Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre National de France has been associated with French national radio broadcasting for much of its career. It also lives up to its name, giving concerts around France in addition to those at its home venues in Paris.
The Orchestre National de France, or ONF, was founded in 1934 by Radio France as the Orchestre National, giving its first concert at the Paris Conservatory. Its first conductor was Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht. In 1939, many of the orchestra's musicians were conscripted into the French army. The rest of the group moved to the city of Rennes but disbanded when that city was bombed. The orchestra was reconstituted in Marseilles by the collaborationist Vichy government in 1941; Jewish musicians were banned. The orchestra returned to Paris in 1943 and the following year, gave its first concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where it continues to perform today. It also appears at the Salle Olivier Messiaen at the Maison de Radio France. All of the group's roughly 70 annual concerts are broadcast on the French national radio network ORTF. The orchestra has changed its name several times. When independent French radio was reestablished in 1945, it became the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française, and in 1949 the Orchestre national de la Radio-télévision française or Orchestre national de la RTF. In 1964, the group took on the cumbersome name of Orchestre national de l'Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française or Orchestre national de l'ORTF, shortened in 1975 to the present name. Manuel Rosenthal replaced Inghelbrecht in 1944, and after the war, he restored French and contemporary programming that had been banned under German rule. Major conductors have included Jean Martinon (1968-1973), Lorin Maazel (1988-1990), Charles Dutoit (1991-2001), Kurt Masur (2002-2007), Daniele Gatti (2008-2016), Emmanuel Krivine (2017-2020), and, as of 2020, Cristian Măcelaru. The group has spent considerable periods without a chief conductor, and during those times has attracted an A-list of international guest conductors that included Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, and Georg Solti. Guest soloists have been similarly prestigious, with Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Yo-Yo Ma numbered among them.
The ONF has recorded prolifically for Erato, EMI, Naïve, and other labels. The group has often premiered and recorded contemporary French works but also issues recordings of the standard repertory, not all of it French. In the late 2010s, the orchestra moved to Erato partner Warner Classics, issuing a recording of Alexandre Desplat's Airlines in 2020.
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Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 101 & 102 (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, Igor Markevitch
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: La Création du monde, Saudades do Brasil, Le Boeuf sur le toit
Leonard Bernstein, Orchestre National de France
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 30 jul. 1987
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen (Highlights)
Jessye Norman, Mirella Freni, Neil Shicoff, R.T.F. Choeur De Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Seiji Ozawa
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 27 jul. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphonie No. 4 "Italienne" - Schubert: Symphonie No. 8 "Inachevée" (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, Igor Markevitch
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Francis Poulenc : Concert champêtre - Suite française - Sinfonietta - Fanfare - Deux marches...
Pascal Rogé, Orchestre National de France, Charles Dutoit
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 7 okt. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy : L'Oeuvre pour orchestre (Vol. 1)
Orchestre National de France, Jean Martinon
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 mei 1998
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Symphony in D minor / Saint-Saens: Le Rouet d'Omphale
Orchestre National de France, Leonard Bernstein
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphonie No. 3 avec orgue, Le rouet d'Omphale & Danse macabre
Jean Martinon, Marie-Claire Alain, Orchestre National de France
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1. Op. 15 (Live Recording, Lausanne 1978)
Claudio Arrau, Orchestre National de France, Witold Rowicki
Concertmuziek - Released by Claves Records on 1 mei 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Symphonie No. 1 in C Major (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Symphony in C Major, Petite suite from "Jeux d'enfants" & Patrie
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame
Orchestre National de France, Mstislav Rostropovich
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18
Aldo Ciccolini, Orchestre National de France, Constantin Silvestri
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 29 jan. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Concertos, Orchestral & Choral Works
Pascal Rogé, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Charles Dutoit
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Gloria & Concerto pour orgue, cordes et timbales (Stereo Version)
Georges Prêtre, Maurice Duruflé, Orchestre National de France
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Concerto pour violon, Op. 77 (Stereo Version)
Orchestre National de France, Otto Klemperer, David Oïstrakh
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn - C.P.E. Bach - Schmitt - Moussorgski, Orchestre National de la RTF, Concert du 02/09/1953, Eugène Bigot (dir), Henryk Szeryng (violon)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Eugène Bigot
Klassiek - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 1 mei 2017
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
Concertmuziek - Released by Claves Records on 1 mei 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major; Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major (Paul Paray: The Mercury Masters II, Volume 22)
Monique Haas, Orchestre National de France, Paul Paray
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 jan. 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berio : Sinfonia & Eindrücke
Orchestre National de France, Pierre Boulez
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 okt. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin & Boléro (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo