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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Russian Orchestral Music
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jul 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Symphonie n°7 (Miroir)
André Cluytens, Joseph Keilberth, Berliner Philharmoniker
Symphonic Music - Released by Miroir on 31 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concert de musique russe (Mono Version)
André Cluytens, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Concerto pour piano No. 2 (Mono Version)
Marguerite Long, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour piano No. 4 (Mono Version)
Philharmonia Orchestra, André Cluytens, Solomon
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen (Mono Version)
Solange Michel, Raoul Jobin, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn, Schumann & Bizet: Orchestral Works (Live)
Henryk Szeryng, Maurice Gendron, Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Archipel on 25 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser (Bayreuth 1955)
Bayreuther Festspiele Orchester, André Cluytens, Herta Wilfert, Volker Horn, Chor der Bayreuther Festspiele
Opera - Released by OperaPrima on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour violon (Mono Version)
David Oïstrakh, Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Le rossignol (Mono Version)
Janine Micheau, Jean Giraudeau, Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Masterpieces: Emil Gilels Plays Saint-Saëns, Kabalevski & Mozart (Recorded 1954)
Emil Gilels, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra, André Cluytens, Dmitry Kabalevsky
Concertos - Released by Jube Classic on 4 Feb 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 & Coriolan Overture (Stereo Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG (REMASTER)
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 29 Jan 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8, Op. 93
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 27 Mar 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lalo: Ouverture du Roi d'Ys (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Scènes bohémiennes de La jolie fille de Perth (1882 Version, Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 1 & 2 Ouvertures (Mono Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: L'arlésienne, suite No. 1, extraits (Mono Version)
André Cluytens, Orchestre National de France
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet: Scènes alsaciennes, Scènes pittoresques & Ouverture de Phèdre (Mono Version)
Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphonie No. 3, pour orgue et orchestre (Mono Version)
Henriette Roget, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Récital Mozart (Mono Version)
Teresa Stich-Randall, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo