortissimo was soaring, a clear distortion and projection overwhelms and zings the listener ears. Why? Because reverb was added, not to recreate what was there originally but to make it sound "modern" like the crap of classical recordings from the 1990s that followed years of true living presence. The trademark of 1990s recording is the dilution of dynamics. The industry flogging of inefficient speakers (around 90dB/w/m) prompted a change in recording focus since real dynamics would be impossible to reproduce and potentially damaging to the equipments as amplifiers would distort: as a result the orchestra became a sound mass far away down there on stage while the acoustics of the hall took over. A blurred soup! Now Ansermet orchestra sounds like in a fishbowl and sadly the precision offered by higher sampling is overshadowed by this warmish coloration and reverb. Ms Crespin was no voice challenged singer and did not need that treatment worthy of a pop label. Truly a shame: anyone seeking to really hear Crespin in this legendary recording should seek second hand, the LP or the first ADRM 1980s CD from Decca.

Régine Crespin: Ave Atque Vale.......2007-07-06

Another of the inordinately gifted and celebrated sopranos of our day is gone. Régine Crespin died at age 80 but thankfully she left a significant number of superb recordings that will serve of reminders of her legacy. For this listener one of her finest moments (and there were countless of those moments) is this recording of Maurice Ravel's 'Shéhérazade' coupled with Hector Berlioz' 'Nuits d'été' in collaboration with Ernest Ansermet and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. And though the treasured and much played original LP version of this magical musical experience is full of wear, this CD is an updated re-mastering that gratefully preserves (if not enhances) the original.

Régine Crespin may have been best known in the opera houses of the world as an interpreter of the 'big' roles of operatic drama: she had a big voice that soared over the largest orchestras and a stage presence that commanded attention. But her recitals of songs, whether with piano or orchestra, revealed an artist of incredible communication. To say that her sound and her enunciation were perfectly 'French' would be too obvious. But despite the many fine sopranos and mezzo sopranos who have sung and recorded these two ethereal song cycles, Crespin tops them all. She soars on the long lines and caresses the intimate ones. One of the finest moments of recording history is her rendition of 'Le Spectre de la rose' from the Nuits d'été: her closing lines float in the night air and she whispers in her deep near husky sound the farewell of love. It is magic.

Régine Crespin was an artist of sensitivity, breathtaking vocal effects and one who knew when to step offstage to spend the remainder of her luminous career teaching younger singer her craft. She will be missed, but for those who treasure her memory, this recording is a must. Grady Harp, July 07

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LO MEJOR DE LO MEJOR
A Very Fine Compilation

The Essential Falla

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Favourite Spanish Encores

ASIN: B00001X59X
Release Date: 1999-10-12

Tracks:

Love The Magician: Introduction And Scene... In The Cave
Love The Magician: Song Of Suffering Love
Love The Magician: The Spectre... Dance Of Fear
Love The Magician: Magic Circle... Midnight
Love The Magician: Ritual Fire Dance
Love The Magician: Scene
Love The Magician: Song Of The Will-O'-The-Wisp
Love The Magician: Pantomime
Love The Magician: Dance Of The Game Of Love
Love The Magician: Finale: The Bells Of Dawn
Harpsichord Concerto: I. Allegro
Harpsichord Concerto: II. Lento
Harpsichord Concerto: III. Vivace
Homenaje 'Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy'
Psyche
Nights in the Gardens of Spain: I In The Generalife
Nights in the Gardens of Spain: II Distant Dance
Nights in the Gardens of Spain: III In The Gardens Of The Sierra de Cordoba

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La Vida breve: Interludio y Danza
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: The Moorish Cloth
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Seguidilla From Murcia
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Asturian Song
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Jota
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Lullaby
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Song
Seven Spanish Folk Songs: Polo
Four Spanish Pieces: Aragonesa
Four Spanish Pieces: Cubana
Four Spanish Pieces: Montanesa
Four Spanish Pieces: Andaluza
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: Introduction
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: Afternoon
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: Dance Of The Miller's Wife
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 1: The Grapes
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: The Neighbours' Dance
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: The Miller's Dance
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: The Corregidor's Dance
The Three-Cornered Hat: Part 2: Final Dance

Customer Reviews:

LO MEJOR DE LO MEJOR.......2002-03-29

Una grabacion
magistral de los
clasicos de Manuel de Falla.
Este disco contiene el famoso
"Homage a Debussy" la unica
obra original compuesta para
guitarra por la mano del compositor.
Tremenda grabaccion, como para no
perdersela a ese precio...

A Very Fine Compilation.......2000-05-17

"The Essential Falla" is just that, including all of Manuel de Falla's major works (performed by the likes of Dutoit, Fruhbeck de Burgos and de Larrocha) on these two CDs. Highlights are excellent performances of Falla's three most famous works: "El amor brujo", "Noches en los jardines de Espana" and "El Sombrero de tres picos". The rest of the included music is perhaps less well-know but no less enjoyable. Perhaps the only quibble I have with this CD is the enclusion of the Harpsicord Concerto. While it is an enjoyable piece, it is very much a Stravinsky-esque neo-classical work, and it seems somewhat out of place amongst Falla's other, very Spanish, works. Nonetheless, if you enjoy 20th Century Spanish music, this CD is indeed an essential.

Ernest Ansermet: Decca Recordings 1953-1967

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A memento of a conductor lost in the golden age
Remembering Ansermet in style
Ansermet is Awesome, and...

Ernest Ansermet: Decca Recordings 1953-1967

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Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies

ASIN: B000JU7N7Y
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Customer Reviews:

A memento of a conductor lost in the golden age.......2007-06-20

This 6-CD set gives uninitiated listeners a fair introduction to a conductor they never knew while he was alive or in his heyday. Ernest Anserment (1883-1969) was born in Switzerland and was a contemporary of both Furtwängler and Klemperer, although he was of a far different school of music than either German. Originally a mathematician, Ansermet founded Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Swiss Radio Orchestra) during World War I, toured with them worldwide after the war, and rose to prominence after World War II when he and the orchestra developed a recording contract with Decca Records.

Ansermet was most at home in coolorful scores, 20th century French music, in the works of his countrymen Honegger (born French but spent time in Zurich) and Frank Martin, and in the Russians Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. But, as represented here, his expertise began with Bach and went well into the 20th century.

Ansermet's strengths were clarity in execution and delivery, strict adherence to original scoring (he opposed Stravinsky's tendency to revise his own works), and a romantic bent that was in vogue in the postwar years. Stated another way, Anserment's work captured the essence of what today might be characterized as a "romantic period performance" style whose chief proponent may be Martin Perlman in Boston.

For me, Ansermet's conducting in the mainstream German classics was equally engaging. He was expert in capturing the full blown romance of Brahms, Beethoven and other romantics through the rigors of exposing every instrument in the orchestra and ensuring all contrapuntal lines could be heard. His Beethoven set included a dazzling performance of the Symphony No. 2 and a draft of the "Choral" symphony most collectors would enjoy today (it's still avaiable in Japan).

While recordings of Ansermet's Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky have rightly stayed in the catalog and been hailed by critics for decades, his greatest recording of romantic repertoire, in my opinion, is neither included in this box nor avaialable anywhere worldwide. That is his pairing of the Franck D Minor Symphony and the St. Saens "Organ" Symphony which Decca paired early in the CD era on a Weekends Classic recording. It has been out of print everywhere for some time and is a great loss for all of us.

Still today, I treasure Ansermet's box of Beethoven symphonies (also out of print everywehere; No. 4, is represented here) for its clarity, romance and elocution. I will never forget buying this box at my local LP store about 1972; what a revelation it was after exposure to the Beethoven of all the high cholesterol German romantics! Ansermet's combination of score adherence, clarity in orchestral detail, and blooming romance in interpretation led to my most satisfying performances of the most recorded symphonies in history during the period when the greatest conductors of the recording era were all represented in this repertoire.

The latter point is, I believe, the linchpin to Ansermet's career. I don't think there's any question that, if a conductor came along today with his combination of skills, sensitivity and technique, he or she would be regarded as a wunderkind combining the best traits of the current and bygone eras. In his lifetime, however, Ansermet was never regarded in this way. I think that's because he existed on a plane or two below all the acknowledged giants of the podium that were active or in their prime in his day.

While Ansermet was making the recordings in this box, Wilhelm Furtwangler was conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, dying, and being replaced by an up and coming German named Karajan that would go on the become the most recorded conductor in history. Klemperer was one of the giants in Germany with Bohm, Jochum and others sharing the spotlight. Among Europe's rising stars of the day were Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink, who had recently taken over for Beinum in Holland. Elsewhere, Leonard Bernstein was in the midst of his titanic career on the other side of the Atlantic and other American orchestral posts were manned by Ormandy, Szell, Solti, Mehta, Monteaux and another young, up and coming condcutor, Lorin Mazzel. Stokowski was in his prime making stereo recordings in this era, too.

This was the epoch of Ansermet's maturity. He was in the same position as a number of great conductors of his era such as Rudolf Kempe -- great men at the podium cast in the shadow of giants. While Ansermet was a member of the Decca stable, he nonetheless was cast in a secondary role as Decca also had new recordings by Solti and Maazel that were outselling anything Ansermet put forth. Simultanously, collectors could also find all the recordings of legendary conductors including Toscanini, Bruno Walter and Beecham. It was surely a crowded time in the record business and the most difficult time in history for a conductor to make his name.

In baseball terms, Ansermet had some of the affect of Sammy Sosa, whose 600 home runs came in the shadow of Mark McGwire's record-breaking season in 1998 and while Barry Bonds would first break the all-time single season record and, second, chase Hank Aaron's home run record. The metaphor may not be competely satisfactory for Ansermet was probably not the third greatest conducting home run hitter of his day.

But he was one of the great conductors with his own orchestra, a unique style, a broad repertoire, and a delivery mechanism underrated due to the shadow cast on him by other greats of the day. We are fortunate, living in the late digital era, to have this testament of his work before us. Now a new generation of listeners can hear what many did a half-century ago with new ears developed in the period performance practice era.

Of the contents of this set, my favorites are the Haydn Symphony 22, Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite, the orchestrated Schumann Carnaval (which I had never heard before), both Resphigi suites -- Pines of Rome and Rossiniana -- Honneger's Pacific 231 and Frank Martin's Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion and String Orchestra, an interesting, powerful and lively 20th century concerto. I agree with an earlier reviewer that said this set cherry picks certain pieces, teasing you with portions such as the Borodin Polovtsian Dances and Dukas La Peri selections. Still, there's enough here to satisfy both Ansermet enthusiasts and newcomers to the conductor.

Remembering Ansermet in style.......2007-03-01

Ernest Ansermet was one of Decca's most prolific artists, to whom they consigned dozens of Stravinsky works, the standard Russian repertoire, and all French music. We've been steadily getting reissues of this output, and here's the latest batch. Newcomers may be surprised at how good even the earliest sound is, but they should also expect less than virtuosic playing from the Suisse Romande orchestra; the lack in execution is made up for by the special tang of French winds and brass, a constant pleasure throughout.

CD 1: Ansermet conducted very good Bach and Brahms but is little known for that. Here we get a sampling of his skill in German music. The snippet of orchestral music from Bach's Cantata #31 is a prelude to a fresh, lively Haydn Sym. #22 "The Philosopher" (named for its sober opening Adagio) that's performed in the same gentle, loving style as Bruno Walter's Haydn. The same soft-grained approach applies to the Beethoven 4th Sym., but in this case the scrawniness of the string section compares badly with great German and American orchestras, and one also feels that Ansermet really should dig in more. But if you want a feminine reading of a symphony often called feminine by older critics, this is a fine one. This generous disc ends with three overtures many listeners won't already own: Weber's Ruler of the Spheres and Preciosa Over., plus the more familiar Mendelssohn Ruy Blas. The performances are lively to the point of brashness, and very enjoyable.

CD 2: This disc is Russian and Finnish. For many French conductors Russian music comes as second nature, and this is true for Ansermet. His suite of Polovtsian Dances from Borodin's Prince Igor is light, fast, and pointed. Rendering a pops staple with such detailed delicacy really refreshes it; Ansermet's version is worthy to stand beside Beecham's minor classic. In the same vein is Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, which as Mr. Richman points out, is different from the complete score performed by Ansermet on Decca's box set of his Stravinsky recordings. The stereo sound is rather narrow and thin, but this Pulcinella is a model of how to avoid heaviness and over-emphasis in this music. Nobody would expect the Sibelius Fourth to follow, nor is Ansermet noted for being a Sibelian. His reading is super-clear, lean, and light-textured. It works very well in this pastoral music, although for intensity and better execution one has to look elsewhere.

CD 3: From here on out the music is primarily French, the area of Ansermet's greatest renown. Decca has kindly provided some rarities to everybody but committed collectors. This disc starts out with pops chestnuts, however, including one excerpt each from Coppelia and Sylvia (why bother?) and then the more unusual Saint-Saens Chasseur Maudit tone poem. Given that the ballet snippets are sparkling, as always from this conductor, while the Saint-Saens lacks atmosphere and panache, the choice is dubious. After bits of Chabrier and Faure we arrive at a curiostiy, an orchestration under the title of Coquette (for ballet) of Schumann's Carnaval. Nobody plays these transcriptions anymore, but I msut confess to being delighted with this one, which is full of vivacity and sounds like Offenbach--you'd swear a can-can or two has been thrown in.

CD 4: When Faure's orchestral music gained a flurry of popularity in the Sixties, Ansermet led the way. This version of Masques et Bergamesques is all that anyone could desire. The mock-classic idiom isn't that far removed from Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin, music I usualy don't have much patience with--it sounds dainty and precious--but Ansermet's reading is winning in its directness. I was quite ready to leave wispy Gallic nostalgia behind, but next comes more of the same--Debussy's Petite Suite and other atmospheric bits from him. This disc was the first to lose my atention, even though on its own terms the musicmaking is expert, if not as charismatic as Beecham's way with trifles. The disc ends with a light, bright reading of Respighi's Fountains of Rome blessedly free of vulgarity.

CD 5: Honegger gained wide popularity with two religious oratorios, Joan of Arc at the Stake and this King David, even though both works have slipped out of the repertoire outside France. King David uses cinematic Orientalism and modal harmonies to describe ancient Jerusalem, a style that seems a bit cheap and slithery nowadays. But the combination of spoken narration, vocal soloists, and choruses, all in highly accessible music that never challenges the first-time listener, has its appeal. Ansermet's was one of the classic versions in stereo, and here it is, elegantly displaying Honegger's dramatic intentions. However, for me the total effect was like kindergarten Stravinsky.

CD 6: Dukas' admireres point to his opera La Peri as a minor masterpiece, and here we get a hint via the Fanfare and one dance, followed by a pops march from Rimsky's Dubinushka, a rare item for certain. More familiar is the suite of Rossini excerpts known as Rossiniana (antoher ballet), and I can't imagine anyone doing it with quite the same elegant polish of Ansermet. The recorded sound is extremely detailed in its transparency, which made it an early audiophile classic. Back to Stravinsky for a colorful but fairly leaden Scherzo a la russe, not a striking effort. But what follows is striking and perhaps the best thing in the set, Frank Martin's Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Percussion, and Strings, a nod to the orchestra's Swiss-ness. The playing is pointed and eager, and Ansermet conducts so well that the work is jsutified as being a minor masterpiece of Poulenc-inspired whimsical elegance.

What to say overall? This box set has no bad performances and many striking ones. I think judgment comes down to one's tastes in music. Mine don't tend toward ballet and French pops, or to Honegger's religious crossover style, so I'm not the best one to recommend what is in any case a very enjoyable listen from beginning to end.

Ansermet is Awesome, and..........2007-02-22

Generally I am a big fan of the Original Masters box sets, but with this latest collection Decca/UNI has gone too far. Don't get me wrong there are some wonderful rare recordings on "Ernest Ansermet: Decca Recordings 1953-1967" -- Haydn's 22nd Symphony, Beethoven's 4th, Sibelius' 4th, Respighi's Fountains of Rome, an entire CD of Honegger performances, and even Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, a different version from the full account contained on Ansermet's Stravinsky box (see my review). But way too much of the rest of this set is just repackaged previously available material. In fairness much of it has been out of print, or only available in Japan, but that won't do much to satisfy the serious collectors to whom this series is aimed, and who have gone to great lengths to track down those previous CD incarnations. What makes matters worse is the sampling is so far and wide that not only is the sequencing haphazard, but it is infuriating for those of us that have purchased other Ansermet titles in the past. For example, reprised from his "Double Decca" Rimsky-Korsakov title we get one lousy four minute selection, "Dubinushka." Why bother to include it? Just go buy the two-fer!!! They mention Ansermet's pioneering stereo recording of "Antar" in the liner notes, so why not include that here instead. The only other way to currently get the "Antar" is with an often reissued account of Scheherazade as a Decca Legend import, which no one buys because it duplicates their collections. Another example is the Debussy Six Epigraphes, which was recently reissued on Testament -- why include it? For that matter why tack on Borodin's Polovtsian Dances when they are already on his great CD with Borodin's 2nd & 3rd Symphonies? Why include another four minute track -- Stravinsky's Scherzo a la Russe -- when it is on the aforementioned Stravinsky box? I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that the Delibes, Franck, Faure, Ravel, Martin and other Debussy selections have all been available elsewhere. Of course, since Decca/UNI has only picked a couple of tracks at most from those original titles, it's not like you can just discard or sell the old CDs you own, or burn the remaining selections you need. With so many other rare Ansermet recordings lingering in the vaults or only on expensive imports -- Beethoven, Berlioz, Bizet, Brahms, Lalo, Roussel, Schumann, etc. -- surely a more cohesive reissue strategy could have been applied by Decca/UNI. If you plan on eventually giving us the "Complete" Decca Ansermet recordings over time, through various OM volumes, all of my fussing is moot, however I seriously doubt that is in their marketing plans. Next time, instead of making us an expanded "Great Conductors of the Century" title or some sort of awkward "Greatest Hits" collection, concentrate on the rare performances that a connoisseur would want, and stick them all on one limited edition box, with fewer discs if necessary.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade for orchestra Op35; Russian Easter Festival Overture Op36

Average customer rating:

Great mix of music though OK performance
Wow..
Colorful, Romantic, Dramatic, and Consistently Musical !
absolute magic

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade for orchestra Op35; Russian Easter Festival Overture Op36

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Rimsky-Korsakov: Great Orchestral Works
Manuel de Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain / Isaac Albeniz: Rapsodia Espanola / Joaquin Turina: Rapsodia Sinfonica - Alicia de Larrocha / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
Khachaturian: Spartacus / Khachaturian, Vienna Philharmonic
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade/Capriccio Espagnol
The 1950s Haydn Symphonies Recordings

ASIN: B000004241
Release Date: 1995-02-14

Tracks:

Scheherazade: The Sea And Sinbad's Ship - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade: The Story Of The Kalandar Prince - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade: The Young Prince And The Young Princess - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade: Festival At Baghdad - The Sea - Shipwreck - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
May Night: Overture - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
The Tale Of Tsar Saltan, Suite, Op.57: I. The Tsar's Departure And Farewell - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
The Tale Of Tsar Saltan, Suite, Op.57: II. The Tsarina And Her Son Afloat In The Cask - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
The Tale Of Tsar Saltan, Suite, Op.57: III. The Three Wonders - N. Rimsky-Korsakov
The Tale Of Tsar Saltan: The Flight Of The Bumblebee - N. Rimsky-Korsakov

Tracks:

Russian Easter Festival: Overture, Op.36 - Rimsky-Korsakov
Christmas Eve Suite - Rimsky-Korsakov
Dubinushka, Op.62 - Rimsky-Korsakov
Sadko, Musical Picture, Op.5 - Rimsky-Korsakov
The Snow Maiden Suite: Introduction- Danse des oiseaux- Cortege- Danse des bouffons - Rimsky-Korsakov

Customer Reviews:

Great mix of music though OK performance.......2007-02-07

Rimsky - Korsakov is one of the greats of Russian music who composed works for multiple genres such as ballets, operas, symphonies, overtures, concertos, etc. This two-disc set provides a good compilation of many of these works without resorting to the common method of taking 3 - 4 minute samples from multiple works that embody the most famous tunes from said works. Instead, the album includes multiple works in whole such as Scheherazade, the Tale of Tsar Saltan, Snow Maiden Suite, and The Russian Easter Festival Overture. The result is two discs with over an hour of music per disc. However, many of the works are quite unknown, and can require some patience to listen through and appreciate.

The orchestration and sound quality is only alright. For example, this album's performance of the Russian Easter Festival Overture was sub-par compared to what I have heard in other albums. Overall, a good buy, but not a great buy.

Wow.........2006-04-28

Quite possibly one of the worst Scheherazade's I have ever heard from a "professional" orchestra. There is some REALLY BAD playing on here. I still can't believe that a recording would be put out where the playing can sound completely incompetent at times. I really don't understand that. This is NOT a good recording!! Just the fact that there are so many noticeable mistakes proves that. If you are a musician, this should bother you and make you wince.

Do yourself a favor and buy a different recording, either Bernstein with New York, Temirkanov with New York, or Maazel with Cleveland, or Concertgebouw or Philly. Any other recording will definitely be of better quality.

Colorful, Romantic, Dramatic, and Consistently Musical !.......2004-03-09

In the past, I have enjoyed other Scheherazades, most notably those by Ormandy, Reiner, Monteux, Stokowski, Kondrashin and Beecham, especially the latter two. I must now include this marvelous Ansermet after re-acquainting myself with his performance after many years of neglect. While the Suisse Romande Orchestra has never been seen as having quite matched the reputations of the Philadelphia, Chicago Symphony and Concertgebouw Orchestras, it performs so magically and musically here that it seems to transport one on the proverbial flying carpet to exotic lands. Tones are rounded, sweet and golden, yet there is no slighting of drama. As conductor, Ansermet is in no hurry to impress with an eye and ear to sheer virtuosity. He proceeds with an easy flowing, characterful, sensuous style. I haven't heard many more satisfyingly rendered first movements than his. But the same holds true for the other three as well, especially the gorgeously fragrant third movement ( "The Young Prince and the Young Princess" ). Throughout the Ansermet/Suisse Romande performance there is a wonderful songfulness and a pleasing exotic ambiance. In many places, instrumental sounds simply glow....Virtually everything else on these discs is also a delicious treat, especially since such brightly varied pieces as Tale of the Tsar Saltan, The Christmas Eve Suite and The Snow Maiden have never been well represented in recordings, though I have enjoyed for some time Svetlanov's Tsar Saltan. All these works of Rimsky-Korsakov reveal one of the finest examples of a composer who possessed the wonderful ability to create splendid color and captivating tunefulness. And, I think, there were few other conductors who had Ernest Ansermet's talent to project these appealing delights with such endearing and satisfying musical expression.

absolute magic.......2000-09-21

This should be an essential part of any Russian music lover's library. Ansermet had a particular affinity with this repertoire, and the very distinctive sound of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande make this a very endearing and memorable release. It's a paradox, but though Rimsky's orchestral pallette is opulent and technicolour in the extreme, it is not particularly lush in the R.Straussian sense - the timbres separate, and the clarity of the texturing in these OSR performances make every subtlety of the orchestration apparent: listen to the different ways Rimsky scores the same E major chord in the first movement of 'Scheherazade' - on this recording every register change tells.

Tracks:

Grieg: Morning Mood
Dvorak: Waltz From Serenade For Strings
Faure: Pavane, Op. 50
Bach: Air
Holst: Finale (The Dargason) from St. Paul's Suite
Debussy: Prelude To "The Afternoon Of A Faun"
Faure: Sicilienne from Pelleas et Melisande
Bach: Sleepers, Awake
Debussy: En Bateau
Grieg: Anitra's Dance
Britten: Sunday Morning By The Beach
Williams: Seventeen Come Sunday From English Folk Song Suite
Strauss: Morning Newspapers

Customer Reviews:

I recommend it highly.......2005-10-05

I have yet to grow tired of this CD. I listen to it at work several times per week.

Pour yourself some tea, get the paper and put on this CD.......2002-02-14

This truly is a great album for a Sunday morning. I bought it after a recent morning I spent with my boyfriend; we made tea, ate breakfast, cuddled and napped, but I wanted some relaxing classical tunes to put on. I stumbled across this, and it certainly fits the bill.

I also liked that it had a good mix of familiar songs and ones I hadn't heard before. Selections include "Morning" and "Anitra's Dance" by Grieg, "Serenade for Strings in E Major" by Dvorak, "Sunday Morning" by Britten, "Pavane" by Faure, "Seventeen Come Sunday" by Vaughan Williams, "Air on a G String" by Bach, "Morgenblatter" by Strauss, "The Dargason" by Holst, "Prelude a l'Apres-Midi d'un Faune" by Debussy, and "En Bateau" and "Sicilienne" by Faure.

Tracks:

Prince Igor - Overture
Symphony No. 2 In B Minor - In The Steppes Of Central Asia
Symphony No. 2 In B Minor - Allegro
Symphony No. 2 In B Minor - Scherzo (Prestissimo)
Symphony No. 2 In B Minor - Andante
Symphony No. 2 In B Minor - Finale (Allegro)
Symphony No. 3 In A Minor - Moderato assai
Symphony No. 3 In A Minor - Scherzo (Vivo)
Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) - Dance No. 8
Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) - Dance No. 17

Customer Reviews:

Great selection, not perfect execution.......2001-07-21

Recently, I heard many of the pieces on this disc being used as the background music for a movie that Mystery Science Theater 3000 covered ("Fire Maidens of Outer Space," MST3k episode 416). I discovered that from somewhere, I already knew and loved this music and very much wanted it. So I did a search [...], knowing that in particular I was looking to include the Polovtsian Dances No.s 8 and 17. All of the discs I found with these pieces, tended to be among compilations of composers (instead of the all-Borodin I was looking for). I found a few fantastic-seeming Borodin collections, but they were long out of print. When I discovered this particular disc and joyfully examined all the samples it contained, I knew this was what I was looking for, ordered it [...], and was pleased to receive it very promptly. My only confusion lies in something I could swear I hear throughout the disc which I couldn't -- and still can't -- hear in my laptop speakers with the downloaded samples. I could swear for the first time ever, I've heard a professional orchestra with some members who don't quite get the right note even when their instruments are prominent? I admit I am very picky about pitch, but I've never before had that problem with classical discs I've picked up. If you are not really picky about pitch, I can recommend this disc wholeheartedly, as a 5. The sound is good, and the overall dynamics are good, and if you are considering this disc you probably love the music already. If you are distracted by flatted notes and poor blending, it's probably more of a 3. But I am still very glad to have the disc.

Average customer rating:

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

Manufacturer: Universal France
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00004VFNY
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Tracks:

Pelleas Et Melisande

Album Details

Separate order gp 8/8/2006

Average customer rating:

Absolutely perfect
A Wonderful Relaxing CD!

Adagios for After Hours

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pavanes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Baroque at Bathtime: A Relaxing Serenade to Wash Your Cares Away
Lullabies for Lovers: A Romantic Nightcap for Cuddlers
Tchaikovsky At Tea Time: A Refreshing Blend For Body And Spirit
Bach at Bedtime: Lullabies for the Still of the Night
Debussy for Daydreaming: Music to Caress Your Innermost Thoughts

ASIN: B00004YX36
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Tracks:

Petite Ste: En Bateau - Detroit SO/Paul Paray
Gymnopedie No.1 - ASMF/Sir Neville Marriner
Clair De Lune - Orch De La Suisse Romande/Ernest Ansermet
Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo - Orch Dell'accedemia Di Santa Cecilia Roma/Tullio Serafin
Reverie - Zoltan Kocsis
Pavanne For A Dead Princess - Royal Concertgebouw Orch/Bernard Haitink
Pavane, Op.50 - ASMF/Sir Neville Marriner
Gtr Con in D: Largo - Celin Romero
Ob Con in d: Siciliano - Heinz Hollinger
Canon in D - ASMF/Sir Neville Marriner
Pno Con No.21 in C, K. 467: Andante - Mitsuko Uchida
Adagio in g - I Musici/Maria Teresa Garatti
Orch Ste No.3 in D: Air - English CO/Raymond Leppard
Moonlight Son: Andante Sostenuto - Claudio Arrau
Cl Con in A, K. 622: Adagio - Karl Leister

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely perfect.......2003-02-04

This is a wonderful collection of some of the most beautiful, relaxing classical music composed by the greatest artists of our history. My personal favorites, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Gabriel Faure, are well represented here. The selections are made based on their ability to relax, and transport you to another place. They certainly succeed. In these troubled and stressful times, we need to return to another period, to music that had the ability to transform and to heal. I feel that once this CD is playing, I don't need anything else to relax me. This is beautiful, timeless music, that will never go stale.

A Wonderful Relaxing CD!.......2001-01-04

This CD had much more than I bargained for when I bought it. I recognized many of the pieces, and was quite happy with my purchase. This CD does not lie. It is very soothing and is wonderful to listen to after hours.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

The Thorns [Enhanced] [Hybrid SACD]

Basel Sinfonietta

At The Savoy Ballroom

That Satin Doll/The Theme from Beyond the Fringe and All That Jazz

Mister Mental, Pt. 2 [CD-single] [Import]

At His Best

Along the Road

After the Requiem

Avocet [Original recording remastered] [Import]

American Pie

Autobahn

20 Exitazos

70 Años Peerless Una Historia Musical

Eyesight to the Blind

Up & Down