Anatole Fistoulari
A conductor of wide-ranging authority in a varied repertory, Anatole Fistoulari is nonetheless remembered most vividly for the several ballet recordings he made for Mercury Records. The son of a noted conductor, Fistoulari maintained that he had made his debut before an orchestra at the age of seven. Beyond dispute is his broad exposure to Russian musical culture, thoroughly absorbed before he concentrated his activities in Europe and, eventually England, where he became a British subject. Fistoulari learned most of his technique and repertory from his father, Gregor Fistoulari, a student of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and Anton Rubinstein. The work allegedly conducted by the seven-year-old Anatole in Kiev was Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony, a score of enormous depth and complexity. In 1933, he leapt into the fire with an appointment to conduct for the Grand Opéra Russe in Paris, a company assembled around the famously temperamental Russian bass baritone Feodor Chaliapin. His ability to maintain a cool head there led to a 1938 engagement with Leonid Masim's Ballets Russes; with that company, Fistoulari toured the Continent and America, where his work was much admired. During WWII, Fistoulari became a popular figure in England. After conducting a 1942 production of Mussorgsky's unfinished Sorochintsï Fair, he was made principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1943. In 1954, he returned to ballet as guest conductor of the Royal Ballet and, in 1956, led the London Philharmonic in a tour of Russia that brought enthusiastic audiences to the halls of Moscow and Leningrad. Other guest engagements took Fistoulari to several other parts of the world, notably New Zealand and the Mideast, but he continued to base his activities in England. Active in the recording studio, Fistoulari built a substantial discography. In addition to his much-praised Mercury recordings of Delibes' Sylvia and Adam's Giselle, he recorded excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty; Alexandre Luigini's short, but effective Ballet Egyptien; and several works by Khachaturian. Fistoulari's direction of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies was praised, as were recorded collaborations with pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Earl Wild, and Shura Cherkassky, as well as violinists Nathan Milstein (Brahms) and Ruggiero Ricci (Khachaturian).
© TiVo
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Berlioz, Weber: Le spectre de la rose - Minkus: Pas de deux de Don Quichotte (Mono Version)
London New Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Piano Concerto, Op. 16 (Mono Version)
Clifford Curzon, Anatole Fistoulari, London Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 58: I. Andante (Live)
Rohan de Saram, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by First Hand Records on 7 May 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La damnation de Faust; Massenet: Werther – Excerpts (Opera Gala – Volume 2)
Írma Kolássi, London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 13 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky Ballet Music
John Hollingsworth, Efrem Kurtz, Anatole Fistoulari
Ballets - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on 12 Jan 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Suite No.1 from Peer Gynt & 4 Norwegian Dances (Mono Version)
Anatole Fistoulari, Philharmonia Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Ernani, extraits (Mono Version)
Boris Christoff, Philharmonia Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Concerto pour violon, Op. 77 (Mono Version)
Nathan Milstein, Anatole Fistoulari, Philharmonia Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Symphony Lounge, Vol. 8: Delibes – Sylvia (Remastered 2019)
London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 15 Mar 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: Concerto pour violon No. 2 (Mono Version)
Yehudi Menuhin, Anatole Fistoulari, Philharmonia Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Lac des cygnes, extraits (Mono Version)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Khachaturian: Piano Concerto / Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2
Moura Lympany, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari, Jean Martinon
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 17 Aug 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delibes Sylvia & Coppélia
Anatole Fistoulari, London Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 17 Mar 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto In Brazilian Forms
London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari, Felicja Blumental
Concertos - Released by Brana Records on 23 May 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hated by Hanslick
USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, Rias Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by Music Manager on 27 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lumbye and Strauss
Lavard Frisholm, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on 7 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre - Poulenc: Aubade (Mono Version)
Fabienne Jacquinot, Westminster Symphony Orchestra of London, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tavares: Concerto in Brasilian Forms No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra - Paderewski: Polish Fantasy On Original Themes (Mono Version)
Felicja Blumental, London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Concertos pour piano Nos. 1 & 2 (Mono Version)
Wilhelm Kempff, London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Charles Lecocq - Mam'zelle Angot (Highlights) (Album of 1957)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
Pop - Released by Ginkgo Classical on 30 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo