In the words of the composer and critic, Virgil Thomson, the unique sonorities of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under its founder-director, Ernest Ansermet, were ‘smooth as a seashell, iridescent as fine rain, bright as the taste of a peach’. Ever since its foundation in 1918, the OSR had been coached and trained with […]
Ansermet’s invigorating and unsentimental way with Haydn has been documented on Eloquence with reissues of the Paris symphonies (480 1942) and the Symphonies Nos. 22 & 90 (480 0378). What Ansermet loved about Haydn above all was his ability to ‘express afresh every time, in so satisfying and charming a way, his moral health and optimism.’ […]
Dating from May 1956, this recording of the ‘Posthorn’ Serenade was made in what became the Indian Summer of Eduard van Beinum’s recorded legacy with the Concertgebouw. The orchestra was on song and entirely at one with their music director in this chamber-music repertoire as may already be heard in the Bach suites recorded the […]
A newly remastered collection of Decca and Philips recordings made by under-rated Dutch conductor in Austro-German classics, Eduard van Beinum, including a little-known account of Beethoven’s ‘Prometheus’ Overture. The ballet music which Beethoven wrote to complement his overture was as little-heard in 1952 as it is now. Eduard van Beinum recorded eight numbers from the complete […]
Jean Fournet was already one of the best-known French conductors when on 12th November, 1950, he made his debut with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Three days later he made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra when he stepped in for Eduard van Beinum whose recorded legacy is extensively reissued on Eloquence. Newly remastered and […]
A generous collection of classic Decca stereo recordings, illuminating the idiomatic sympathy of the Swiss conductor, Ernest Ansermet, for ballet music and specifically the scores commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. The Eloquence label has undertaken a thorough-going re-examination of the recorded legacy of Ernest Ansermet, including reissues of repertoire with which he […]
A new, well-filled single CD anthology of Decca and Philips song recordings made by a leading French lyric soprano of the 1950s. This recital showcases the vivacious, versatile French lyric soprano, Janine Micheau (1914–1976). Three great 20th-century masters of orchestration are featured – Britten (‘Les Illuminations’), Ravel (Shéh’razade’) and Debussy (‘La Damoiselle élue’) – along […]
A first release on CD for the first recording in stereo (and entirely complete) of Borodin’s operatic masterpiece. With this and six companion issues, Eloquence makes available for the first time on CD, the seven complete Russian operas recorded in 1955 by Decca with the company of the Belgrade Opera. Fresh from a successful tour of […]
The complete Philips recital recordings of a leading French baritone of the postwar era. The tessitura of Maurane’s fine voice with a pleasant low register and clear, fluent top notes like a tenor’s, places him in that splendid line of French baryton-Martin, named after the early 19th-century singer, Jean-Blaise Martin. More modern exponents include Pierre […]
A major addition to the Ansermet discography: vividly coloured repertoire for which the conductor was renowned, in stereo recordings previously unreleased in any format. One of the greatest conductors of the last century, Ernest Ansermet got the whole world listening to new music by composers who were often personal friends: among them Debussy, Stravinsky (most […]
Bookends from the most successful partnership in the history of English light opera, in newly remastered Decca recordings. As the first full-length operatic collaboration between W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, The Sorcerer has never achieved the popularity of its immediate successor, H.M.S. Pinafore, yet there is much to enjoy in this satire (more gentle […]
An atmospheric Decca Phase 4 stereo recording of a much-loved Savoy opera. The work of the Australian musician, James Walker, can be found on many Eloquence releases but he appears here in an unfamiliar guise. He trained as a pianist both in his native Australia and at the Royal Academy of Music in London and […]
