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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Ravel: Miroirs & Daphnis et Chloé (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, Chorale Marcel Briclot, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Concerto pour piano No. 3 (Mono Version)
Emil Gilels, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14, H. 48
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, André Cluytens, Léopold Stokowski
Klassik - Erschienen bei Archipel am 25.07.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
André Cluytens, Berliner Philharmoniker
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Radio Tower Records am 12.07.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner - Bayreuth Live, Vol. 4
Oper - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.12.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Boléro (2023 Remaster)
André Cluytens, Orchestré de la Societé des Concertos du Conservatorie
Klassik - Erschienen bei Artemisia am 17.04.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
L'Art d'André Cluytens
André Cluytens, Orchestre National de France
Klassik - Erschienen bei Tahra am 28.01.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Friedrich Gulda, piano : Beethoven ● Franck
Friedrich Gulda, André Cluytens, Orchestra RTSI
Klassik - Erschienen bei Ermitage Records am 01.01.1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner - Bayreuth Live, Vol. 1
Oper - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.12.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner - Bayreuth Live, Vol. 10
Oper - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.12.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner - Bayreuth Live, Vol. 5
Oper - Erschienen bei Documents 2 am 13.12.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien (Mono Version)
Véra Korène, Louis Noguera, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bondeville: Gaultier Garguille & Madame Bovary, extraits (Mono Version)
André Cluytens, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet: Musique de scène et divertissement des Érinnyes (Mono Version)
Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod : Faust (Mono Version, 1953) (Mono Version)
Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Gesamtaufnahmen von Opern - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Delibes: Extraits de Coppélia & Sylvia (Mono Version)
Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nigg & Jolivet: Concertos (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens, André Jolivet
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust, extraits (Mono Version)
Victoria de los Angeles, Boris Christoff, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: 4 Ouvertures (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Delibes: Suite No. 2 de Coppélia, extraits (Mono Version)
André Cluytens, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo