Ernest Bour
One of France's greatest champions of contemporary music, Ernest Bour conducted the world premieres of works by some of the twentieth century's most challenging composers: Xenakis, Ferneyhough, Rihm, Bussotti, and many others. He also oversaw the French premieres of such important operas as Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Hindemith's Mathis der Maler. He made some commercial recordings, most notably a highly regarded rendition of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, but his legacy has largely been preserved through his association with radio orchestras and his discography revolves around French and Dutch composers. The son of an organist and conductor of amateur choirs and orchestras, Bour obtained a broad general education, studying classics at the University of Strasbourg and piano, organ, and theory at the Strasbourg Conservatory. His primary mentor at the latter institution was Fritz Münch and from 1933 to 1934, he also studied conducting with Hermann Scherchen. Bour got his professional start in radio, first conducting choruses in Geneva and Strasbourg and soon being named chief conductor of Strasbourg Radio, a post he held from 1935 to 1939. After a short stint teaching piano at the Strasbourg Conservatory, he moved to the town of Mulhouse (near the German border) for the duration of the war, being appointed conductor of the orchestra there in 1941 and of the conservatory in 1945. Bour left the orchestra in 1947 and guest-conducted throughout Western Europe, settling back in Strasbourg in 1950 as conductor of the city's Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1954 -- 1955, he shifted to the Strasbourg Opera, where he served as co-director with Fritz Adam. During the 1950s, Bour and Adam organized many concerts of contemporary music in Strasbourg. Bour's career reached its high point in 1964 with his appointment as principal conductor of Germany's Southwest Radio Orchestra in Baden-Baden, a post he held until 1979. Here, Bour threw himself into new music with particular energy, drawing precise, honorable, and often compelling performances from his second-string orchestra. He carried these interests and skills over to his term as permanent guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra from 1976 until his retirement in 1987.
© TiVo
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Haydn, Weber & Genzmer: Piano Concertos
Wolfram Lorenzen, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Bamberger Symphoniker, Ernest Bour, Grzegorz Nowak, Alexander Symeonides
Classical - Released by Troubadisc on Sep 4, 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn - Bartók - Reger: Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Wolfram Lorenzen, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Bour, Jiri Starek, Reinhard Petersen
Classical - Released by Troubadisc on Sep 4, 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Sinfonie No. 2, Op. 73 - Variationen, Op. 56 A
Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, Ernest Bour, Jascha Horenstein
Classical - Released by Bella Musica Edition on Oct 30, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 85, 86, 87
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Classical - Released by SWRmusic on May 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 46, 49 & 59
SWR Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks, Ernest Bour
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on Aug 26, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Veerhoff: Works for Orchestra - World Premier Recordings (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on Feb 15, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Plays Brahms
Zino Francescatti, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Ernest Bour
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on Aug 7, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moussorgsky - Ravel - Kodaly
Classical - Released by Ina Archives on Feb 28, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kelemen: Archetypon Ii / Nonet / Die Richter
Niksa Bareza, Ernest Bour, Helmut Franz
Classical - Released by BIS on Jan 31, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinfonía Nº 40 Mozart
Ernest Bour, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on Jun 8, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 40 Mozart
Ernest Bour, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on Jun 8, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinfonie Nr. 40 Mozart
Ernest Bour, Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks
Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on Jun 8, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli - Berlioz - Caplet - Harsanyi : Concert de Noël (25 Décembre 1947)
Orchestre National de la RTF - Ernest Bour
Classical - Released by Ina, musique(s) on Jan 20, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: La mer, Khamma, Jeux
Ernest Bour, Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks
Symphonic Music - Released by naïve classique on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphony No. 103 & Sinfonia concertante
Ernest Bour, Horst Schneider, SWR Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks, Heinz Stanske, Leo Koscielny, Helmut Muller
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on Aug 26, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 89 & 92
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Classical - Released by SWRmusic on May 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 70 & 79
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Classical - Released by SWRmusic on May 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 19, 22, 24
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Classical - Released by SWRmusic on May 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 7, 8, 10
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Classical - Released by SWRmusic on May 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Portrait of Bengt Hambræus, Vol. 1
Werner Jacob, Hans Hellsten, Sudwestfunk Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Bour, Bengt Hambræus
Classical - Released by Swedish Society on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo