Ataulfo Argenta
Ataulfo Argenta was a leading Spanish conductor who appeared to be developing an important career that was cut short by his early death at the age of forty-four.
He was a musically talented child who attracted considerable attention as a pianist, then entered the Royal Conservatory in Madrid at the age of thirteen in 1927. He won a Premio Extraordinario in piano at the Conservatory in 1930, and the Kristina Nilsson Prize in 1931.
The latter prize enabled him to study piano and conducting in Belgium and Germany. These studies saw him safely outside of Spain when the Civil War broke out in that country. After the end of that conflict, when general war broke out in Europe in 1939, he returned to neutral Spain where he worked in a variety of musical jobs, including staff keyboard player (mostly piano and celesta) with the National Orchestra in Madrid.
He returned to Germany for more studies from 1941 to 1943, studying conducting with Carl Schuricht and teaching piano at the Kassel Conservatory, then returned to Spain and made his conducting debut on a broadcast concert with the national radio orchestra.
His first performance with Spain's National Orchestra was on October 10, 1945. It is remembered as a brilliant debut and it led to his being appointed the orchestra's music director in 1947, a post he retained until his death.
He first conducted outside of Spain when pianist José Iturbi hired him to be his conductor in a performance the pianist organized at Harringay Arena in London; the orchestra was the London Symphony. This began a demand for his services as guest conductor with various European orchestras and on South American tours. He also founded a major music festival in Grenada.
He signed a contract with England's Decca record company and specialized in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music, especially Spanish music. Among his most notable recordings was the opera Goyescas by Enrique Granados and the symphonic work Danzas fantasticas by Turina, which remained in the LP catalogue for over twenty years. His conducting style was lean, muscular, and precise. He was considered to be on the verge of a major international career when he died.
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El Amor Brujo y Concierto Vasco para Piano y Orquesta
Operette - Released by Digital World Music on 28 nov. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
España
Ataulfo Argenta, London Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 8 feb. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zarzuelas: Alma de Dios y los Claveles
Ataulfo Argenta, Gran Orquesta de Cámara de Madrid
Operette - Released by Digital World Music on 2 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amadeo Vives: Doña Francisquita [Zarzuela en Tres Actos] (1954)
Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Ataulfo Argenta, María de los Angeles
Opera - Released by Classical Moments on 16 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Preludios e Intermedios de Zarzuela (1952-1958), Vol. 1
Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Ataulfo Argenta
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 9 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
José Serrano: Alma de Dios (1953)
Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Ataulfo Argenta, Manuel Ausensi
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 9 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Ataulfo Argenta, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 18 mrt. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Dogaresa
Operette - Released by RCA Records Label on 26 feb. 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
El Dúo de la Africana
Operette - Released by RCA Records Label on 9 okt. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zarzuela: Don Gil de Alcalá
Ataulfo Argenta, Gran Orquesta Sinfónica
Operette - Released by Digital World Music on 2 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zarzuelas: La Dolorosa y las Leandras
Ataulfo Argenta, Gran Orquesta Sinfónica
Operette - Released by Digital World Music on 2 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Zarzuela: La Corte del Faraón
Ataulfo Argenta, Gran Orquesta Sinfónica
Operette - Released by Digital World Music on 2 dec. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
José Serrano: La Reina Mora [Zarzuela en Un Acto] (1954)
Gran Orquesta de Cámara de Madrid, Ataulfo Argenta, Ana María Iriarte
Operette - Released by Classical Moments on 24 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vicente Lleó: El Maestro Campanone [Zarzuela en Un Acto] (1955)
Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Ataulfo Argenta, Pilar Lorengar
Operette - Released by Classical Moments on 16 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
José Serrano: Los de Aragón (1954)
Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Ataulfo Argenta, Tony Rosado
Klassiek - Released by Classical Moments on 9 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ernesto Halffter
Ataúlfo Argenta, Orquesta Nacional de España
Klassiek - Released by Artys-Digital on 26 aug. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky: Concierto en D Mayor para Violin y Orquesta, Op. 35
Symfonische muziek - Released by Meta - Vocación Musical on 12 feb. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
El cabo primero (Zarzuela en un acto)
Ataulfo Argenta, Coro Cantores de Madrid, Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Tony Rosado, Gerardo Gil, Ana Maria Fernandez
Opera - Released by Phorminx on 19 mei 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Las bravias (Zarzuela en un acto)
Ataulfo Argenta, Coros Cantores de Madrid, Gran Orquestra Sinfonica, Ana María Iriarte, Julita Bermejo, Gerardo Monreal
Opera - Released by Phorminx on 19 mei 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in a Major
Julius Katchen, Ataulfo Argenta, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Classically on 6 feb. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Mono Version)
Julius Katchen, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo