Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre National de France has been associated with French national radio broadcasting for much of its career. It also lives up to its name, giving concerts around France in addition to those at its home venues in Paris.
The Orchestre National de France, or ONF, was founded in 1934 by Radio France as the Orchestre National, giving its first concert at the Paris Conservatory. Its first conductor was Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht. In 1939, many of the orchestra's musicians were conscripted into the French army. The rest of the group moved to the city of Rennes but disbanded when that city was bombed. The orchestra was reconstituted in Marseilles by the collaborationist Vichy government in 1941; Jewish musicians were banned. The orchestra returned to Paris in 1943 and the following year, gave its first concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where it continues to perform today. It also appears at the Salle Olivier Messiaen at the Maison de Radio France. All of the group's roughly 70 annual concerts are broadcast on the French national radio network ORTF. The orchestra has changed its name several times. When independent French radio was reestablished in 1945, it became the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française, and in 1949 the Orchestre national de la Radio-télévision française or Orchestre national de la RTF. In 1964, the group took on the cumbersome name of Orchestre national de l'Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française or Orchestre national de l'ORTF, shortened in 1975 to the present name. Manuel Rosenthal replaced Inghelbrecht in 1944, and after the war, he restored French and contemporary programming that had been banned under German rule. Major conductors have included Jean Martinon (1968-1973), Lorin Maazel (1988-1990), Charles Dutoit (1991-2001), Kurt Masur (2002-2007), Daniele Gatti (2008-2016), Emmanuel Krivine (2017-2020), and, as of 2020, Cristian Măcelaru. The group has spent considerable periods without a chief conductor, and during those times has attracted an A-list of international guest conductors that included Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, and Georg Solti. Guest soloists have been similarly prestigious, with Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Yo-Yo Ma numbered among them.
The ONF has recorded prolifically for Erato, EMI, Naïve, and other labels. The group has often premiered and recorded contemporary French works but also issues recordings of the standard repertory, not all of it French. In the late 2010s, the orchestra moved to Erato partner Warner Classics, issuing a recording of Alexandre Desplat's Airlines in 2020.
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Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 (Live recording, Lausanne 1971)
Concertos - Released by Claves Records on Jan. 26, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pierre Monteux in France: 1952-58 Concert Performances
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on Apr. 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Symphony In D Minor; Roussel: Symphony No.3 (Live)
Orchestre National de France, Leonard Bernstein
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan. 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber - Beethoven - Chabrier, Concert du 15/05/1958, Orchestre national et choeurs de la RTF, D.E. Inghelbrecht (dir), Y. Guller (piano), B. Demigny (bar)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Désiré Emile Inghelbrecht
Classical - Released by Ina, musique(s) on May 1, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin: Dans les steppes de l'Asie centrale - Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre (Mono Version)
Edouard Lindenberg, Orchestre National de France
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Michelangeli Plays Beethoven
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestre National de France, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on Mar. 29, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov (Arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Mono Version)
Boris Christoff, Eugenia Zareska, Orchestre National de France, Issay Dobrowen
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Gloria & Concerto pour orgue (Mono Version)
Maurice Duruflé, Orchestre National de France, Georges Prêtre
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky & Liszt: Orchestral Works
Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Pierre Dervaux, Gyorgy Cziffra
Classical - Released by Archipel on Aug. 12, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
Jacques Jansen, Victoria de los Angeles, Orchestre National de France
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Jan. 1, 1957
Stereophile: Record To Die For16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
P. le Flem - B. Britten - G. Petrassi, Orchestre National de la RTF, Concert du 15/12/1952, Jean Martinon (dir), Denise Soriano (violoniste)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Ina, musique(s) on May 1, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Piano Concertos/Pavane/Jeux d'eau/La Valse
Jean-Philippe Collard, Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel
Chamber Music - Released by Warner Classics on Jul. 27, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Enescu: Symphonies Nos. 1-3; 2 Romanian Rhapsodies
Orchestre National de France, Cristian Măcelaru
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Apr. 12, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Orchestral Works (Live)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by JPK Musik on Jan. 15, 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Turangalîla-symphonie
Yvonne Loriod, Maurice Le Roux, Orchestre National de France, Jeanne Loriod
Classical - Released by Universal Music Division Decca Records France on Jan. 18, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alice & Merveilles
Juliette Roudet, Orchestre National de France, Maîtrise de Radio France
Stories and Nursery Rhymes - Released by Didier Jeunesse on Nov. 2, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Fantasy on Hungarian Themes, S. 123 (Live Recording, Lausanne 1969)
Gyorgy Cziffra, György Cziffra Jr., Orchestre National de France
Concertos - Released by Claves Records on May 1, 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Concerto pour piano No. 5 & Septuor (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, Louis Fourestier, Jeanne-Marie Darre
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Boris Christoff, Nicolai Gedda, Eugenia Zareska, Kim Borg, Orchestre National de France, Issay Dobrowen
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jun. 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Klavierkonzerte/La valse u.a.
Jean-Philippe Collard, Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel
Chamber Music - Released by Warner Classics on Jul. 27, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartok - V. d'Indy - Canteloube, Concert du 04/07/1957, Orchestre National de la RTF, D.E Ingelbrecht (dir)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Désiré Emile Inghelbrecht
Classical - Released by Ina, musique(s) on Oct. 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo