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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Lalo : Le Roi d'Ys
Full Operas - Released by Warner Classics on Sep 8, 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Albert Roussel: Symphonie Nos. 3 & 4, Bacchus & Ariane, Suite
Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, André Cluytens, Paul Paray
Symphonies - Released by Praga Digitals on Jun 1, 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphonie No. 8 "Inachevée" - Liszt: Les préludes
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen
Solange Michel, Raoul Jobin, Martha Angelici, Michel Dens, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Aug 18, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ, Op. 25, H 130
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Dec 22, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Symphonie n°6, Pastorale (Miroir)
André Cluytens, Joseph Keilberth, Berliner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker
Classical - Released by Miroir on Jul 31, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roussel: Le festin de l'araignée, Suite No. 2 de Bacchus et Ariane & Sinfonietta pour orchestre à cordes
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1964
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann
Raoul Jobin, Renée Doria, Bourvil, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1948
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich plays Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos
Dimitri Chostakovitch, André Cluytens, French National Radio Orchestra
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Jun 15, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Faust (1953 Version)
Victoria de los Angeles, Boris Christoff, Nicolai Gedda, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol & La grande Pâque russe - Borodin: Dans les steppes de l'Asie centrale - Mussorgsky: Une nuit sur le mont Chauve (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48 (Mono Version)
André Cluytens, Orchestre de Saint-Eustache, Chanteurs de Saint-Eustache
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Russian Recital: Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodine & Mussorgsky
André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on May 15, 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ouvertures de Berlioz (Stereo Version)
André Cluytens, Orchestre National de France
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Variations symphoniques pour piano et orchestre - Indy: Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français (Mono Version)
Aldo Ciccolini, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour piano No. 3 (Mono Version)
Emil Gilels, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet, Guiraud: Suites de L'Arlésienne, extraits - Scènes bohémiennes (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: The Piano Concertos by Samson François
Samson François, André Cluytens, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Jul 26, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Les Djinns & Variations symphoniques - Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23
Aldo Ciccolini, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Dec 2, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
André Cluytens - Complete Mono Orchestral Recordings, 1943-1958
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jun 16, 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Symphonie No. 1 in C Major (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo