Universal Music Australia Pierre Fournier, Nicanor Zabaleta & Henryk Szeryng Jean Martinon Jean Martinon- The Complete Deutsche Grammophon Recordings 1 Cd

In the vast vacuum left by Arturo Toscanini s retirement and death, French conductors were prominent among those who dominated the orchestral scene, especially in America. One of the most gifted was Jean Francisque-E?tienne Martinon (1910 1976). His complete recordings for Deutsche Grammophon (as both conductor and composer) are here collected for the first time.

Conscripted into the French army on the outbreak of war in 1939, he was captured by the Germans the following year and spent more than two years in Stalag IX prisoner-of-war camp. After being released, Martinon conducted the Pasdeloup Orchestra in Paris (1943); he was then conductor of the Bordeaux Symphony Orchestra (1943 45) and assistant conductor of the Socie?te? des Concerts du Conservatoire in Paris (1944 46). In 1947 he made his British de?but with the London Philharmonic, inaugurating a long association with that orchestra he was associate conductor in 1947 49. He held posts with the Radio E?ireann orchestra in Dublin (1948 50), the Concerts Lamoureux in Paris (1951 57), the Israel Philharmonic (1957 59) and the Du?sseldorf Symphony Orchestra (1959 63).

Our first three discs contain the recordings Martinon made for Deutsche Grammophon, featuring two French orchestras, the Lamoureux and his own radio band, Orchestre National de l ORTF. It is interesting to hear the old French woodwind and horn sound, with its pronounced vibrato, which still survived in the conductor s lifetime; the woodier French bassoon sound is also extremely characterful.

The orchestral works (Bizet, Lalo) are followed by concerto collaborations with the great cellist Pierre Fournier (1906 1986) in concertos by Lalo and Saint-Sae?ns, as well as Bruch s popular Kol Nidrei. As with Fournier, Martinon collaborated only once with harpist Nicanor Zabaleta (1907 1993) in the studio: in October 1969, with his own orchestra, they set down three major twentieth-century compositions for the harp by Saint-Sae?ns, Tailleferre and Ginastera, the concerto by Ginastera appearing on CD for the first time.