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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Symphony In C Major
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 10 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Les Éolides, Le chasseur maudit & Rédemption
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 21 Oct 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 1 & Ouvertures (Stereo Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Les mamelles de Tirésias (Mono Version)
Denise Duval, Jean Giraudeau, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod : Faust (Mono Version 1953) (Mono Version)
Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, André Cluytens, Paris Opera Orchestra
Full Operas - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz : L'enfance du Christ, Roméo et Juliette
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 11 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
André Cluytens - Complete Mono Orchestral Recordings, 1943-1958
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 16 Jun 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 & Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 20 Mar 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 "Pastoral"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 20 Mar 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: L'Enfant Prodigue / Honegger: Symphony No. 3 "Liturgique" H 186
Coro E Orchestra Sinfonica RAI Di Torino, Ruggero Maghini, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 4 Jul 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Concerto pour piano No. 2 - Mozart: Sonate pour piano No. 17 (Mono Version)
Emil Gilels, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Symphonie No.5 (Miroir)
André Cluytens, Joseph Keilberth, Berliner Philharmoniker, Philarmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Classical - Released by Miroir on 3 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 "Choral"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 27 Mar 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Orchestral Works (Live)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by JPK Musik on 15 Jan 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Concert de clôture des célébrations du 25e anniversaire (16 juillet59
Orchestre National de la RTF - André Cluytens - Emil Gilels, piano
Classical - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 3 Feb 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MUSSORGSKY: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
André Cluytens, Eduardo del Pueyo
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 12 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles (1893 Version, Mono Version)
Henri Legay, Martha Angelici, 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 -
Beethoven & Vieuxtemps: Violin Concertos
David Oïstrakh, Leonid Kogan, Orchestre National de France, The Ussr State Symphony Orchestra, André Cluytens, Kirill Kondrashin
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 17 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 "Eroica"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 13 Mar 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, extraits (Stereo Version)
Rita Gorr, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ, Op. 25 (Mono Version)
Jean Giraudeau, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo