Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
During the 140 years of its existence, the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris was the most stable and the best orchestra in the city of Paris.
Shortly before the Revolution, the composer Gossec and others founded the Ecole Royale de Chant (Royal Singing School) with fifteen students in 1784. The National Directory established a country-wide system of musical education with a Conservatoire Superior (the Paris Conservatoire) as the head institution. It took over the staff of the former Ecole Royale de Chant and opened in October, 1796, with 115 professors and 351 pupils.
In its very first season, the Conservatoire initiated its practice of giving an annual concert featuring its prizewinning students. In 1800, it initiated a series of concerts, from five to twelve each year, using an orchestra of about 60 players, mostly pupils but with some of the teachers as well, that became well known because of the high quality of its playing. The conductor F.-A. Habaneck led these concerts from 1806. The Conservatoire was briefly closed after the fall of Napoleon, but the restored Bourbon monarchy reopened it in 1816. Under the leadership of Luigi Cherubini after 1822, it became the world's leading institute of higher musical education outside the field of musicology, which remained a specialty of the Sorbonne.
The post-Restoration period saw a decline in the pupils' orchestra concerts due to lack of financial support, and they ended altogether in 1824. But after Habaneck was appointed Inspector General of the Conservatoire, he launched a new organization with the support of the Minister of Arts. It was called the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire and its orchestra was made up of 81 present and former students of the Conservatoire. It remained the leading concert organization of Paris for many years as several private concert organizations rose and fell. Richard Wagner wrote that this orchestra was "the only thing in Paris worthy of the attention of a musician." He said they had "correct execution" and the "secret of good interpretation."
In 1859, Pasdeloup founded the Société des Jeune Artistes du Conservatoire, an orchestra of the most superior instrumental players (about 60 of them) and choral singers (around 40) of the Conservatoire, a de facto revival of the old pupils' concerts. This series lasted until the war of 1870, but the main Conservatoire concerts continued despite occasional setbacks for the rest of the century and two-thirds of the next, and became the primary example of the French sound in orchestral playing. Its leading conductors after Habeneck included Hainl, Garcin, Taffanel, and Messager and, after World War I, such leaders as Paray, Wolff, Monteux, and Münch.
The Conservatoire Concerts faced a potent rival after 1937, when the French Radio organization founded its own Orchestra National de la RTF (which has become the French National Orchestra). Charles Munch became conductor of the Conservatoire Orchestra from 1938 to 1948, succeeded by André Cluytens. In 1967, Minister of Culture André Malraux disbanded the Société des concerts du Conservatoire. Many of its players became members of the organization Malraux established in its place, l'Orchestre de Paris.
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Hindemith: Symphony "Mathis Der Maler"
Daniel Benyamini, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Boston Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, Daniel Barenboim
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique by Ataúlfo Argenta (2024 Remastered, Paris 1957)
Ataulfo Argenta, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Feb 14, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Overtures In Hi-Fi
Orchestra Of The Opera-Comique, Paris, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Albert Wolff
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Russia - Borodin / Glinka / Mussorgsky / Tchaikovsky
London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1999
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Airs d'opéras. Les noces de Figaro, Les puritains, Samson et Dalila, Tannhäuser, Othello...
Ernest Blanc, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Georges Prêtre
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Dec 8, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 - Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2
Emil Gilels, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Feb 6, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Marguerite Long, Vol. 2
Marguerite Long, Pedro De Freitas Branco, Darius Milhaud, Georges Tzipine, Philippe Gaubert, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by APR on Nov 4, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: La chauve-souris
Jacqueline Brumaire, Liliane Berton, Jean Christophe Benoit, Michel Roux, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Franck Pourcel
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Aug 25, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Conductor's Gallery, Vol. 12: Ernest Ansermet
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Aug 25, 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: The Piano Concertos by Samson François
Samson François, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Jul 26, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Callas sings Verdi Arias - Callas Remastered
Maria Callas, Nicola Rescigno, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Opera Extracts - Released by Warner Classics on Jul 1, 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joan Sutherland: Operatic Arias
Dame Joan Sutherland, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Nello Santi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Orchestral Works
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Jul 29, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Les Animaux modèles - Saint-Saëns: Le Carnaval des animaux
Aldo Ciccolini, Alexis Weissenberg, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Georges Prêtre
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jul 2, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: La veuve joyeuse
Micheline Dax, Michel Dens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Yvon Leenart
Operettas - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Ballet Suites
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Feb 4, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Callas à Paris - More Arias from French Opera - Callas Remastered
Maria Callas, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Georges Prêtre
Opera Extracts - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1997
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Suite for Orchestra No. 3 (Adrian Boult – The Decca Legacy III, Vol. 5)
Mischa Elman, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Sir Adrian Boult
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Oct 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake; The Nutcracker
Anatole Fistoulari, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Oct 26, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3, Visions fugitives & Toccata
Samson François, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Sep 25, 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy, Dukas: Orchestral Works
Ernest Ansermet, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Jun 8, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo