Jean Martinon
In the words of one of his biographers, conductor Jean Martinon's performances "were distinguished by a concern for translucent orchestral textures, and sustained by a subtle sense of rhythm and phrasing." Occasionally, "he stressed a poetic inflection at the expense of literal accuracy."
Martinon's first instrument was the violin; he studied at the Lyons Conservatory (1924-1925), then transferred to the Paris Conservatory, where he won first prize in violin upon his graduation in 1928. He subsequently studied composition, with Albert Roussel, and conducting, with Charles Munch and Roger Desormière. Until the outbreak of World War II, Martinon was primarily a composer. His early substantial works include a Symphoniette for piano, percussion, and strings (1935); Symphony No. 1 (1936); Concerto giocoso for violin and orchestra (1937); and a wind quintet (1938). At the start of the war he was drafted into the French army. Taken prisoner in 1940, he passed the next two years in a Nazi labor camp. There, he wrote Stalag IX (Musique d'exil), an orchestral piece incorporating elements of jazz; during his internment, he also composed several religious works, including Absolve, Domine for male chorus and orchestra, and Psalm 136 (Chant des captifs), the latter receiving a composition prize from the city of Paris in 1946.
Upon his release from the Nazi camp, Martinon became conductor of the Bordeaux Symphony Orchestra (from 1943 to 1945) and assistant conductor of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra (from 1944 to 1946), then associate conductor of the London Philharmonic (from 1947 to 1949). He toured as a guest conductor as well, although his U.S. debut did not come until 1957, with the Boston Symphony giving the American premiere of his Symphony No. 2. Although he devoted as much time as he could to composing in the early postwar years -- producing a string quartet (1946), an "Irish" Symphony (1948), the ballet Ambohimanga (1946), and the opera Hécube (1949-1954) -- he was increasingly occupied with conducting, working with the Concerts Lamoureux (from 1951 to 1957), the Israel Philharmonic (from 1957 to 1959), and Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra (from 1960 to 1966). In 1963, he succeeded Fritz Reiner as head of the Chicago Symphony. Martinon's tenure there was difficult. In five seasons, he conducted 60 works by modern European and American composers, and made a number of outstanding LPs for RCA, mostly of bracing twentieth century repertory in audiophile sound. Chicago's conservative music lovers soon sent him packing.
Martinon jumped at the chance to take over the French National Radio Orchestra in 1968; working with this ensemble, he recorded almost the entire standard French repertory for Erato and EMI. His earlier Erato efforts that focused on such secondary but nevertheless interesting figures as Roussel, Pierné, and Dukas, whereas EMI assigned him integral sets of the Saint-Saëns symphonies and the orchestral works of Debussy and Ravel, among other projects. In 1974, he was appointed principal conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, but he died before that relationship could bear much fruit.
Martinon resumed his career as a composer around 1960, writing his Violin Concerto No. 2 (1960) for Henryk Szeryng, his Cello Concerto (1964) for Pierre Fournier, and his Symphony No. 4 ("Altitudes"), composed in 1965, for the 75th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony. He acknowledged Prokofiev and Bartók as strong influences on his scores, which meld Expressionism with French Neoclassicism. Martinon continued composing into the 1970s, but he seldom recorded any of his own music, with the notable exceptions of the Second Symphony, "Hymne à la vie" (ORTF, for Barclay Inedits) and Fourth Symphony, "Altitudes" (Chicago SO, for RCA).
© TiVo
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Lalo: Cello Concerto / Saint-Saëns:Cello Concerto
Pierre Fournier, Orchestre Lamoureux, Jean Martinon, Berliner Philharmoniker, Alfred Wallenstein
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, TH 59 (Live Recording, Lausanne 1973)
Igor Oïstrakh, Orchestre National de France, Jean Martinon
Concertos - Released by Claves Records on 1 May 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy/Ravel: The Ballets
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 9 Nov 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 14 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin (Suite); Hindemith: Nobilissima visione; Varèse: Arcana
Symphonic Music - Released by High Performance on 1 Jan 1990
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Orchestral Works II
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 May 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schmitt: Psaume XLVII, Op. 38 & La tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Dvořák: Cello Concertos (Live)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jacqueline du Pré, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 6 Apr 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach, La passion selon Saint Jean, Concert du 30/05/61, Orchestre Philarmonique de la RTF, Jean Martinon (dir)
Orchestre Philarmonique de la RTF, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 23 Dec 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments" & Symphony No. 4 "Inextinguishable"
Classical - Released by bmg music on 27 Mar 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Honegger: Pacific 231, Rugby, Pastorale d'été & Une cantate de Noël
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy : Ouvres orchestrales (II)
Orchestre National de France, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 May 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2
Jean Martinon, French National Radio Orchestra
Classical - Released by Vox Box on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Édouard Lalo Symphonie Espagnole Op.21
David Oïstrakh, Jean Martinon, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by In Vinyl We Trust on 30 Sep 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Conductors: Jean Martinon - Giselle & Le Cid - Ballet Music
Jean Martinon, L'orchestre des Concerts de la Conservatoire de Paris, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 13 Nov 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphony in F Major, R. 163 "Urbs Roma" & Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World" (Remastered 2022)
Jean Martinon, Orchestre National De L' O.R.T.F., Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO)
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 23 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Gemini Series)
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 6 Sep 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Erich Kleiber, Jean Martinon - The Decca 78s
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber, Eugenia Zareska, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 12 Jul 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jean Martinon – The Philips Legacy
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1953
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev – The Decca Masters
Sir Adrian Boult, Jean Martinon, Eric Tuxen, Nikolai Malko
Symphonic Music - Released by Decca on 6 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michelangeli Plays Beethoven
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestre National de France, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 29 Mar 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo