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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Ravel: Orchestral Works
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 29 Jul 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Carmen Suites, Symphonie en Ut & Chants du Rhin (Les indispensables de Diapason)
Igor Markevitch, André Cluytens, Maria Grinberg
Classical - Released by Les Indispensables de Diapason on 15 Jun 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Wagner : Lohengrin (Bayreuth 1958)
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, André Cluytens
Opera - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 28 Feb 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
André Cluytens : Great Conductors of the 20th Century
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 18 Feb 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Les 9 Symphonies
Classical - Released by Parlophone (France) on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin & Boléro (Mono Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann - Highlights
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rita Gorr Sings French Opera
Rita Gorr, Georges Prêtre, André Cluytens
Opera - Released by Guild GmbH on 15 Jul 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, Op. 92
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 27 Mar 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Concerto pour violon, Op. 61 (Stereo Version)
Orchestre National de France, André Cluytens, David Oïstrakh
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3, Visions fugitives & Toccata
Samson François, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 25 Sep 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Requiem
Classical - Released by Parlophone (France) on 31 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pecheurs De Perles Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 28 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les différents visages de Siegfried (Mono Version)
Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les Contes d´Hoffmann - Jacques Offenbach
Opera - Released by Preiser Records on 1 Nov 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: L'heure espagnole, M. 52
Denise Duval, Jean Giraudeau, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 20 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner & Gounod: Orchestral Works
Orchestre de l'Opera National de Paris, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Archipel on 30 Mar 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Emil Gilels, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Leopold Ludwig, André Cluytens
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 22 May 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles, extraits (Mono Version)
Martha Angelici, Henri Legay, Orchestre Du Theatre National De L'opera-comique, André Cluytens
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal (Recorded 1960)
Opera - Released by Andromeda on 24 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Le Martyre de saint Sébastien
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 5 Jan 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo