Various Artists

Decca Conductors' Gallery (21CD BoxSet)

An A–Z of 23 conductors in a feast of classic recordings from Decca’s early years – 1929–1949 – including the golden age of its ‘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.

ANSERMET · VAN BEINUM · BERNARD · BLECH · CELIBIDACHE · COATES · COPPOLA · DÉSORMIÈRE · ENESCU · FITELBERG · FURTWÄNGLER · HARTY · VAN KEMPEN · KLEIBER · KNAPPERTSBUSCH · KRAUSS · MARTINON · MENGELBERG · DE SABATA · SARGENT · WALTON · WOOD · ZECCHI

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“There is much that reflects Furtwängler’s great attention to dynamic relationships, his sense of architecture, and his ear for balance and color. He whips up quite a phenomenal bit of energy for the final coda.” Fanfare, July 2020 (Furtwängler – Brahms: Symphony No. 2)

“Mr. Riddle seems to get ample sonority and a good deal of variety out of the solo part, and the recording is clear and free from harshness.” Gramophone, February 1938 (Walton: Viola Concerto)

“[Harty] shows clearly how much of the work’s success was due to his inspired advocacy. He brings out the vehemence and passion very starkly, but also finds an underlying rock-like strength.” Gramophone, December 1993 (Harty – Walton: Symphony No. 1)

“It would be difficult to exaggerate the concentrated power of this music, which is superbly performed and recorded.” The Record Guide, 1955 (Van Beinum – Britten: Four Sea Interludes)

TRACK LIST

CD 1
ANTHONY BERNARD
Delius: Sea Drift (with Roy Henderson)
Walton: Overture ‘Portsmouth Point’
New English Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

SIR WILLIAM WALTON
Walton: Façade (with Edith Sitwell, Constant Lambert); Viola Concerto (with Frederick Riddle)
London Symphony Orchestra

CD 2
SIR HAMILTON HARTY
Walton: Symphony No. 1
Haydn: Symphony No. 95
Berlioz: Overture ‘Le Roi Lear’; Marche troyenne (Les Troyens)
London Symphony Orchestra

CD 3
SIR HAMILTON HARTY
Handel–Harty: Suite in Five Movements
London Symphony Orchestra

SIR HENRY WOOD
Purcell–Wood: Suite in Five Movements
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves; Overture ‘The Wasps’; Symphony No. 2 ‘A London Symphony’
Queen’s Hall Orchestra

CD 4
SIR HENRY WOOD
Coates: London Suite; London Bridge – March
Elgar: Enigma Variations
Queen’s Hall Orchestra

WILLEM MENGELBERG
J.S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins (with Louis Zimmermann, Ferdinand Helman)
Gluck: Overture ‘Alceste’
Concertgebouworkest

ALBERT COATES
Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain; Gopak (Sorochintsy Fair)
London Symphony Orchestra

CD 5
ALBERT COATES
Rimsky-Korsakov: Snegurochka – Suite
National Symphony Orchestra
Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq d’or – Suite
London Symphony Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 ‘Pathétique’; Romeo and Juliet – Fantasy Overture
National Symphony Orchestra

CD 6
VICTOR DE SABATA
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’
Berlioz: Overture ‘Le Carnaval romain’
Sibelius: Valse triste
Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre)
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 7
VICTOR DE SABATA
Sibelius: En saga
London Philharmonic Orchestra
ROGER DÉSORMIÈRE
Bizet: Ouverture ‘Patrie’; Jeux d’enfants – Petite Suite
Chabrier: Habanera
Debussy: Marche ecossaise
National Symphony Orchestra
Opera Arias – Gounod, Offenbach, Thomas, Proch, Charpentier (with Janine Micheau)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire

CD 8
GRZEGORZ FITELBERG
Wagner: Overture ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Eileen Joyce)
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 9
GRZEGORZ FITELBERG
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan – Suite
London Philharmonic Orchestra

WILHELM FURTWÄNGLER
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 10
CARLO ZECCHI
Rossini: Overture ‘La Scala di Seta’
Pizzetti: La Pisanelle – Suite
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 (with Clara Haskil)
London Philharmonic Orchestra

PIERO COPPOLA
Grieg: Symphonic Dances Nos. 1, 2 & 4
London Symphony Orchestra

CD 11
PIERO COPPOLA
Schumann: Symphony No. 1
National Symphony Orchestra

GEORGE ENESCU
Schumann: Symphony No. 2
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 12
ERNEST ANSERMET
Debussy: Petite Suite
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Debussy: La Mer
Ravel: Alborada del gracioso (Miroirs)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ravel: Shéhérazade (with Suzanne Danco); La Valse
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire

CD 13
CLEMENS KRAUSS
Beethoven: Overture ‘Fidelio’
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
London Symphony Orchestra
R. Strauss: Tod und Verklärung
London Philharmonic Orchestra
R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
PAUL VAN KEMPEN
Wagner: Overtures, ‘Tannhäuser’ & ‘Der fliegende Holländer’

CD 14
SIR MALCOLM SARGENT
Handel: Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Semele, Alexander’s Feast, Solomon, Serse – excerpts; Zadok the Priest
(with Kathleen Ferrier, Richard Lewis, Trevor Anthony)
Royal Choral Society
London Symphony Orchestra

CD 15
SIR MALCOLM SARGENT
Handel–Harty: Music for the Royal Fireworks – Suite
National Symphony Orchestra
Holst: The Perfect Fool – ballet music
London Philharmonic Orchestra
EDUARD VAN BEINUM
Elgar: Overture ‘Cockaigne’
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Britten: Four Sea Interludes & Passacaglia from Peter Grimes
Concertgebouworkest
Arnold: Overture ‘Beckus the Dandipratt’
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 16
EDUARD VAN BEINUM
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (with Eugenia Zareska)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Concertgebouworkest

CD 17
HANS KNAPPERTSBUSCH
Wagner: Overture ‘Rienzi’; Tannhäuser – Overture & Venusberg Music; Lohengrin – Prelude to Act III; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – Prelude to Act III, Dance of the Apprentices, March of the Guild
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Wagner: Lohengrin – Prelude to Act I
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg – Prelude to Act I
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

CD 18
ERICH KLEIBER
Handel: Andante larghetto (Berenice)
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral’
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 19
ERICH KLEIBER
Josef Strauss: Sphärenklänge
Johann Strauss II: Overture ‘Der Zigeunerbaron’
Dvořák: Overture ‘Carnaval’
London Philharmonic Orchestra

JEAN MARTINON
Tchaikovsky: Da, čas nastal! … Prostite vï, kholmï, polya rodnïye (The Maid of Orléans) (with Eugenia Zareska)
Chabrier: Suite Pastorale
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 20
LEO BLECH
Humperdinck: Prelude ‘Hänsel und Gretel’
Haydn: Symphony No. 94 ‘Surprise’
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

SERGIU CELIBIDACHE
Mozart: Symphony No. 25
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD 21
SERGIU CELIBIDACHE
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; The Nutcracker – Suite
London Philharmonic Orchestra