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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Beethoven: Leonore III, Op. 72b & Symphonie No. 5, Op. 67 (Stereo Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Classica - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Leonore III, Op. 72b & Symphonie No. 5, Op. 67 (Mono Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Classica - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 (Stereo Version)
André Cluytens, Berliner Philharmoniker
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1900
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 & Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus (Mono Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: L'Arlésienne, suites Nos. 1 & 2 (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Musique russe (Stereo Version)
André Cluytens, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Symphonie No. 3, Op. 97 (Mono Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 6, Op. 68, "Pastorale" (Mono Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Symphonie No. 4, Op. 120 (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les 9 symphonies (Mono Version)
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 3, Op. 55 "Héroïque" (Mono Version)
André Cluytens, Berliner Philharmoniker
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (Stereo Version)
Philharmonia Orchestra, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Conductors: André Cluytens Conducts Massenet & Ravel (2019 Remaster)
André Cluytens, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, Kölner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester
Classica - Pubblicato da Jube Classic il 5 apr 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Perséphone (Mono Version)
Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (Stereo Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Musique russe (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: La grande pâque russe, Op. 36 & Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Psyché & Morceau symphonique de Rédemption (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Massenet: Scènes pittoresques, extraits (Mono Version)
Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo