Igor Markevitch – The Deutsche Grammophon Legacy

CD 1

LUIGI CHERUBINI (1760–1842) Requiem No. 2 in D minor /Czech Philharmonic Chorus & Orchestra

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Mass in C major, KV 317 ‘Krönungsmesse’ (1959 recording)

Maria Stader, soprano, Oralia Dominguez, contralto, Ernst Haefliger, tenor, Michel Roux, bass, Choeurs Elisabeth Brasseur, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

CD 2

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)

Symphony No. 34 in C major, KV 338*/Berliner Philharmoniker

Symphony No. 38 in D major, KV 504 ‘Prague’* /Berliner Philharmoniker

Symphony No. 35 in D major, KV 385 ‘Haffner’* /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK (1714–1787) Sinfonia in G major (Arr. Hans Gál)

Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

*mono recordings

CD 3

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)

Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, KV 191 /Maurice Allard, bassoon, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809) Sinfonia concertante in B flat major, H.I: 105*

Georges Alès, violin · André Remond, cello, Émile Mayousse, oboe · Raymond Droulez, bassoon, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

DOMENICO CIMAROSA (1749–1801) Concerto for two flutes in G major*

Aurèle Nicolet, Fritz Demmler, flutes, Berliner Philharmoniker

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 –1828) Symphony No. 3 in D major, D.200* /Berliner Philharmoniker

*mono recordings

CD 4

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)

Overture: Egmont, Op. 84

Overture: Leonore III

Overture: Fidelio, Op. 72

Overture: Coriolan, Op. 62

Overture: Zur Namensfeier, Op. 115

Overture: Die Weihe des Hauses, Op. 124

Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

CD 5

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’* /Symphony of the Air

*mono recording

CD 6

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ‘Pastoral’* /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

*mono recording

CD 7

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68* /Symphony of the Air

*mono recording

CD 8

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897) Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869) Harold en Italie, Op. 16* /Heinz Kirchner, viola, Berliner Philharmoniker

*mono recording

CD 9

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869) Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (1961 recording)

LUIGI CHERUBINI (1760–1842) Anacréon: Overture

DANIEL AUBER (1782–1871) La muette de Portici, S.16: Overture /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

CDs 10–11

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869) La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24

Faust – Richard Verreau, Marguerite – Consuelo Rubio, Méphistophélès – Michel Roux, Brander – Pierre Mollet

Chœurs Elisabeth Brasseur, Chœur Enfants RTF, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

CD 12

CHARLES GOUNOD (1818–1893) Symphony No. 2 in E flat major*

GEORGES BIZET (1838–1875) Jeux d’enfants, Op. 22*

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918) La Mer & Danse sacrée et Danse profane

Suzanne Cotelle, harp (Debussy: Danses), Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

*mono recordings

CD 13

NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)

Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36*

Overture: May Night

Le Coq d’or – Suite

ALEXANDER BORODIN (1833–1887) In the Steppes of Central Asia

ANATOLY LYADOV (1855–1914) Fragment de l’Apocalypse – Tableau symphonique pour orchestre, Op. 66

MIKHAIL GLINKA (1804–1857) Overture: Ruslan and Lyudmila /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

*mono recordings

CD 14

PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ‘Pathétique’* /Berliner Philharmoniker

Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

*mono recording

CD 15

RICHARD WAGNER (1813–1883)

Lohengrin: Preludes to Acts I & III /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

Tannhäuser: Overture /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

Tannhäuser: Venusberg Music (Bacchanale)* /Berliner Philharmoniker

Siegfried Idyll* /Berliner Philharmoniker

Die Walküre: Walkürenritt* /Berliner Philharmoniker

*mono recordings

CD 16

DARIUS MILHAUD (1892–1974) Les Choéphores, Op. 24*

Genevieve Moizan, soprano, Hélène Bouvier, mezzo-soprano (Electre), Heinz Rehfuss, baritone (Oreste), Claude Nollier, speaker, Chorale de l’Université de Paris, Georges Gitton, chorus master

ARTHUR HONEGGER (1892–1955) Symphony No. 5 ‘Di tre re’*

ALBERT ROUSSEL (1869–1937) Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43 – Suite No. 2 /Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux

*mono recordings

CD 17

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869) Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (1953 recording)*

MODEST MUSSORGSKY (1839–1881) Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)*

Berliner Philharmoniker

*mono recordings

CD 18

FRANZ BERWALD (1796–1868)

Symphony No. 3 in C major ‘Singulière’*

Symphony No. 4 in E flat major*

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D.417 ‘Tragic’*

Berliner Philharmoniker

*mono recordings

CDs 19–20

OSEPH HAYDN: (1732–1809) Die Schöpfung, Hob. XI: 2*

Irmgard Seefried, soprano, Richard Holm, tenor, Kim Borg, bass, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale, Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Mass in C major, KV 317 ‘Krönungsmesse’ (1954 recording)*

Maria Stader, soprano, Sieglinde Wagner, contralto, Helmut Krebs, tenor, Josef Greindl, bass, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale, Berliner Philharmoniker

*mono recordings

CD 21

CHARLES GOUNOD (1818–1893) Messe solennelle de Sainte Cécile*

Irmgard Seefried, soprano, Gerhard Stolze, tenor, Hermann Uhde, bass, Czech Philharmonic Chorus, Josef Veselka, chorus master, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

IGOR MARKEVITCH An Interview with Igor Markevitch*

*mono recordings

Issued complete for the first time, Igor Markevitch’s 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 Markevitch’s lead in refusing to specialise: he was a man ahead of his time, and his analytical mind was well suited to the precision of DG’s engineering teams. He worked with many of Europe’s finest orchestras, enjoying a productive relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic which resulted in many superb recordings from 1953–55, such as a pioneering album of symphonies by Schumann’s Swedish contemporary, Franz Berwald. Late in 1956, an invitation to conduct the successor to Toscanini’s NBC Symphony, the Symphony of the Air, resulted in lithe and athletic symphonic Beethoven (No. 3) and Brahms (No. 1)

Most of Markevitch’s 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 Berlioz’s ‘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 ‘Pathétique’ Symphony. He could also galvanise choruses to heights of dynamic response: DG recorded him in Haydn’s Creation, Mozart’s Coronation Mass (twice, in Berlin and Paris, both reissued here) and the less familiar D minor Requiem of Cherubini and Gounod’s Saint Cecilia Mass. Recorded in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic in the early 1960s, these albums became Markevitch’s swansong to DG. Featuring original covers and a new essay by Peter Quantrill, this box includes much material long unavailable on CD.