Albert Wolff
Although identified most closely with the French repertory, conductor/composer Albert Wolff was of Dutch parentage. Most of his career was spent in European venues, although his two years at the Metropolitan Opera were acclaimed by critics for the style and detail he brought to his work.
Wolff began his musical studies at the Paris Conservatoire at age 12. By the time he graduated a decade later, he had absorbed the careful ministrations of such distinguished teachers as Gédalge, Leroux, and Vidal and had been awarded first prize in piano. After leaving the Conservatory, Wolff continued with the teaching and concert work already begun during his years as a student. In 1906, he entered upon a four-year engagement as organist at St. Thomas D'Aquin Church in Paris while leading ensembles elsewhere in that city.
His first experience in music theater came with an appointment as chorus master at the Opéra-Comique in 1908. He remained in that position for three years before being given an opportunity to conduct a production of Laparra's La jota. His mastery with cast and orchestra were sufficient to assure him an ongoing employment as conductor, a post he kept until the outbreak of WWI. Throughout that conflict, Wolff served his country with distinction at the front lines, receiving promotions for his courage.
Following the war's conclusion, Wolff came to the United States to join the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera, replacing Pierre Monteux. His debut took place on November 21, 1919, in Gounod's Faust. Amidst several positive reviews, critic Richard Aldrich wrote of Wolff's "notable vigor of accent, stress of rhythm and dramatic emphasis." Later, Wolff led a restudied Manon in which he cut the gambling segment, but restored the "cours la reine" scene. During the 1920 - 1921 season, Wolff led a much admired reading of Louise, with Geraldine Farrar as the eponymous heroine, and in January 1922, he presided over a production of Lalo's Le roi d'Ys in which his conducting was appreciated even though the work itself was found wanting. Not even the blandishments of Wolff's excellent conducting and Ponselle, Alda, and Gigli led to a second season for the score. During his less-than-two full seasons at the Metropolitan, Wolff also conducted a production of his own L'Oiseau bleu.
After his American years, Wolff returned to the Opéra-Comique as a conductor, succeeding André Messager in the post of chief conductor in 1922. At the same time, he founded the Concerts Modernes Paris to provide a medium for the public performance of new works. Resigning from the Opéra-Comique in 1924, Wolff accepted the musical directorship of the Champs Élysées Theatre. In 1928, he became conductor of Concerts Lamoureux, remaining with that orchestra until 1934. There, his memorable direction of the concert repertory led to his appointment in 1934 as conductor of the Concerts Pasdeloup, a position he held until 1940.
His recurrent involvement with the Opéra-Comique took the form of the theater's general directorship in 1945 and he began an association with the Paris Opera in 1949. Wolff had also begun a relationship with Buenos Aires with a tour in 1911. This was renewed during the years of the Second World War, and it was there that he conducted the premiere of his own Symphony in A.
Wolff was among that handful of French conductors who defined French style in the first half of the twentieth century, masterful in technique, elegant in execution.
© TiVo
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Overtures In Hi-Fi
Orchestra Of The Opera-Comique, Paris, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Albert Wolff
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky : Symphonies 4 & 5
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Albert Wolff, Carl Schuricht
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Decca am 06.03.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Invitation to The Dance
Ballett - Erschienen bei Editions Audiovisuel Beulah am 19.05.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orchestral Music (French) - Mehul, E.-N. / Berlioz, H. / Lalo, E. / Saint-Saens, C. / Charpentier, G. / Roussel, A. / Dupont, G.E.X.
Orchestre Lamoureux, Jeanne-Marie Darre, Jean Boulze, Albert Wolff
Klassik - Erschienen bei Timpani am 01.01.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fête à la française (Franck, Lalo, Charpentier, Massenet)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Orchestra Of The Opera-Comique, Paris, Albert Wolff
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Limited am 01.01.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Overtures (Adam, Auber, Hérold, Reznicek, Suppé, Nicolai)
Albert Wolff, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Klassik - Erschienen bei >ReNovo< am 21.09.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madame Butterfly, extraits (Mono Version)
Martha Angelici, Albert Lance, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, Albert Wolff
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Invitation To The Dance
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Albert Wolff
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 19.11.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Pierre et le loup, Op. 67 (Mono Version)
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: L'oiseau de feu & Le sacre du printemps (Mono Version)
Vienna Festival Orchestra, Albert Wolff
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Daudet: L'Arlésienne, pièce de théâtre (Mono Version)
Albert Wolff, Pierre Larquey, Maurice Chambreuil
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Le corsaire & Le roi Lear, ouvertures (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Albert Wolff
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Landowski: Symphonie No. 1 "Jean de la Peur" & Les notes de nuit (Mono Version)
Orchestre Pasdeloup, Albert Wolff, Marcel Landowski
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Bizet: L'Arlésienne
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Division Decca Records France am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les grands soirs de l'Opéra (Mono Version)
Georges Vaillant, Rene Bianco, Albert Wolff
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen, extraits (Mono Version)
Janine Micheau, Libero De Luca, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, Albert Wolff
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet: Duos extraits de Manon (Mono Version)
Janine Micheau, Libero De Luca, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, Albert Wolff
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust, extraits (Mono Version)
Jeanne Guihard, Marcel Huylbrock, Albert Wolff
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Boléro, M. 81 (Mono Version)
Albert Wolff, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Boléro (Stereo Version)
Albert Wolff, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1900
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo