André Cluytens
André Cluytens (pronounced clue-ton) was a Belgian-born conductor who rose from leading a theater orchestra to become one of the more important orchestra leaders in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s, with equally enduring contributions in both the concert hall and the opera house. Born in Antwerp in 1905, he trained as a pianist at the Royal Flemish Conservatory and in his teens served as assistant to his father, the conductor at the Royal Theater in Antwerp. After becoming first conductor at the theater, he moved to France and served in opera houses in Lyon, Bordeaux, and Vichy, and later settled in Paris and took French citizenship. He was later principal conductor and then music director of the Paris Opera-Comique. He succeeded Charles Munch as chief conductor of the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra in 1949 and also held the post of principal conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, before becoming the chief conductor of the French National Radio Orchestra. He led the Vienna State Opera in performances and subsequently conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the first French conductor to appear at Bayreuth.
Although Cluytens was best known for his work with French repertoire, he also gave notable performances of works in the German-Austrian tradition. His recording career began during the 78-rpm era, and it was at the tail end of that period that he made the first full recording of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann for Columbia Records, as well as Bizet's Carmen -- that early version of Hoffmann, in particular (which remains in print on CD, through Naxos Records as of 2006), is still very highly regarded in the 21st century as one of the best ever done. Most of Cluytens' recording career was spent at EMI, and there his output covered a vast range of repertoire -- in the mono era, highlights include beautiful accounts of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and Massenet's Manon. The outstanding part of his stereo catalog was a complete Beethoven symphonic cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic -- the first ever recorded by the orchestra, and the only one it ever did with a guest conductor -- that stayed in print for decades.
Cluytens remained very busy in concert and recording work into the mid-'60s, at which point he was discovered to be suffering from stomach cancer. He continued working even as his health declined, and among his last recordings was Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ. He died in June of 1967, leaving behind a major body of recorded music that, in addition to the French masterpieces (including an enviable string of operas), also encompassed the music of Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Smetana, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Schumann. It is a sign of the worth of Cluytens' recordings that a surprisingly large number of them continue to be reissued on CD in the 21st century under license to speciality premium labels such as Testament, in addition to EMI's own reissue efforts, without regard to whether they are mono or stereo.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Mireille, extraits (Mono Version)
Janette Vivalda, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Menotti: Piano Concerto in F Major (Mono Version)
Yuri Boukoff, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
M.-A. Charpentier: Nuit, extrait d'In nativitatem Domini canticum (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour piano No. 3 (Mono Version)
Emil Gilels, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Poèmes symphoniques (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (Mono Version)
Aldo Ciccolini, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Concerto pour violoncelle, Op. 129 (Mono Version)
André Navarra, André Cluytens, Orchestre de l'association des concerts Colonne
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Extracts of La damnation de Faust & Roméo et Juliette (Mono Version)
Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zino Francescatti, Vol. 2: Beethoven, Mozart & Ravel (Live)
Zino Francescatti, Artur Balsam, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Kamermuziek - Released by DOREMI on 7 mei 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Prometheus / Fidelio / The Ruins of Athens Overtures
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Klassiek - Released by Radio Tower Records on 24 okt. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charles Gounod: Faust (Margarethe)
Choeur Du Theatre National Du L'Opera De Paris, Orchestre Du Theatre National Du L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Klassiek - Released by Cantus Classics on 15 jun. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Einem, Roussel & Stravinsky: Orchestral Works (Live at Wiener Musikverein, Vienna, 6/18/1955)
Wiener Symphoniker, André Cluytens
Klassiek - Released by Archipel on 27 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky & Ravel: Orchestral Works (Live)
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, Coro Di Torino Della Rai, André Cluytens, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI di Torino
Klassiek - Released by Archipel on 27 nov. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Symfonische muziek - Released by Radio Tower Records on 24 okt. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Highlights from Faust
The Orchestra of the Theatre National de L'Opera, The Chorus of the Theatre National de L'Opera, André Cluytens
Opera - Released by Radio Tower Records on 1 jan. 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in Major, Op. 93
André Cluytens, Berliner Philharmoniker
Symfonische muziek - Released by Radio Tower Records on 12 jul. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich plays Shostakovich
Dimitri Chostakovitch, Ludovic Vaillant, French National Radio Orchestra, André Cluytens
Klassiek - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 apr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Symphonie n°2 (Miroir)
André Cluytens, Joseph Keilberth, Berliner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker
Symfonische muziek - Released by Miroir on 31 jul. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner - Bayreuth Live, Vol. 3
Opera - Released by Documents 2 on 13 dec. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet : Carmen
André Cluytens, Paris Opera-Comique Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by ArnebAudio on 9 jan. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo