Ansermet in his element and one of his greatest recordings
Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 09/02/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Switzer Ernest Ansermet (1883-1969) was one of Decca's staple of conductors in the 1950s and 1960s when he made these recordings with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Ansermet created the Swiss orchestra after World War I and recruited its members, so it represented the sound he wanted.
As a friend and peer to Toscanini, Ansermet represented many of the same traits as the Italian. Both were literalists with inherent trust in the score -- Ansermet abhorred music that was revised by a composer -- and the two had similarities in the way they performed music. An Ansermet reading is usually characterized by moderate speeds, refinement, lucidity, clarity, an occasional nervousness and a romantic inclination. Today, he would be considered a literalit, possibly even a period performer using modern instruments, with a romantic bent.
The piece de resistance here is the Saint Saens "Organ" symphony; in my opinion, this is one of Ansermet's very greatest recordings. It was first released on LP and later saw life as a discount LP, then a full-priced CD and discount priced CD on London when it was mated to Ansermet's similarly magisterial account of the Symphony in D by Cesar Franck -- now also available Franck: Sym in D Mjnor/Les Eolides.
All of Ansermet's bag full of technique are on display here -- his command over orchestral execution, moderation in tempi, clarity and reserved romantic inclination, and his absolute attention to the score and his musicians. The Chabrier makes a useful diskmate insofar as Ansermet was considered an expert in French, Spanish and Russian music in his halcyon period with Decca-London.
I haven't collected a lot of "Organ" symphonies over the years and the only one I've enjoyed as much as this one if the Ormandy-Philadelphia mono recording from the 1950s currently available at Haydn House, a small company that records disks from pristine originals under a licensing agreement to the home company. There are dozens of other recordings of the Chabrier you might want to hear but that is beside the point since the reason to be interested here is the Saint Saens."
