Great conductors of the 20TH century EMI VOL.12 - Markevitch

CD1 [77:49]

Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony
London Symphony Orchestra; Wembley Town Hall, London; October & November 1963

Glinka: A Life for the Tsar: Overture & Three Dances
Chorus of the Belgrade Opera/Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux;
Salle de la Mutualité, Paris; November & December 1957

CD2 [74:50]

Verdi: La forza del destino: Overture
New Philharmonia Orchestra; Wembley Town Hall, London; October 1967

Debussy: La Mer
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux; Salle de la Mutualité, Paris; May 1959

Chabrier: España
Orquesta Sinfónica de la RTV Española; Madrid; December 1966

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No.2
Chor und Symphonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks; Musikhalle, Hamburg (Live); February 1960

R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française; Salle de la Mutualité, Paris; November 1956




THE BIOGRAPHY - IGOR MARKEVITCH (1912-1983)
Igor Markevitch was born in Kiev and spent his formative years in Switzerland. He took piano lessons from his father and later studied the piano with Alfred Cortot and composition with Nadia Boulanger. From the late 1920s until World War II he enjoyed a successful career as a composer, appearing in 1929 as soloist in the first performance of his Piano Concerto, commissioned by Diaghilev. In Italy during the war he abandoned composition and when peace returned embarked on a new career as conductor. The majority of his many recordings were made with the Philharmonia, Berlin Philharmonic, Lamoureux and London Symphony Orchestras. He made his United States debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1955 and was a guest conductor in all the main international centres until the mid-1970s, when ill health caused him to concentrate on writing and teaching.
THE RECORDINGS
Igor Markevitch recorded a huge discography, much of it currently available. In this compilation, great care has been taken to select important material that is generally not available. The Manfred Symphony (with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1963) was issued as part of Markevitch's recording of the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies but has never been issued separately. The overture and dances from Glinka's A Life for the Tsar appear for the first time outside the recording of the complete opera (made in 1957). The outstanding accounts of Debussy's La Mer (from Paris in 1959) and Chabrier's España (recorded in Madrid in 1966, with Markevitch's Spanish Radio & Television Orchestra) have not previously been available on CD. The second suite from Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé was a Markevitch speciality. Unlike his commercial release of the work, this live recording, with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg in 1960, features the chorus part which adds enormously to the atmosphere and excitement generated by this music. The 1956 recording of Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel is a rarity, having enjoyed only limited availability in recent years.

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