Description: Ernest Ansermet Russian Music 33 CD Box Set Decca Classical Recordings 1951-1969 This CD set features the beautiful sounds of Ernest Ansermet and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande performing classic Russian compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Nikoli Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, Alexander Glazunov, Modest Mussorgsky, Mikhail Ginka, Mili Balakirev, Sergei Rachmaninov, Anatoly Liadov, Igor Stravinsky, and Sergei Prokofiev among other famous Russian composers. Conductor Ernest Ansermet was a friend of Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky and championed their music throughout his long career. His Decca recordings with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande have achieved benchmark status for this repertoire. This is a new unplayed box set with the original shrink wrap removed. Born in Switzerland, Ansermat was a mathematics professor, teaching at the University of Lausanne. He began conducting at the Casino in Montreux in 1912, and from 1915 to 1923 was the conductor for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Travelling in France for this, he met both Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and consulted them on the performance of their works. During World War I, he met Igor Stravinsky, who was exiled in Switzerland, and from this meeting began the conductor's lifelong association with Russian music which was always a fundamental part of Ansermet's vast repertoire. He spent seven years as conductor with the famous Ballets Russes during a particularly glorious period for the company. Formed in 1907 by Serge Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes brought a breath of fresh air to artistic creativity at the beginning of the twentieth century and had a decisive influence on the tastes and customs of the countries through which the company travelled. Under the leadership of the cultivated and somewhat capricious Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes went on to discover and encourage new choreographers (Fokine, Nijinsky, Massine, Balanchine, Lifar) who made a lasting impact on the history of modern dance while at the same time putting its faith in new creative artists, dancers and composers (Stravinsky, Ravel, Poulenc, Milhaud), writers (Cocteau) and painters (Bakst, Larionov, Braque, Picasso, de Chirico, Delaunay, Matisse, Laurencin and many others). Numerous conductors worked with the Ballets Russes and while some have been forgotten, others are still very much remembered, particularly Ansermet who, from 1916 to 1923, was in the company's front line, conducting the first performances of such famous ballets as Satie's "Parade", Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat", Stravinsky's "Song of the Nightingale", "Pulcinella", "Renard", and "Les Noces" and Prokofiev's "Chout". But Ansermet knew and loved Russian music quite apart from the Ballets Russes. The Europe that was pre-World War I had a strong attachment to this music. Glinka's overture to "Ruslan and Lyudmila", Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade", "Golden Cockerel" and "Antar", Mussorgsky's "A Night on the Bare Mountain", and Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia", "Polovtsian Dances" and Second Symphony were some of the regulars at the Sunday concerts of the great European orchestral associations. It was Ravel, a devotee of recent Russian music who proposed the first movement of Borodin's Second Symphony as the rallying cry of the "Société des Apaches", a French artistic group formed in 1900, principally of musicians and writers. Ravel dedicated each of the pieces in his "Miroirs" for piano to a member of the Apaches. It should not be forgotten, too, how much of Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" rubbed off on Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande" or that the composer had, as a young man, been the piano-teacher of the children of Tchaikovsky's patroness, Nadezhda von Meck. Russian music consequently held no mysteries for Ansermet, and with his long black beard, he was even taken for a Russian on occasion. The conductor loved to tell the tale of how, after a performance by the Ballets Russes in Madrid in the presence of Alfonso XIII, the King had said to him, "So obviously, with your beard, you are a complete Muscovite!" and Ansermet replied, "No, Your Majesty, I'm Swiss!". The King was highly amused that a Swiss was conducting the Russian ballet. Russian repertoire accounts for a large part of Ansermet's discography, starting in New York in 1916 with extracts from works by Rimsky-Korsakov (Scheherazade and The Snow Maiden), Nikolai Tcherepnin (Le Pavillon d'Armide) and ending in 1968 with the sumptuous recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra of the complete "Firebird" ballet by Stravinsky, in the original 1910 version. In between, Ansermet made many recordings of Russian repertoire, including Tchaikovsky's three great ballets, the "Pathétique" Symphony and other works. Russian composers included in this 33 disc set are Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Glazunov, Liadov, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and, in first place of course, Stravinsky; Ansermet remains one of the major interpreters of his music. It is a source of joy but also, at times, confusion that the same works were recorded several times, as recording technology developed. What is striking is that Ansermet's interpretations vary little from one version to another – which is not to say that he did not develop as an artist but rather that he was a conductor with a matured and considered concept of the work he was performing. This collection brings together Russian repertoire recorded at the very beginning of the 1950s, just before the invention of stereo. In 1918 Ansermet founded his own orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He toured widely in Europe and America and became famous for accurate performances of difficult modern music, making first recordings of works such as Stravinsky's Capriccio with the composer as soloist. After World War II, Ansermet and his orchestra rose to international prominence through a long-term contract with Decca Records. From that time until his death, he recorded most of his repertoire, often two or three times. His interpretations were widely regarded as admirably clear and authoritative. Ansermet's double good fortune was to be at the peak of his powers in the mid-1950's at the dawn of stereo recording and this 33 CD set shows him in his prime, conducting Russian masterworks by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and many more. The 33-unit quantity box set includes a compilation of orchestral music with piano and orchestra accompaniment, showcasing the timeless beauty of French classical music. This beautiful box set is an out-of-print edition, making it a rare find for any collector or music enthusiast. Please see photos for track listings.
Price: 379.99 USD
Location: Pleasanton, California
End Time: 2024-09-08T02:42:25.000Z
Shipping Cost: 8.88 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Artist: Ernest Ansermet
CD Grading: Excellent (EX)
Record Label: Decca
Occasion: All Occasions
Case Type: Cardboard Box
Custom Bundle: No
MPN: 480 7898
Inlay Condition: Excellent (EX)
Unit Type: Unit
Format: CD
Language: Russian
Release Year: 2014
Style: Orchestral, Russian Music
Features: Compilation, Import
Performer Orchestra: L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Unit Quantity: 33
Non-Domestic Product: No
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Nikoli Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Mikhail Ginka, Mili Balakirev, Sergei Rachmaninov, Anatoly Liadov, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Glazunov
Release Title: Russian Music
Color: Gray
Case Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)
Catalog Number: 028948203772
Modified Item: No
Edition: Out of Print
Type: Box Set
Producer: Does not apply
Era: Classical: Romantic (1815-1910)
Instrument: Piano and Orchestra
Conductor: Ernest Ansermet
Genre: Classical Artists
Country/Region of Manufacture: Germany
