Dukas: l'apprenti sorcier;la peri; debussy: la boite a joujoux; ernest ansermet;osr
Date: 01 Dec 2008, 08:03
Dukas: L'APPRENTI SORCIER;LA PERI; Debussy: LA BOITE A JOUJOUX; ERNEST ANSERMET;OSR Classical | EAC rip | FLAC+CUE+SCANS | 300MB Ansermet was born in Switzerland. He was a contemporary of Furtwängler or Klemperer but he represents in most ways a very different tradition and approach from those two musicians. Originally he was a mathematics professor. He began conducting in 1912, and from 1915 to 1923 was the conductor for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Traveling in France for this, he met both Debussy and Ravel, and consulted them on the performance of their works. During World War I, he met Stravinsky, and from this meeting began the conductor's lifelong association with Russian music. In 1918, Ansermet founded his own orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR). He toured widely in Europe and America and became famous for accurate performances of difficult modern music, making first recordings of works such as Stravinsky's Capriccio with the composer as soloist. Also, Ansermet was one of the first in the field of classical music to take jazz seriously, and in 1919, he wrote an article praising Sidney Bechet. After World War II, Ansermet and his orchestra rose to international prominence through a long-term contract with Decca Records. From that time until his death, he recorded most of his repertoire, often two or three times. His interpretations were regarded as admirably clear and authoritative even if the OSR playing did not always reach the highest international standards. The way they respond to their chief's vision is always impressive. Ansermet's interpretations differ notably from those of other famous 20th-century specialists, notably Pierre Monteux and Stravinsky himself. In this quite late recording of Dukas and Debussy's "easy" and "popular" works, he is in his element and admirable throughout.
