Antal Doráti: The Mercury Masters - The Stereo Recordings

 
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TCHAIKOVSKY / RACHMANINOV / MUSSORGSKY / DELIBES / BARTOK / etc
Antal Doráti: The Mercury Masters - The Stereo Recordings
Antal Doráti, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

[ Australian Eloquence Mercury Living Presence / 30 CD Box Set ]

Release Date: Friday 21 July 2023

Documenting all of Antal Doráti's stereo recordings with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra for Mercury, this edition showcases a golden era in American classical recording. The recordings were heralded with superlatives from contemporary journals - "Breathtaking, this Doráti…", "as technically flawless as it is sonically and melodically intoxicating" (High Fidelity) - and reveals a musical personality centered on dynamism, intensity, and an exceptional ability to persuasively articulate rhythms. The project has been supervised by Thomas Fine and includes CD premieres, a previously unpublished audio interview and rare session photographs from the archives.

"fiery, colourful and warm-blooded and superbly recorded" Tempo
"Sonically it is hair-raising" Hi-Fi Review

The Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti joined the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra as its music director in 1949, and immediately began making it into one of the orchestral powerhouses of the post-war United States. Mercury began recording the ensemble in 1952 and continued to do so until his departure in 1960. Doráti's 51 albums (24 mono, 27 stereo) are a testament to what he achieved with the orchestra during his eleven years there. They reveal a musical personality centred on dynamism, intensity, and an exceptional ability to persuasively articulate rhythms.

Eloquence presents the most complete ever reissue of the Doráti/Minneapolis legacy in two 'original jackets' boxes, faithfully representing the contents of the albums as they were first issued. New remastering made or supervised by Thomas Fine, son of Mercury's long-time chief engineer and producer, as well as original remastering for CD by Wilma Cozart Fine, bring this legacy to life as never before. Thomas Fine contributes a 'sessionography' to each box detailing the technical facets of the Mercury Living Presence recordings, and Dennis D. Rooney is the author of authoritative booklet notes surveying the history of the partnership on record as well as his personal memoirs of the period.

The stereo box features some repertoire remakes of mono-era recordings, and while close comparison between them only serves to underline the conductor's remarkable consistency of idea and execution - he knew what he wanted, and he got it - there are many insights to be found in placing Dorati's mono and stereo Rites side by side, his Johann Strauss waltzes and Richard Strauss tone-poems, his Scheherazade, Petrouchka, Pines of Rome and more. Doráti continued to lavish his perfectionist ear and sprung rhythms on ballet scores such as Copland's Rodeo and Delibes's Coppélia.

Significant rarities - some of them appearing for the first time on CD - include albums of contemporary American pieces by Fetler, Peterson and Schuller, and a disc of Doráti's own music. One more rarity, never reissued since 1958, is 'The Magic of the Bells': a collection of hymns recorded on the same Riverside Church, New York bells as the legendary 1812 Overture album. As sequels to the Eloquence boxes dedicated to Kubelík in Chicago and Paray in Detroit, these Doráti collections comprehensively document a golden era in American classical recording.

The much-requested Doráti Minneapolis legacy on Mercury, reissued in a single collection with the bright and lively original jackets

This is a strictly Limited Edition

"With beautiful original album covers, a generous sampling of spectacular performances, and an immediate and bold recorded sound, there is so much to enjoy in this collection. Highly recommended." Fanfare

"Doráti has a nice conception of these mostly familiar Strauss works, which he delivers with a firm hand and a healthy regard for the Viennese style." High Fidelity, March 1959 (Strauss: Waltzes)

"There isn't, and won't be another record like this one... it has to be heard to be believed... is it possible to exceed this in the art of reproduced sound?" The New Records, Philadelphia, April 1959 (Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture)

"The conductor can have a field day, as Antal Doráti does, leading a band that is as dazzling as it is necessary to be in this music." La revue administrative, May 1968 (Respighi)

"Arguably the finest version of the Rite on record." Gramophone, August 1977 (Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps)

Tracks:

CD 1
BARTÓK Suite No. 2

CD 2
R. STRAUSS
Suite from 'Der Rosenkavalier'
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche

CD 3
KODÁLY Háry János - Suite
BARTÓK Hungarian Sketches
Roumanian Folk Dances

CD 4
JOHANN STRAUSS II Waltzes
FIRST RELEASE OF COMPLETE LP ON CD

CD 5
BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2
Yehudi Menuhin

CD 6
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 'Eroica'

CD 7
ROSSINI Overtures

CD 8
OFFENBACH (arr. Rosenthal) Gaîté Parisienne
J. STRAUSS II (arr. Doráti) Graduation Ball

CD 9
ALBÉNIZ (orch. Arbos) Iberia
FALLA Interlude and Dance No. 1 (La Vida Breve)

CD 10
BRAHMS Symphony No. 2

CD 11
Strauss Family Album
FIRST RELEASE OF COMPLETE LP ON CD

CD 12
COPLAND Rodeo; El Salón México
Danzon Cubano
GERSHWIN An American in Paris

CDs 13-14
DELIBES Coppélia

CD 15
TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture
(including spoken commentary)
Capriccio italien
Deems Taylor

CDs 16-17
DVOŘÁK Slavonic Dances
SMETANA The Bartered Bride - Dances

CD 18
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade

CD 19
TCHAIKOVSKY March slave
Eugene Onegin - Waltz & Polonaise
Francesca da Rimini

CD 20
RICHARD STRAUSS Don Juan
Tod und Verklärung

CD 21
STRAVINSKY Petrouchka

CD 22
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition
Khovanshchina - Prelude & Dance of the Persian Slaves

CD 23
BLOCH Sinfonia breve
PETERSON Free Variations for Orchestra*
*FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 24
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5

CD 25
STRAVINSKY Le Sacre du printemps

CD 26
DORÁTI Symphony
Nocturne and Capriccio
Antal Doráti Interview°
Roger Lord; Allegri String Quartet
Dennis D. Rooney
FIRST RELEASE ON CD
°PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED

CD 27
SCHULLER Seven Studies
FETLER Contrasts for Orchestra

CD 28
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2
Two Preludes
Byron Janis

CD 29
RESPIGHI Pini di Roma
Fontane di Roma

CD 30
The Magic of the Bells
Kamiel Lefévere
FIRST RELEASE ON CD