Pierre Fournier, Matthias Bamert, Istvan Kertesz – Lucerne Festival Historic Performances Vol. VII – Pierre Fournier plays Dvořák, Saint-Saëns and Casals (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Pierre Fournier, Matthias Bamert, Istvan Kertesz – Lucerne Festival Historic Performances Vol. VII – Pierre Fournier plays Dvořák, Saint-Saëns and Casals (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:00:51 minutes | 551 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Audite Musikproduktion

Pierre Fournier (1906-1986) was one of the most eminent cellists of the generation after Pablo Casals. Praised as an “aristocrat of cello playing”, he was admired for his soulful, singing tone, his uncomplicated elegance and his refined sound. This disc presents three live recordings from this legacy, recorded at Lucerne Festival and all of them released for the first time.

Together with István Kertész, Fournier performed a piece of his core repertoire in the summer of 1967: Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in B minor – a particularly noteworthy archive discovery since the conductor’s tragically early death had prevented him from making a studio recording of the concerto. This live recording preserves the unpredictable emotional value of the concert situation: Fournier and Kertész take many risks, preferring the high definition of separate sounds as well as fresh tempi, without any temptation to fall for folklore frenzy or sentimental melancholy. Camille Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto in A minor was held in low esteem for decades, despite composers such as Rachmaninov and Shostakovich declaring it “the greatest of all cello concertos”. It was not revived until the 1950s, not least thanks to its advocacy by Pierre Fournier. In 1962, alongside Jean Martinon and the Orchestre Philharmonique de la RTF, he presented a passionate reading of the work, permitting a telling comparison to his previous studio recording. A new item in Fournier’s discography, however, is the ‘Cant dels ocells’ which he played in 1976 at a memorial concert on the centenary of Pablo Casals’ birthday: this was also his last appearance at Lucerne Festival. Fournier’s brief announcement before this work has been included here: in it he pays tribute both to Pablo Casals – whose cello version of the old Catalan Christmas carol became an obligatory constituent of his concerts and a secret hymn for all refugees and emigrants longing for home – and also to the cellist and composer Enrico Mainardi, who had died only a few months previously, on 10 April 1976.

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István Kertész – Dvorák: Symphonies,Tone Poems, Requiem… (2016/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

István Kertész - Dvorák: Symphonies,Tone Poems, Requiem... (2016/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

István Kertész – Dvorák: Symphonies,Tone Poems, Requiem… (2016/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 11:03:11 minutes | 12,67 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Decca

“Among the finest discographic achievements of the tragically short-lived Hungarian conductor István Kertész was his landmark stereo cycle of the Dvořák symphonies with the London Symphony. For anyone who loves this composer’s music, the Kertész compilation is self-recommending; it is still the best traversal of the symphonies, with not a single performance or recording that is less than outstanding.”
– The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection
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London Symphony Orchestra, István Kertész – Dvořák: Complete Symphonies, Tone Poems, Overtures & Requiem (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

London Symphony Orchestra, István Kertész – Dvořák: Complete Symphonies, Tone Poems, Overtures & Requiem (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 11:03:11 minutes | 12,64 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Decca

It took just two days before the microphones for István Kertész to imprint his name in the minds of Decca’s senior executives. The Budapest-born conductor’s debut recording for the label, made with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in March 1961, projected his high artistry and deep imagination into a bold and individual reading of Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony. Producer Ray Minshull and sound engineer James Brown liked what they heard at Vienna’s Sofiensaal. They recognised Kertész as a conductor for the new stereo age: he was young and handsome — eternally marketable qualities — yet owned the charismatic power, mature musicianship and personal warmth required to draw the best from the best. Minshull’s post-session report opened the door to Kertész’s productive relationship with the label, one that lasted until he fell victim to a tragic drowning accident in the sea near the Israeli city of Herzliya in 1973.

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