Jean Martinon: Big 9-CD box from Decca/England

[Lance]

~ Announcing ~

Jean Martinon (conductor)
Complete Decca Recordings 1951-1960
Decca (England), 475.7209, ADD

CD 1
Adam: Giselle; J. Strauss/Desormière *: The Blue Danube (ballet) +

CD 2
9 Overtures: Hérold: Zampa; Boieldieu: Le Calife de Bagdad, Le Dame Blanche; Adam: Si j'etais Roi; Offenbach: Le Mariage aux Lanternes, La Belle Hélene; Barbe-Bleu; La Grand Duchesse de Gérolstein; Orphée aux Enfers +

CD 3
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Slavonic Dance in C, Op. 72 **; Weinberger: Schwanda the Bagpiper-Polka and Fugue; Rossini: William Tell—Ballet Music; Liszt: Totentanz + •••

CD 4
Lalo: Namouna—Ballet Suites Nos. 1 and 2; Meyerbeer/C.Lambert: Les Patineurs Ballet; Massenet: Le Cid—Ballet Music •

CD 5
Prokofiev: Symphony #5 in B-flat, Op. 100; Symphony #7 in C# Minor, Op. 131 *

CD6
Prokofiev: Russian Overture, Op. 72 *; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 ; Shostakovich: The Age of Gold—Ballet Suite, Op. 22; Symphony #1 in F Minor, Op. 10 **

CD 7
Ibert: Divertissement; Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre, Op. 40, Le Rouet D'Omphale, Op. 31; Bizet: Jeux d'Enfants—Petite Suite D'Orchestre, Op. 22; Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture, Le Corsaire Overture, Benvenuto Cellini Overture, Beatrice and Benedict Overture *

CD 8
Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B Minor (Rimsky-Korsakov & Glazunov arrgt.); Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan—March **; Berlioz: Hungarian March (The Damnation of Faust) *; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 ["Pathetique"] ++

CD 9
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22 ***; Fauré: Ballade for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 18 +++; Francaix: Concertino for Piano and Orchestra +++; Mendelssohn: Capriccio Brillant in B Minor, Op. 22 •••, Rondo Brillant in E-flat Major, Op. 29 •••; +

*Paris Conservatory Orchestra
+London Philharmonic Orchestra
•Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
**London Symphony Orchestra
++Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
***Moura Lympany, piano
+++Kathleen Long, piano
•••Peter Katin, piano
_______________________________

New arrival - should be in stores now, or available on line. Unquestionably among the best values in classical recordings today, the entire Universal Group "big box" CD sets.

More to follow. Lots of listening in this set. I thought you might like to know the contents of this massive set.

[Holden Fourth]

And what is more amazing is that that there is no LvB, Brahms, Schubert, Mahler, Bruckner or anything else related to the Austro-Germanic tradition. Hats off to Mr Martinon form playing what he wanted to play!

[jserraglio]

Two of the first three records I bought were conducted by Martinon, the Shostakovich First and the Prokovieff Seventh, reissued here. I especially like his CSO recordings--the ones I have are all wonderful.

[dirkronk]

I especially like his CSO recordings--the ones I have are all wonderful.

Last week I found a very clean LP copy of Martinon and the CSO doing Bizet L'Arlesienne suites and, since I hadn't heard this rendition in ages, picked it up. Haven't yet had a chance to put it on the turntable, but maybe this thread will encourage me to do so this weekend.

The current box set being discussed here, though, does bring back memories. I'll await Lance's commentary eagerly.



Dirk

[Corlyss_D]

~ Announcing ~

Jean Martinon (conductor)
Complete Decca Recordings 1951-1960
Decca (England), 475.7209, ADD

More to follow. Lots of listening in this set. I thought you might like to know the contents of this massive set.

I have a stupid question: does this include the stuff he did for Mercury? The titles make my mouth water - it's just the repertoire I love him in.

[Wallingford]

A nice comp, overall......but didn't Martinon do several recordings with the LAMOUREUX ORCHESTRA during this time too?

[Lance]

A nice comp, overall......but didn't Martinon do several recordings with the LAMOUREUX ORCHESTRA during this time too?

Yes, he did, but I he didn't make those recordings with British Decca. They only included the records they made where Martinon is concerned. I, too, thought some things were missing (such as the two Mendelssohn piano concertos, but Martinon did not record them with Peter Katin). Martinon also recorded for RCA Victor, EMI, DGG, Erato and Vox (Prokofiev, complete works for orchestra). Reissues appeared on Appian (APR) and possibly some other labels. Then there were the CDs issued by the Chicago Symphony in their own semi-private series. The Decca box just issued, was a marathon project and it's really wonderful to have them all in a box that measures about 3/4-inch wide, plus extensive notes and photos.

[Lance]

~ Announcing ~

Jean Martinon (conductor)
Complete Decca Recordings 1951-1960
Decca (England), 475.7209, ADD

More to follow. Lots of listening in this set. I thought you might like to know the contents of this massive set.

I have a stupid question: does this include the stuff he did for Mercury? The titles make my mouth water - it's just the repertoire I love him in.

Right off the top of my head, I don't think there were any Mercury recordings made by Martinon -- at least my mind doesn't immediately register any, but I'm running on low gas today. [I just looked to see if I had any Mercury LPs of his and none was listed. You may be thinking of Rafael Kubelik who did record for Mercury with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra]. However, the Universal Group also owns Mercury now. If this Martinon/Decca set sells as well as I believe it will, and if there were Mercury recordings, I'm sure Universal will issue them in a boxed set of their own. This set specifically states "Complete Decca Recordings, 1951-1960."

Jean Martinon also recorded Liszt's Hungarian Fantasy with the Lamoureux Orchestra with pianist Sondra Bianca, too. This appeared on a now ancient Plymouth mono LP [12-37] that I happen to own. Plymouth pressings were not very good (they were somewhat of a budget-priced label), but many Martinon collectors are not even aware of this recording. It is my hope that the prestigious Rediscovery firm will ultimately remaster and reissue this as they have taken a special interest in Miss Bianca's discography.

[Corlyss_D]

I have a stupid question: does this include the stuff he did for Mercury? The titles make my mouth water - it's just the repertoire I love him in.

Right off the top of my head, I don't think there were any Mercury recordings made by Martinon -- at least my mind doesn't immediately register any, but I'm running on low gas today. [I just looked to see if I had any Mercury LPs of his and none was listed. You may be thinking of Rafael Kubelik who did record for Mercury with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra]. However, the Universal Group also owns Mercury now. If this Martinon/Decca set sells as well as I believe it will, and if there were Mercury recordings, I'm sure Universal will issue them in a boxed set of their own. This set specifically states "Complete Decca Recordings, 1951-1960."

Brain cramp. I knew it was a stupid question. I'm thinking of Paul Paray. But! I have most of that series of French music he put out on EMI Angel. I think it included Roussel's Spider's Feast.

[Lance]

I have a stupid question: does this include the stuff he did for Mercury? The titles make my mouth water - it's just the repertoire I love him in.

Right off the top of my head, I don't think there were any Mercury recordings made by Martinon -- at least my mind doesn't immediately register any, but I'm running on low gas today. [I just looked to see if I had any Mercury LPs of his and none was listed. You may be thinking of Rafael Kubelik who did record for Mercury with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra]. However, the Universal Group also owns Mercury now. If this Martinon/Decca set sells as well as I believe it will, and if there were Mercury recordings, I'm sure Universal will issue them in a boxed set of their own. This set specifically states "Complete Decca Recordings, 1951-1960."

Brain cramp. I knew it was a stupid question. I'm thinking of Paul Paray. But! I have most of that series of French music he put out on EMI Angel. I think it included Roussel's Spider's Feast.

Not a stupid question at all, Lyssie! You were thinking old LP days and that was long ago.

[Gregg]

The pressing of the Szell box was terrible. I hope these are better. I could not listen to those CDs and it had some of the Decca/London recordings that I love (i.e, Brahms and Dvorak).

Martinon's recording of Saint Saen's 3rd was one of my first records. Soon followed by his Ravel recordings. So I have a soft spot for the guy.


Gregg

[Lance]

The pressing of the Szell box was terrible. I hope these are better. I could not listen to those CDs and it had some of the Decca/London recordings that I love (i.e, Brahms and Dvorak).

Martinon's recording of Saint Saen's 3rd was one of my first records. Soon followed by his Ravel recordings. So I have a soft spot for the guy.


Gregg

I'm surprised to read your comment about the Szell box. Mine were excellent and and I thought very well remastered since they worked with original tapes. The problem with tape, in time, is that it deteriorates, often has "print-through," and distortion. I did an A/B check from vinyl to CD to compare quality on the Szell issue and was pleased with the comparison and over all results. Was it the pressings themselves you found inferior, or the remastering of the sound you objected to?

[Gregg]

Hi Lance,

It must be a bad pressing. The sound on the CD makes the recordings sound like records from the 1920's. I couldn't even play them in the car, and I thought I could play anything and get away with it in the car.

I have a lot of the material on the set, but I wanted trouble free CDs of the Brahms and the Dvorak (and the Sibelius, though I play that LP all the time). The sound on the mono Londons is very good (all things considered, I have never compared these Londons against Deccas) I sometimes add a mono cart so it helps a great deal.

I should add that my turntable is just a Thorens 160 MK II. The rest of my system is all more than decent tube equipment. It's a dynamic system, but a forgiving one. So not the kind of system that will give you an unappealing x-ray of a recording.

Gregg

[RebLem]

Martinon performed lots of core German repertoire with the CSO. I have a performance, still abailable as part of a 10 CD set, of a complete Mahler 3rd he did with them, and he recorded on broadcast tapes (unfortunately none ever issued on CDs) more Bach Cantatas than all other CSO MDs combined--I think about 20 or so.