Igor Markevitch: the Deutsche Grammophon Legacy
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CHERUBINI / RIMSKY-KORSAKOV / TCHAIKOVSKY / MILHAUD / MOZART / BERLIOZ / etc
Igor Markevitch: the Deutsche Grammophon Legacy
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Berliner Philharmoniker, Igor Markevitch
[ Deutsche Grammophon Australian Eloquence / 21 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Friday 15 October 2021
Issued complete for the first time, Igor Markevitchs Deutsche Grammophon legacy from Berlin, Paris, Prague and New York, made between 1953 and 1965. ORIGINAL JACKETS | LIMITED EDITION.
I record so much I forget even my own records! Markevitch was a prolific recording artist for several labels, principal among them Deutsche Grammophon, HMV/EMI and Philips (Eloquence has also released a new, complementary collection of his Philips legacy). He felt more comfortable in the studio than many of his podium colleagues and viewed recording as the opportunity to bring out aspects of the score which could remain unheard by live audiences.
As a polymath, Markevitch turned from composition to conducting after the Second World War, and soon became one of the most in-demand conductors of his day, at home in a vast range of repertoire, equally at home in Classical-era symphonies by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, Romantic narratives by Berlioz, Wagner and Tchaikovsky, and contemporary Francophone composers such as Milhaud, Honegger and Roussel, bringing to each of them a sharp attack and acute sensitivity to colour and harmony.
Nowadays, many conductors follow Markevitchs lead in refusing to specialise: he was a man ahead of his time, and his analytical mind was well suited to the precision of DGs engineering teams. He worked with many of Europes finest orchestras, enjoying a productive relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic which resulted in many superb recordings from 195355, such as a pioneering album of symphonies by Schumanns Swedish contemporary, Franz Berwald. Late in 1956, an invitation to conduct the successor to Toscaninis NBC Symphony, the Symphony of the Air, resulted in lithe and athletic symphonic Beethoven (No. 3) and Brahms (No. 1)
Most of Markevitchs DG legacy, however, was made in Paris, with the Lamoureux Orchestra whose fortunes he revived as chief conductor between 1957 and 1961. This relationship produced fleet and graceful, French-accented Beethoven (Pastoral Symphony and overtures) and Brahms (Symphony No. 4) and a superbly cast Damnation of Faust still widely considered as the finest interpretation of Berliozs dramatic legend on record. Gounod, Bizet, Auber and Debussy receive no less vividly idiomatic treatment.
Markevitch was best known internationally as a fiery interpreter of Russian repertoire, represented here by virtuoso pieces of tone-colour and atmosphere from Lyadov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and Tchaikovsky, including two specialities, Francesca da Rimini and the Pathetique Symphony. He could also galvanise choruses to heights of dynamic response: DG recorded him in Haydns Creation, Mozarts Coronation Mass (twice, in Berlin and Paris, both reissued here) and the less familiar D minor Requiem of Cherubini and Gounods Saint Cecilia Mass. Recorded in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic in the early 1960s, these albums became Markevitchs swansong to DG. Featuring original covers and a new essay by Peter Quantrill, this box includes much material long unavailable on CD.
"There has never been a Faust as totally idiomatic as this one. The score came home to Paris, as it were, not simply because of geography but more importantly, for the pure Gallic singing by the principals and the wonderfully piquant orchestral playing by the still traditional-sounding Orchestre Lamoureux None of this would count for much if Markevitch werent such a superb Berlioz interpreter equally superb Harold in Italy." Fanfare, March 2018
"The brilliant and exciting mono recording of Harold in Italy by Heinz Kirchner, a first-rate soloist, with the Berlin Philharmonic under Markevitch, brings a riveting final orgy." Penguin Guide, 1994 (Harold in Italy)
"A marvel: the Coronation Mass directed by Markevitch and especially the sublime Maria Stader in the Agnus dei solo." Diapason, August 1990
Tracks:
Cherubini: Requiem in D minor for male chorus & orchestra
Czech Philharmonic Chorus
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Igor Markevitch
Mozart: Mass in C major, K317 'Coronation Mass'
Maria Stader (soprano), Oralia Dominguez (mezzo-soprano), Ernst Haefliger (tenor), Michel Roux, Choeurs Elisabeth Brasseur
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Mozart: Symphony No. 34 in C major, K338
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D major, K504 'Prague'
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D major, K385 'Haffner'
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Gluck: Sinfonia in G major
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, K191
Maurice Allard (bassoon)
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Haydn: Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major, Op. 84, Hob. I / 105
Georges Alès (violin), André Remond (cello), Émile Mayousse (oboe), Raymond Droulez (bassoon)
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Cimarosa: Concerto in G major for two flutes
Aurèle Nicolet (flute), Fritz Demmler (flute)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Schubert: Symphony No. 3 in D major, D200
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op. 84
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Fidelio Overture Op. 72c
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Zur Namensfeier overture, Op. 115
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Consecration of the House Overture, Op. 124
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'
Symphony of the Air
Igor Markevitch
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 'Pastoral'
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Symphony of the Air
Igor Markevitch
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Op. 16
Heinz Kirchner (viola)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Cherubini: Anacréon Overture
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Auber: La muette de Portici: Overture
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24
Richard Verreau (Faust), Consuelo Rubio (Marguerite), Michel Roux (Méphistophélès), Pierre Mollet (Brander)
Chœurs Elisabeth Brasseur, Chœur Enfants RTF, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Gounod: Symphony No. 2 in E flat
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Bizet: Jeux d'enfants (Petite Suite), Op. 22
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Debussy: La Mer
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Rimsky Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Rimsky Korsakov: May Night Overture
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Rimsky Korsakov: Le Coq d'Or Suite
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Liadov: From the Apocalypse, Op. 66
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Glinka: Ruslan & Lyudmila Overture
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 'Pathétique'
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Wagner: Lohengrin: Prelude to Act 1
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Wagner: Parsifal: Prelude to Act 3
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Wagner: Tannhäuser: Overture
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Wagner: Tannhäuser: Venusberg Music (bacchanale)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Wagner: Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Milhaud: Les Choéphores, Op. 24
Genevieve Moizan (soprano), Hélène Bouvier (mezzo-soprano), Heinz Rehfuss (baritone)
Chorale de l'Université de Paris, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Honegger: Symphony No. 5 'Di tre re'
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43 - Suite No. 2
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Berwald: Symphony No. 3 in C major 'Sinfonie singulière'
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Berwald: Symphony No. 4 in E flat major 'Sinfonie naïve'
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D417 'Tragic'
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Haydn: The Creation
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Mozart: Mass in C major, K317 'Coronation Mass'
Berliner Philharmoniker
Igor Markevitch
Gounod: St Cecilia Mass
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Igor Markevitch
