{"title":"Antal Doráti","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"antal-dorati-philharmonia-hungarica-the-mercury-masters-8-cd-box-set","title":"The Mercury Masters (8CD Box Set)","description":"\u003cp\u003eDriving intensity, rhythmic flair and demonstration-quality sound are brought to the fore in a new anthology of Antal Doráti’s early recordings with the Philharmonia Hungarica on Mercury and Philips.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1956, the Philharmonia Hungarica emerged from turbulent post-war times as a crack ensemble of émigré Hungarian musicians who had fled Communism for the West. While they gave concerts in Europe and the US, it was through these seven albums on Mercury and Philips that they became famous, and synonymous with the name of the conductor Antal Doráti.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether, Doráti and the Philharmonia Hungarica would go on to make a celebrated cycle of Haydn symphonies for Decca in the early 1970s. But these early recordings already demonstrate what a potent artistic combination they were, as forerunners both to that monument of gramophone history, and to the modern-day Budapest Festival Orchestra. As reviewers at the time remarked, the strings play with a particular unanimity and attack which sounds uniquely ‘Hungarian’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA booklet essay by the music historian David Patmore tells the story of the Philharmonia Hungarica and their debut on record. All six Mercury albums were recorded at sessions in June 1958, held in the Vienna Konzerthaus: a spacious but analytical acoustic, well suited to the label’s trademark high-impact sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe repertoire played to the strengths of both label and musicians: mostly Hungarian music from the last half century, vividly coloured and coursing with rhythmic energy. There is an early taste of the ensemble’s feeling for Haydn, in the ‘Surprise’ and ‘Drum Roll’ Symphonies. Doráti’s established reputation as a masterful conductor of ballet brings a sweeping sense of line to a collection of Viennese waltzes. The ace in the pack of the Mercury\/Philharmonia Hungarica albums was Respighi’s suites of Ancient Airs and Dances, which soon became a demonstration disc for audiophiles worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNever previously collected together, this Mercury legacy is complemented by the two albums which the Philharmonia Hungarica and Doráti recorded for Philips. The ensemble’s first-ever recording, made in October 1957, appeared on the Fontana imprint, coupling Bartók’s Divertimento with Leo Weiner’s Hungarian Dances. From 1974, the second Philips album returns to Bartók, with gripping interpretations of the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and Dance Suite.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antal Doráti \u0026 Philharmonia Hungarica","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51030582853916,"sku":"4845517","price":74.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/0513\/4108\/files\/Antal.png?v=1748923675"},{"product_id":"antal-dorati-in-london-volume-1-29cd-box-set","title":"Antal Doráti in London – Volume 1 (29CD Box Set)","description":"\u003cp\u003eCovering recordings from July 1956 to July 1961, here are early stereo spectaculars on Mercury, under the inspired baton of Antal Doráti: classic albums of Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and many more in a new ‘Original Jackets’ Limited Edition. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEloquence has been making a systematic and critically acclaimed survey of the Mercury legacy of recordings made by the Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti. Boxes of his complete recordings with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Hungarica have revived albums from the 1950s and 60s which set new standards for lifelike sound and intensely engaged performances in the recording studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eVolume 1 \u003c\/em\u003eof Doráti’s London recordings covers sessions from July 1956 to July 1961. Conductor and orchestra met for an intensive fortnight each year after the end of the concert season. Both the conductor and the Mercury engineers were demanding in their pursuit of perfection, in terms of orchestral attack, ensemble, balance, colour and all the disparate elements which contribute towards the kind of repeatability that made these albums such artistic and commercial successes.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe repertoire for these Mercury sessions in London played to Dorati’s strengths. \u003cem\u003eVolume 1\u003c\/em\u003e includes library versions of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Stravinsky’s Firebird. Symphonies by Haydn (Nos. 45, 100 \u0026amp; 101) and Mozart (No. 40) are rhythmic and stylish. Anthologies of Verdi and Wagner orchestral music from operas tap into Dorati’s theatrical strengths, no less than ballet scores by Khachaturian (Gayaneh) and Copland (Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid). A powerful meeting of minds is achieved with the pianist Byron Janis in the standard-setting Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto, with the violinist Henryk Szernyg in Brahms and the cellist János Starker in Dvořák. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs David Patmore reveals in his new essay for the collection, illuminating the background to Doráti’s relationships with both Mercury and with the LSO, the Mercury team wanted to make ‘event’ recordings of a new and unrivalled immediacy. Unique to this new collection is the first official release of Dvořák’s Carnaval Overture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antal Doráti","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51154156454172,"sku":"4847015","price":219.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/0513\/4108\/files\/Antal-Dorati-in-London_Volume1-Box-Set.png?v=1740357785"},{"product_id":"antal-dorati-in-london-volume-2-28-cd-set","title":"Antal Doráti in London – Volume 2 (28CD Set)","description":"\u003cp\u003eVolume 2 of Antal Doráti’s London recordings for Mercury covers sessions between June 1960 (Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony) and August 1966 (Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suites). By way of a bonus, the set concludes with a rarity issued on Philips and scarcely seen since, an album of neoclassical works by Julian Orbón (Cantigas del Rey, sung by Heather Harper) and Manuel de Falla (the Harpsichord Concerto, with Rafael Puyana). \u003cbr\u003eDorati’s ear for colour, his rhythmic discipline and knife-edged attack were complemented by the high-definition, pin-point detail of Mercury’s 35mm stereo engineering. Works by Doráti’s countryman Bartók came to life on record as never before. The versions of the Concerto for Orchestra, Divertimento for Strings and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta have scarcely been equalled since for atmosphere and accuracy. No less valuably, the box brings together the Mercury\/Doráti versions of Bartók’s principal works for the stage, Bluebeard’s Castle (now with the spoken introduction included on CD for the first time) and The Miraculous Mandarin, as well as a definitive recording of The Wooden Prince. \u003cbr\u003eVolume 2 of Dorati’s sessions in London draws on repertoire affinities established in the years covered by Volume 1. There is more sparking Haydn (Symphonies Nos. 59 \u0026amp; 81), the completion of symphony cycles by Brahms and Tchaikovsky, and another three concerto albums with the violinist Henryk Szeryng. Doráti’s coloristic and analytical gifts in music of the Second Viennese School are further explored with a 1962 album of expressionist-era orchestral pieces which won many new friends for this music at the time. Even more adventurous was the album dedicated to Surrealist-era Paris, coupling Satie’s Parade and Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le toit with rarities by Françaix and Auric.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Mercury sessions in London expanded to include ensembles beyond the London Symphony Orchestra. The box features the Bath Festival (‘Festival Chamber Orchestra’) and BBC Symphony orchestras, as well as the New Philharmonia Orchestra in a complete cycle of the orchestral suites by Tchaikovsky which became an instant classic on its release in 1967. By then, Dorati and Mercury had parted ways, but between them they left a lasting legacy of orchestral and engineering excellence.\u003cbr\u003eThe legacy has been lovingly restored and revived in this pair of boxes from Eloquence, featuring Original Jacket album covers, and new essays on the historical context and significance of these recordings by David Patmore as well as remastering and mastering supervision by Thomas Fine, heir to the Mercury legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antal Doráti","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51324023374108,"sku":"4847106","price":219.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/0513\/4108\/files\/4847106_Dorati_London_Vol.2_ExpldPackshot_d63c55cc-2f87-48d0-b839-f05a0acc67ec.jpg?v=1740418397"},{"product_id":"philharmonia-hungarica-antal-dor-ti-antal-dorati-the-complete-decca-haydn-recordings-41cd-box-set","title":"Antal Dorati: The Complete Decca Haydn Recordings (41CD Box Set)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAntal Doráti’s complete Haydn symphony cycle for Decca, recorded between 1969 and 1972, is still regarded as the benchmark today. These recordings with the Philharmonia Hungarica return in new 24-bit\/192kHz transfers from the original master tapes. Brought together in one landmark set for the first time, this original jacket collection also includes their recordings of Haydn’s Minuets and the three great oratorios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, comprising Doráti’s complete Haydn recordings on Decca across 41 CDs. A new discovery in the tape archive has meant that Antal Doráti’s own composition, a Minuet based on the letters ‘H-A-Y-D-N’ is now published for the first time. The outstanding cast for the vocal works includes Barbara Hendricks, Lucia Popp, Ileana Cotrubas, Benjamin Luxon and Kurt Moll. The set also includes a 5,000-word essay with newly discovered correspondence from Decca producer James Mallinson and a wealth of archive photographs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Philharmonia Hungarica, Antal Doráti","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53850991362332,"sku":"4871270","price":319.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/0513\/4108\/files\/AntalDoratiCompleteHaydnRecordings41CDBoxSet.png?v=1769995754"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.umusic.com.au\/collections\/antal-dorati-1.oembed","provider":"uMusic Shop Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}