If you wish us to send a CD to an address other than your own please e-mail us with the full address details of the recipient, stating the CD order reference.
London
Philharmonic Orchestra,
Conductor: Jean Martinon Released
in 1951 as Decca LXT 2590 "Famous Overtures No. 3"
Download ID: 106793/432792
(Duration 32'04")
Orpheus
in the Underworld (Orphée aux Enfers)
The
Grand Duchess of Gérolstein (arr. Hoffman)
Helen
(La belle Hélène) (arr. Haensch)
Bluebeard
(Barbe bleue)
The
Betrothal at the Lantern (Le Mariage aux Lanternes)
Play
sample overture:
Order
CDs:
"A delightful collection"
The Record Guide
These
five overtures, masterfully conducted by Jean Martinon (left),
capture perfectly and vividly the wit, melodiousness and joie de vivre
that typifies the music of Offenbach. In 25 years he wrote ninety
opéras bouffes which epitomised the pleasure-loving Second
Empire of France.
This
recording was exceptionally well received on its release, gaining a coveted
double-starred review in The Record Guide and the following note:
"However
apprehensive one may feel at the thought of a record containing five overtures,
and however disinclined to play them all on end, it must be admitted that
makes [this record] a delightful collection: the French conductor has
drawn from his English players a surprising zest and elegance, the recording
is a admirable, and the music unfailingly spirited and inventive."
Yet
again Peter Harrison of disk2disc has provided an excellent trancription
and restoration of this fabulous early Decca vinyl LP.
REVIEW
OF OFFENBACH - FIVE OVERTURES LPO - Martinon (1951)
Jacques
Offenbach is not a favorite composer of mine. I cannot deny
his incredible industry, his musicianship, nor his unending
fount of melody and rhythm. Still, I find that he cannot hold
a candle to Johann Strauss, Jr. or even to Franz von Suppe
as a writer of 19th century operettas. On the other hand,
as one of the most magnificent late blooming miracles in music,
his final work, "The Tales of Hoffman", is a great
19th century opera which I love. As for the overtures offered,
they are all quite enjoyable, but Maurice Rosenthal has picked
all the best melodies and put them into "Gaite Parisienne".
It is very good to get to hear "Le Mariage aux Lanternes".
Martinon
conducts splendid and poetic performances of the overtures.
He does not play them as just lollipops, but digs for the
gold. Listen to the famous "can-can" when it comes--it
actually seems to grow out of the earlier part of the overture
rather than just be a raucous paste-on. Listen to how Martinon
highlights the cello melodies; Offenbach wrote concert music
for two cellos. If there is any criticism of Martinon's playing,
it is that perhaps occasionally he goes for the gold when
there is only silver there; he's a bit too much of a gentleman,
sometimes. But we prize that in a Frenchman.
No
little carpings on the remastering. At first I thought it
was early stereo and then remembered that the source material
had to be at least 50 years old. It never occured to me that
this sound was from 1951; it seemed so well-matched to the
music. The sound is not unlike the performance, rather poetic
and a bit unspectacular. Rather gentlemanly, in fact.
Our MP3 files are encoded at at a constant rate of 320kbps for all issues since mid-August 2008, and using the LAME encoder at high variable bitrate settings for older issues.
Each recording is presented as a single, long MP3 which can be split using the CUE sheet at the bottom of the page, automatically adding track titles and other tag information.
Most modern CD writing programs such as Nero and Burrrn can write these files directly to CD with all track information added using MP3+CUE - see our tutorial
Alternatively a cue splitter program can automatically cut and name the MP3 into individual MP3 tracks
There are also media players which use the MP3+CUE system, allowing gapless playback of all long MP3 files - essential for opera and many other classical works
Save money when you buy several downloads together
Use the following discount codes in the shopping cart:
Buy 5 or more - save 10%: Code: 85187052
Buy 10 or more - save 20%: Code: 12W07104
How To Use: Once you've made your selections, copy the correct code into the space marked Discount or Coupon Code in your shopping cart, then click the Update Cart button to apply the discount before heading to the checkout.
N.B. These discounts apply to all our FLAC and MP3 downloads only. Discounts do not apply to CD purchases
Free postage worldwide on the highest quality discs available.
Our CDs are made to order on highest quality Taiyo Yuden Watershield CD-R discs, recorded directly from our master files
CDs are shipped worldwide by Air Mail from France.
All our CDs hold the same quality of audio - the Standard €10 CD comes in a slip case with no covers, the Premium and Ambient Stereo €14 CD comes in a jewel case with printed covers.
The prices shown include all packing and shipping costs anywhere in the world.
All payments are processed by PayPal, one of the world's biggest and most reliable global online payment services
You can pay by credit card directly with PayPal acting as a secure card payment processing facility. Your card details remain with PayPal and are not passed to us.
You can use a free PayPal account for quicker and easier secure payments: sign up.
We do not recommend using the e-check option for download purchases as there is always a delay of 3-4 working days between purchase and receipt of goods while the check clears
Payments are shown in Euros and will be converted to your local currency at the current exchange rate before payment is completed.
/
