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.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Liszt: Fantasy on Hungarian Themes, S. 123 (Live Recording, Lausanne 1969)
Gyorgy Cziffra, György Cziffra Jr., Orchestre National de France
Concertmuziek - Released by Claves Records on 1 mei 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Concerto pour piano No. 5 & Septuor (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, Louis Fourestier, Jeanne-Marie Darre
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Boris Christoff, Nicolai Gedda, Eugenia Zareska, Kim Borg, Orchestre National de France, Issay Dobrowen
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jun. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Klavierkonzerte/La valse u.a.
Jean-Philippe Collard, Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel
Kamermuziek - Released by Warner Classics on 27 jul. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartok - V. d'Indy - Canteloube, Concert du 04/07/1957, Orchestre National de la RTF, D.E Ingelbrecht (dir)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Désiré Emile Inghelbrecht
Klassiek - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 1 okt. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven - Stravinski - Haendel, Concert du 22/03/1956, Orchestre National, Jean Martinon (dir), V. Perlemuter (piano)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Jean Martinon
Klassiek - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 3 aug. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven & Vieuxtemps: Violin Concertos
David Oïstrakh, Leonid Kogan, Orchestre National de France, The Ussr State Symphony Orchestra, André Cluytens, Kirill Kondrashin
Klassiek - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 17 jul. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber - Beethoven - Mozart - Ibert, Concert du 08/12/1955, Orchestre National, André Cluytens (dir), C. Haskil (piano)
Orchestre national de la RTF and André Cluytens
Klassiek - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 3 aug. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin: Danses polovtsiennes - Mussorgsky: Une nuit sur le mont Chauve - Tchaikovsky: Roméo et Juliette, ouverture-fantaisie (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, Igor Markevitch
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Live Recording, Lausanne 1975)
Concertmuziek - Released by Claves Records on 26 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Harold en Italie & 3 Ouvertures
Leonard Bernstein, André Previn, Donald McInnes, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 mei 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 / Hindemith: 4 Temperaments (Haskil, Hindemith) (1957) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Paul Hindemith)
Clara Haskil, Orchestre National de France, Paul Hindemith
Klassiek - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 apr. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kalabis - Poulenc - Stravinski, Concert du 11/03/1957, Orchestre National de la RTF, Manuel Rosenthal(dir), G. Moizan (s) et J. Neilz (violoncelle)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Manuel Rosenthal
Klassiek - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 1 mei 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Conte pour enfants - Britten: Variations et fugue sur un thème de Purcell
Lorin Maazel, Orchestre National de France
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Division Decca Records France on 1 mei 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 in G minor, "The Year 1905", Op. 103
Klassiek - Released by Past Classics on 1 jul. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Menuet antique & Ma mère l'Oye (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dutilleux: Concertos For Violin & Cello
Pierre Amoyal, Lynn Harrell, Orchestre National de France, Charles Dutoit
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Barraud: Symphonie n 3 / Roussel: Concerto pour piano et orchestre
Orchestre National de France, Charles Munch, Claude Helffer, Orchestre Des Cento Soli, Serge Baudo
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music Division Decca Records France on 1 jan. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn - Schumann - Pierné - Loucheur, Concert du 04/04/1955, Orchestre National, Pierre Dervaux (dir), Y. Lefébure (piano)
Orchestre national de la RTF and Pierre Dervaux
Klassiek - Released by Ina, musique(s) on 3 aug. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Swan Lake (Lac de Cygnes) Opus 20
Klassiek - Released by Past Classics on 4 mrt. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richter Archives, Vol. 11: Concertos with Maazel
Sviatoslav Richter, Lorin Maazel, Orchestre National de France, Unknown Artist
Klassiek - Released by DOREMI on 9 jan. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo