Antal Dorati: The Mercury Masters - The Stereo Recordings | Australian Eloquence ELQ4844207

Antal Dorati: The Mercury Masters - The Stereo Recordings

£142.45

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Label: Australian Eloquence

Cat No: ELQ4844207

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 30

Genre: Orchestral

Release Date: 7th July 2023

Contents

Works

Albeniz, Isaac

Iberia: suite for orchestra (orchestrated by Arbos)

Bartok, Bela

Hungarian Sketches (5), Sz97 BB103
Romanian Folk Dances (6) for orchestra, Sz68 BB76
Suite no.2 for small orchestra, Sz34 BB40
Violin Concerto no.2, Sz112 BB117

Beethoven, Ludwig van

Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.55 'Eroica'

Bloch, Ernest

Sinfonia breve

Brahms, Johannes

Symphony no.2 in D major, op.73

Copland, Aaron

Danzon Cubano
El Salon Mexico
Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes)

Delibes, Leo

Coppelia

Dorati, Antal

Notturno and Capriccio (1926)
Symphony no.1

Dvorak, Antonin

Slavonic Dances: Series I, op.46 B83
Slavonic Dances: Series II, op.72 B147

Falla, Manuel de

La vida breve
» Interlude and Dance

Fetler, Paul

Contrasts for orchestra

Gershwin, George

An American in Paris

Kodaly, Zoltan

Hary Janos Suite

Mussorgsky, Modest

Khovanshchina
» Dance of the Persian Slaves
» Prelude (Dawn over the Moscow River)
Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

Offenbach, Jacques

Gaite Parisienne (arr. M Rosenthal)

Peterson, Wayne

Free Variations for orchestra

Prokofiev, Sergei

Symphony no.5 in B flat major, op.100

Rachmaninov, Sergei

Morceaux de fantaisie, op.3
» no.2 Prelude in C sharp minor
Piano Concerto no.2 in C minor, op.18
Preludes (10), op.23
» no.6 in E flat major

Respighi, Ottorino

Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), P106
Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P141

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai

Scheherazade, op.35

Rossini, Gioachino

Il Signor Bruschino
» Sinfonia
Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
» Overture
L'italiana in Algeri (Italian Girl in Algiers)
» Overture
La Cenerentola (Cinderella)
» Overture
La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
» Overture
La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder)
» Overture

Schuller, Gunther

Studies (7) on themes of Paul Klee

Smetana, Bedrich

The Bartered Bride (Prodana nevesta)
» Furiant
» Overture
» Polka
» Skocna - Dance of the Comedians

Strauss II, Johann

Egyptian Waltz
Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice)
» Overture
Eljen a Magyar, op.332
Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), op.325
Graduation Ball (arr. A Dorati)
Kaiserwalzer, op.437
Wein, Weib und Gesang!, op.333
Wiener Blut Waltz, op.354

Strauss, Eduard

Bahn frei, op.45
Doctrinen, Walzer, op.79

Strauss, Johann

Loreley-Rhein-Klange Walzer, op.154

Strauss, Josef

Aquarellen, op.258
Spharenklange Walzer, op.235

Strauss, Richard

Der Rosenkavalier: Suite
Don Juan, op.20
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, op.28
Tod und Verklarung (Death and Transfiguration), op.24

Stravinsky, Igor

Petrushka
The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du printemps)

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

1812 Overture, op.49
Capriccio italien, op.45
Eugene Onegin, op.24
» Polonaise
» Waltz
Francesca da Rimini, op.32
Marche slave, op.31

Artists

Byron Janis (piano)
Kamiel Lefevere (bells)
Roger Lord (oboe)
Yehudi Menuhin (violin)
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Antal Dorati

Works

Albeniz, Isaac

Iberia: suite for orchestra (orchestrated by Arbos)

Bartok, Bela

Hungarian Sketches (5), Sz97 BB103
Romanian Folk Dances (6) for orchestra, Sz68 BB76
Suite no.2 for small orchestra, Sz34 BB40
Violin Concerto no.2, Sz112 BB117

Beethoven, Ludwig van

Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.55 'Eroica'

Bloch, Ernest

Sinfonia breve

Brahms, Johannes

Symphony no.2 in D major, op.73

Copland, Aaron

Danzon Cubano
El Salon Mexico
Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes)

Delibes, Leo

Coppelia

Dorati, Antal

Notturno and Capriccio (1926)
Symphony no.1

Dvorak, Antonin

Slavonic Dances: Series I, op.46 B83
Slavonic Dances: Series II, op.72 B147

Falla, Manuel de

La vida breve
» Interlude and Dance

Fetler, Paul

Contrasts for orchestra

Gershwin, George

An American in Paris

Kodaly, Zoltan

Hary Janos Suite

Mussorgsky, Modest

Khovanshchina
» Dance of the Persian Slaves
» Prelude (Dawn over the Moscow River)
Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

Offenbach, Jacques

Gaite Parisienne (arr. M Rosenthal)

Peterson, Wayne

Free Variations for orchestra

Prokofiev, Sergei

Symphony no.5 in B flat major, op.100

Rachmaninov, Sergei

Morceaux de fantaisie, op.3
» no.2 Prelude in C sharp minor
Piano Concerto no.2 in C minor, op.18
Preludes (10), op.23
» no.6 in E flat major

Respighi, Ottorino

Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), P106
Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P141

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai

Scheherazade, op.35

Rossini, Gioachino

Il Signor Bruschino
» Sinfonia
Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
» Overture
L'italiana in Algeri (Italian Girl in Algiers)
» Overture
La Cenerentola (Cinderella)
» Overture
La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
» Overture
La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder)
» Overture

Schuller, Gunther

Studies (7) on themes of Paul Klee

Smetana, Bedrich

The Bartered Bride (Prodana nevesta)
» Furiant
» Overture
» Polka
» Skocna - Dance of the Comedians

Strauss II, Johann

Egyptian Waltz
Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice)
» Overture
Eljen a Magyar, op.332
Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), op.325
Graduation Ball (arr. A Dorati)
Kaiserwalzer, op.437
Wein, Weib und Gesang!, op.333
Wiener Blut Waltz, op.354

Strauss, Eduard

Bahn frei, op.45
Doctrinen, Walzer, op.79

Strauss, Johann

Loreley-Rhein-Klange Walzer, op.154

Strauss, Josef

Aquarellen, op.258
Spharenklange Walzer, op.235

Strauss, Richard

Der Rosenkavalier: Suite
Don Juan, op.20
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, op.28
Tod und Verklarung (Death and Transfiguration), op.24

Stravinsky, Igor

Petrushka
The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du printemps)

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

1812 Overture, op.49
Capriccio italien, op.45
Eugene Onegin, op.24
» Polonaise
» Waltz
Francesca da Rimini, op.32
Marche slave, op.31

Artists

Byron Janis (piano)
Kamiel Lefevere (bells)
Roger Lord (oboe)
Yehudi Menuhin (violin)
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Antal Dorati

About

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 Dorati...", "as technically flawless as it is sonically and melodically intoxicating" (High Fidelity) - and reveals a musical personality centred 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.

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 Doráti's mono and stereo "Rites" side by side, his Johann Strauss waltzes and Richard Strauss tone-poems, his Scheherazade, Pétrouchka, 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.

"fiery, colourful and warm-blooded and superbly recorded" – Tempo

"Sonically it is hair-raising" – Hi-Fi Review

"The playing is excellent ... The Suite, for all that it is so rarely heard, could well become a popular favourite like the Concerto for Orchestra." – Gramophone, December 1956 (Bartók - Suite no.2)

"The performance is decidedly suggestive and skilful, reproduced with a sensitivity to the complex score that captures more of its finer essences than anyone but the conductor usually can hear." – High Fidelity, February 1957 (Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier suite)

"The most vivid and theatrical of all the Petrouchkas on record." – Gramophone, July 1957 (Stravinsky - Petrouchka)

"The recording is sensationally fine, the interpretation generally brilliant, sensitive, and penetrating." – High Fidelity, December 1957 (Bartók - Violin Concerto no.2)

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