Cactus Music

An A-Z of 23 conductors in a feast of classic recordings from Decca's early years - 1929-1949 - including the golden age of it's 'ffrr' technology. Newly remastered from the best available sources by Mark Obert-Thorn, Ward Marston and Andrew Hallifax, this comprehensively annotated and richly illustrated set features several new-to-CD releases. It is a must-have for any follower of historical recordings. Spanning almost twenty years, the unique story of this set begins in May 1929 with Decca's first major recording, Delius's Sea Drift - a performance whose merits were obscured at the time by surface noise, but which the latest technology reveals to be a gloriously sympathetic reading of Delius's poignant elegy. Back then, the conductor (Anthony Bernard) was not even printed on the 78 labels; yet, for a later recording in the set, a suite of Handel, the name of Erich Kleiber stands out: a sign of how far the label travelled in it's first twenty years, through some choppy commercial waters, to become a byword for technological excellence and world-class musical artistry drawn from around the globe. The pre-war recordings inevitably centre on British/Irish conducting talent, old and new: Hamilton Harty, dynamic in Haydn and Walton; Walton himself, in a definitive first recording of Façade; atmospheric Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Coates from Henry Wood. One of the rarest items in the set is Bach's Concerto for Two Violins as led by Mengelberg in 1936. The post-war material includes several great names of the podium from those pre-war days, judiciously picked up by Decca when they might otherwise have been forgotten: Albert Coates whipping up a frenzy in the Russian repertoire he made his own; Clemens Krauss, incandescent in Strauss from Milan and London; Leo Blech's genial 'Surprise' Symphony of Haydn. Senior composer-conductors include Fitelberg in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 and Enescu in Schumann's Second. Then there are thrilling young podium tyros who were setting London musical life alight in the postwar years: Celibidache's electrifying and wayward Tchaikovsky, Martinon's exquisite Ravel, Coppola's majestic Schumann. A note from the remastering engineer Andrew Hallifax explains the history behind this first-ever release of Handel choruses conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. Mark Obert-Thorn explains his choice of treasures for this box and introduces the history of Decca and it's revolutionary development of 'full frequency range recording' in the late 1940s. Peter Quantrill expands the historical perspective with notes on both Decca and each of the individual conductors in the box.
An A-Z of 23 conductors in a feast of classic recordings from Decca's early years - 1929-1949 - including the golden age of it's 'ffrr' technology. Newly remastered from the best available sources by Mark Obert-Thorn, Ward Marston and Andrew Hallifax, this comprehensively annotated and richly illustrated set features several new-to-CD releases. It is a must-have for any follower of historical recordings. Spanning almost twenty years, the unique story of this set begins in May 1929 with Decca's first major recording, Delius's Sea Drift - a performance whose merits were obscured at the time by surface noise, but which the latest technology reveals to be a gloriously sympathetic reading of Delius's poignant elegy. Back then, the conductor (Anthony Bernard) was not even printed on the 78 labels; yet, for a later recording in the set, a suite of Handel, the name of Erich Kleiber stands out: a sign of how far the label travelled in it's first twenty years, through some choppy commercial waters, to become a byword for technological excellence and world-class musical artistry drawn from around the globe. The pre-war recordings inevitably centre on British/Irish conducting talent, old and new: Hamilton Harty, dynamic in Haydn and Walton; Walton himself, in a definitive first recording of Façade; atmospheric Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Coates from Henry Wood. One of the rarest items in the set is Bach's Concerto for Two Violins as led by Mengelberg in 1936. The post-war material includes several great names of the podium from those pre-war days, judiciously picked up by Decca when they might otherwise have been forgotten: Albert Coates whipping up a frenzy in the Russian repertoire he made his own; Clemens Krauss, incandescent in Strauss from Milan and London; Leo Blech's genial 'Surprise' Symphony of Haydn. Senior composer-conductors include Fitelberg in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 and Enescu in Schumann's Second. Then there are thrilling young podium tyros who were setting London musical life alight in the postwar years: Celibidache's electrifying and wayward Tchaikovsky, Martinon's exquisite Ravel, Coppola's majestic Schumann. A note from the remastering engineer Andrew Hallifax explains the history behind this first-ever release of Handel choruses conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. Mark Obert-Thorn explains his choice of treasures for this box and introduces the history of Decca and it's revolutionary development of 'full frequency range recording' in the late 1940s. Peter Quantrill expands the historical perspective with notes on both Decca and each of the individual conductors in the box.
028948421176
Decca Conductors' Gallery / Various (Box) (Aus)
Artist: Decca Conductors' Gallery / Various
Format: CD
New: Available $146.99
Wish

Formats and Editions

DISC: 1

1. Delius: Sea Drift (With Roy Henderson) - Anthony Bernard
2. Walton: Overture 'Portsmouth Point' - Anthony Bernard
3. Walton: Façade (With Edith Sitwell, Constant Lambert); Viola Concerto (With Frederick Riddle) - Sir William Walton
4. Walton: Symphony No. 1 - Sir Hamilton Harty
5. Haydn: Symphony No. 95 - Sir Hamilton Harty
6. Berlioz: Overture 'Le Roi Lear'; Marche Troyenne (Les Troyens) - Sir Hamilton Harty
7. Handel-Harty: Suite in Five Movements - Sir Hamilton Harty
8. Purcell-Wood: Suite in Five Movements - Sir Henry Wood
9. Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves; Overture 'The Wasps'; Symphony No. 2 'A London Symphony' - Sir Henry Wood
10. Coates: London Suite; London Bridge - March - Sir Henry Wood
11. Elgar: Enigma Variations - Sir Henry Wood
12. J.S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins (With Louis Zimmermann, Ferdinand Helman) - Willem Mengelberg
13. Gluck: Overture 'Alceste' - Willem Mengelberg
14. Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain; Gopak (Sorochintsy Fair) - Albert Coates
15. Rimsky-Korsakov: Snegurochka - Suite - Albert Coates
16. Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq D'or - Suite - Albert Coates
17. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'; Romeo and Juliet - Fantasy Overture - Albert Coates
18. Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' - Victor de Sabata
19. Berlioz: Overture 'Le Carnaval Romain' - Victor de Sabata
20. Sibelius: Valse Triste - Victor de Sabata
21. Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre) - Victor de Sabata
22. Sibelius: en Saga - Victor de Sabata
23. Bizet: Ouverture 'Patrie'; Jeux D'enfants - Petite Suite - Roger Désormière
24. Chabrier: Habanera - Roger Désormière
25. Debussy: Marche Ecossaise - Roger Désormière
26. Opera Arias - Gounod, Offenbach, Thomas, Proch, Charpentier (With Janine Micheau) - Roger Désormière
27. Wagner: Overture 'Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg' - Grzegorz Fitelberg
28. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 (With Eileen Joyce) - Grzegorz Fitelberg
29. Borodin: Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) - Grzegorz Fitelberg
30. Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan - Suite - Grzegorz Fitelberg
31. Brahms: Symphony No. 2 - Wilhelm Furtwängler ^1
32. Rossini: Overture 'La Scala Di Seta' - Carlo Zecchi ^1
33. Pizzetti: La Pisanelle - Suite - Carlo Zecchi ^1
34. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 (With Clara Haskil) - Carlo Zecchi ^1
35. Grieg: Symphonic Dances Nos. 1,2 ; 4 - Piero Coppola ^1
36. Schumann: Symphony No. 1 - Piero Coppola ^1
37. Schumann: Symphony No. 2 - George Enescu ^1
38. Debussy: Petite Suite - Ernest Ansermet ^1
39. Debussy: La Mer - Ernest Ansermet ^1
40. Ravel: Alborada Del Gracioso (Miroirs) - Ernest Ansermet ^1
41. Ravel: Shéhérazade (With Suzanne Danco); la Valse - Ernest Ansermet ^1
42. Beethoven: Overture 'Fidelio' - Clemens Krauss ^1
43. Brahms: Academic Festival Overture - Clemens Krauss ^1
44. R. Strauss: Tod Und Verklärung - Clemens Krauss ^1
45. R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche - Clemens Krauss ^1
46. Wagner: Overtures, 'Tannhäuser' ; 'Der Fliegende Holländer' - Paul Van Kempen ^1
47. Handel: Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Semele, Alexander's Feast, Solomon, Serse - Excerpts; Zadok the Priest - Sir Malcolm Sargent ^
48. Handel-Harty: Music for the Royal Fireworks - Suite - Sir Malcolm Sargent ^1
49. Holst: The Perfect Fool - Ballet Music - Sir Malcolm Sargent ^1
50. Elgar: Overture 'Cockaigne' - Eduard Van Beinum ^1
51. Britten: Four Sea Interludes ; Passacaglia from Peter Grimes - Eduard Van Beinum ^1
52. Arnold: Overture 'Beckus the Dandipratt' - Eduard Van Beinum ^1
53. Mahler: Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (With Eugenia Zareska) - Eduard Van Beinum ^1
54. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 - Eduard Van Beinum ^1
55. Wagner: Overture 'Rienzi'; Tannhäuser - Overture ; Venusberg Music; Lohengrin - Prelude to Act III; Die Meistersinger Von Nürn
56. Wagner: Lohengrin - Prelude to Act I - Hans Knappertsbusch ^1
57. Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg - Prelude to Act I - Hans Knappertsbusch ^1
58. Handel: Andante Larghetto (Berenice) - Erich Kleiber ^1
59. Mozart: Symphony No. 40 - Erich Kleiber ^1
60. Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral' - Erich Kleiber ^1
61. Josef Strauss: Sphärenklänge - Erich Kleiber ^1
62. Johann Strauss II: Overture 'Der Zigeunerbaron' - Erich Kleiber ^1
63. Dvorák: Overture 'Carnaval' - Erich Kleiber ^1
64. Tchaikovsky: Da, Cas Nastal!... Prostite VI, Kholmï, Polya Rodnïye (The Maid of Orléans) (With Eugenia Zareska) - Jean Martin
65. Chabrier: Suite Pastorale - Jean Martinon ^1
66. Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin - Jean Martinon ^2
67. Humperdinck: Prelude 'Hänsel Und Gretel' - Leo Blech ^2
68. Haydn: Symphony No. 94 'Surprise' - Leo Blech ^2
69. Mozart: Symphony No. 25 - Sergiu Celibidache ^2
70. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; the Nutcracker - Suite - Sergiu Celibidache

More Info:

An A-Z of 23 conductors in a feast of classic recordings from Decca's early years - 1929-1949 - including the golden age of it's 'ffrr' technology. Newly remastered from the best available sources by Mark Obert-Thorn, Ward Marston and Andrew Hallifax, this comprehensively annotated and richly illustrated set features several new-to-CD releases. It is a must-have for any follower of historical recordings. Spanning almost twenty years, the unique story of this set begins in May 1929 with Decca's first major recording, Delius's Sea Drift - a performance whose merits were obscured at the time by surface noise, but which the latest technology reveals to be a gloriously sympathetic reading of Delius's poignant elegy. Back then, the conductor (Anthony Bernard) was not even printed on the 78 labels; yet, for a later recording in the set, a suite of Handel, the name of Erich Kleiber stands out: a sign of how far the label travelled in it's first twenty years, through some choppy commercial waters, to become a byword for technological excellence and world-class musical artistry drawn from around the globe. The pre-war recordings inevitably centre on British/Irish conducting talent, old and new: Hamilton Harty, dynamic in Haydn and Walton; Walton himself, in a definitive first recording of Façade; atmospheric Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Coates from Henry Wood. One of the rarest items in the set is Bach's Concerto for Two Violins as led by Mengelberg in 1936. The post-war material includes several great names of the podium from those pre-war days, judiciously picked up by Decca when they might otherwise have been forgotten: Albert Coates whipping up a frenzy in the Russian repertoire he made his own; Clemens Krauss, incandescent in Strauss from Milan and London; Leo Blech's genial 'Surprise' Symphony of Haydn. Senior composer-conductors include Fitelberg in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 and Enescu in Schumann's Second. Then there are thrilling young podium tyros who were setting London musical life alight in the postwar years: Celibidache's electrifying and wayward Tchaikovsky, Martinon's exquisite Ravel, Coppola's majestic Schumann. A note from the remastering engineer Andrew Hallifax explains the history behind this first-ever release of Handel choruses conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. Mark Obert-Thorn explains his choice of treasures for this box and introduces the history of Decca and it's revolutionary development of 'full frequency range recording' in the late 1940s. Peter Quantrill expands the historical perspective with notes on both Decca and each of the individual conductors in the box.
        
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