Faure: Requiem, Debussy: Images / Cluytens

André Cluytens

Fauré: Requiem
Debussy: Images

A prolific recording artist, André Cluytens signed a contract with the French branch of EMI Pathé-Marconi in 1946. He recorded an extensive series of complete French operas with the forces of the Opéra-Comique and the Opéra National de Paris. He also set down a discography of orchestral recordings of the French masters and a complete cycle of Beethoven's symphonies, the latter with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1957-1960. Most of his recordings have been re-issued on CD. His premature death at the age of 62 occurred as he was transitioning from being known primarily as a conductor of the French classics to becoming increasingly recognized as an interpreter of the standard German/Austrian repertoire. During the mid 1950's he began conducting at the annual Bayreuth Festival, leading Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and other works. This was a remarkable honor at the time for a non-German conductor. During the late 1950s, EMI commissioned Cluytens to record all nine Beethoven symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, joining the cycles by Herbert von Karajan and Otto Klemperer in their catalog.

Price: $13.98