The Concertgebouw Legacy (18 CD Box Set)

Artist: 
Colin Davis
$134.99

A meeting of minds in Amsterdam: the complete Philips recordings of Sir Colin Davis and the Concertgebouworkest made in the orchestra’s acoustically optimal home and featuring classic accounts of Haydn, Berlioz, Dvořák and Stravinsky. Davis lends these readings rhythmic impetus and unassuming authority; the orchestra and audio engineers respond with sonic warmth and transparency.

Colin Davis made his debut with the Concertgebouw in 1966, and conductor and orchestra quickly established a mutual affinity. Interviewed by Niek Nelissen for a new appreciation of their legacy on record, a Concertgebouw violinist recalls his ‘typically British’ humour in rehearsal. Davis gave the musicians of ‘the orchestra a lot of freedom. He kept control in a good way, which made him popular with the orchestra.’

It took another eight years for Davis and the Concertgebouw to make their first records together, but they made up for lost time. The albums of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (with Arthur Grumiaux) and the Symphonie fantastique of Berlioz were universally praised for their rhythmic impetus, and for the kind of unassuming authority that became a hallmark of Davis’s conducting. In both cases, the new recordings superseded earlier versions by the same artists (Davis’s LSO Berlioz, and Grumiaux’s previous Beethovens with the Concertgebouw) not least because of the warmth and the transparency of the Philips recordings, made in the orchestra’s acoustically optimal home.

There followed, over the next eight years, a string of artistic and commercial successes. The Concertgebouw had not recorded much Haydn before, but Davis harnessed their richness of tone and supple responses, and trained it on Haydn’s late symphonies with revelatory results. Even while period-instrument performers began to bring new perspectives to Haydn, Davis’s lively sympathy showed itself in the buoyant rhythms, the cultivated eighteenth-century phrasing and the exuberance which always belongs to his symphonies.

Together, they recorded the complete ‘London’ symphonies followed by the ‘Paris’, and this set also features a bonus of No. 84, which Davis recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra for L’Oiseau-Lyre in 1960. This is the first time all of Davis’s Haydn symphony recordings with the Concertgebouworkest have been issued collectively.

Tracklist

# Title Length
1 I. Vivace assai 7:57
2 II. Allegretto 8:52
3 III. Menuet 4:18
4 IV. Finale. Vivace 5:59
5 I. Allegro spiritoso 7:25
6 II. Andante 8:59
7 III. Menuet. Allegretto 3:52
8 IV. Finale. Vivace 4:09
9 I. Largo – Allegro 8:32
10 II. Andante 8:33
11 III. Menuet. Allegretto 3:20
12 IV. Finale. Vivace 6:18
# Title Length
1 I. Allegro ma non troppo (Cadenza: Kreisler) 23:51
2 II. Larghetto 8:52
3 III. Rondo. Allegro 8:56
# Title Length
1 I. Rêveries – Passions 15:15
2 II. Un bal. Valse 6:11
3 III. Scène aux champs 17:08
4 IV. Marche au supplice 6:48
5 V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat 9:51
# Title Length
1 Promenade 1 1:37
2 I. Gnomus 2:27
3 Promenade 2 1:01
4 II. The Old Castle 4:54
5 Promenade 3 0:33
6 III. Tuileries 1:11
7 IV. Bydlo "The Oxcart" 2:47
8 Promenade 4 – V. Ballet of the Chickens in Their Shells 2:02
9 VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle 2:14
10 VII. The Market at Limoges 3:47
11 VIII. Catacombae "Sepulcrum romanum" – Cum mortuis in lingua mortua 2:07
12 IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs "Baba-Yaga" – X. The Great Gates of Kyiv 8:56
13 Night on Bald Mountain 11:29
# Title Length
1 I. Allegro maestoso 10:01
2 II. Poco adagio 10:11
3 III. Scherzo. Vivace 7:03
4 IV. Finale. Allegro 9:00
5 I. Allegro con brio 9:40
6 II. Adagio 11:07
7 III. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace 6:33
8 IV. Allegro ma non troppo 9:42
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro molto 11:40
2 II. Largo 12:30
3 III. Scherzo. Molto vivace 7:41
4 IV. Finale. Allegro con fuoco 10:37
# Title Length
1 I. Allegro ma non troppo 11:59
2 II. Adagio ma non troppo 10:57
3 III. Finale. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo 9:59
4 Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F Minor, Op. 11, B. 39 14:03
# Title Length
1 I. Allegro 14:42
2 II. Adagio ma non troppo 11:35
3 III. Finale. Allegro moderato 12:05
4 Silent Woods, Op. 68/5, B. 182 (Version for Cello & Orchestra) 5:30
# Title Length
1 I. Introduction 2:44
2 II. Kashchei's Enchanted Garden 2:14
3 III. Appearance of the Firebird Pursued by Ivan Tsarevich 2:12
4 IV. Dance of the Firebird 1:22
5 V. Ivan Tsarevich Captures the Firebird 0:49
6 VI. Supplication of the Firebird – VII. Appearance of the 13 Enchanted Princesses 8:28
7 VIII. Game of the Princesses with the Golden Apples 2:23
8 IX. Sudden Appearance of Ivan Tsarevich 1:41
9 X. Round Dance of the Princesses 4:34
10 XI. Daybreak 1:28
11 XII-XIV. Magic Carillon – Capture of Ivan Tsarevich – Arrival of Kashchei – The Firebird Appears 4:51
12 XV. Kashchei's Retinue Dances Under the Firebird's Spell 0:43
13 XVI. Infernal Dance of Kashchei's Subjects 4:27
14 XVII. Berceuse (The Firebird) – XVIII. Kashchei Awakes – Death of Kashchei – Darkness 5:14
15 XIX. The Palace Disappears And Kashchei's Spells Are Broken, The Stone Knights Return To Life – General Rejoicing 3:29
# Title Length
1 1. Introduction - The Harbingers of Spring 3:26
2 II. The Augurs of Spring 3:24
3 III. Ritual of Abduction 1:23
4 IV. Spring Rounds 4:05
5 V. Games of the Rival Tribes 1:51
6 VI. Procession of the Sage 0:40
7 VII. Adoration of the Earth – VIII. Dance of the Earth 1:34
8 IX. Introduction 4:32
9 X. Mystic Circles of the Adolescents 3:20
10 XI. Glorification of the Chosen One 1:32
11 XII. Evocation of the Ancestors 0:41
12 XIII. Ritual of the Ancestors 3:32
13 XIV. Sacrificial Dance 4:47
14 Ia. The Shrovetide Fair – The Crowds – The Conjuring-Trick 6:59
15 Ib. Russian Dance 2:45
16 II. Petrushka's Room 4:17
17 IIIa. The Moor's Room – IIIb. Dance of the Ballerina 3:16
18 IIIc. Waltz. The Ballerina and the Moor 3:10
19 IVa. The Shrovetide Fair (Evening) 1:09
20 IVb. Dance of the Wet-Nurses 2:43
21 IVc. Dance of the Peasant and the Bear 1:24
22 IVd. The Jovial Merchant with 2 Gypsy Girls 1:08
23 IVe. Dance of the Coachmen and the Grooms 2:07
24 IVf. The Masqueraders 1:30
25 IVg. The Scuffle 0:41
26 IVh. Death of Petrushka 0:44
27 IVi. The Police and the Charlatan 1:08
28 IVj. Apparition of Petrushka's Ghost 0:47
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro spiritoso 8:18
2 II. Capriccio. Largo 6:57
3 III. Menuet. Allegretto 5:16
4 IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito 6:08
5 I. Adagio – Allegro 7:58
6 II. Adagio 6:28
7 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegro 5:05
8 IV. Finale. Presto 8:02
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro con spirito 9:24
2 II. Andante più tosto allegretto 10:34
3 III. Menuetto – Trio 4:41
4 IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito 5:26
5 I. Vivace 7:27
6 II. Adagio 7:20
7 III. Menuet 4:26
8 IV. Finale. Vivace 4:45
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro 6:17
2 II. Largo 5:44
3 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 4:00
4 IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito 3:44
5 I. Adagio – Vivace assai 8:48
6 II. Adagio 9:09
7 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegretto 5:54
8 IV. Finale. Vivace 4:19
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro spiritoso 7:53
2 II. Adagio 7:55
3 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 5:35
4 IV. Presto 5:44
5 I. Largo – Allegro assai 8:48
6 II. Andante 7:09
7 III. Menuet. Un poco allegretto 4:30
8 IV. Finale. Vivace 5:26
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro assai 7:47
2 II. Largo cantabile 4:53
3 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegro 4:05
4 IV. Finale. Presto ma non troppo 5:13
5 I. Adagio – Vivace assai 8:27
6 II. Andante 6:12
7 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegro molto 4:49
8 IV. Finale. Allegro di molto 3:58
9 I. Adagio – Allegro 6:55
10 II. Andante 5:35
11 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegretto 5:06
12 IV. Finale. Vivace 3:54
# Title Length
1 I. Allegro moderato 6:26
2 II. Andante cantabile 4:15
3 III. Menuetto – Trio 4:55
4 IV. Finale. Vivace 3:41
5 I. Adagio – Vivace 8:33
6 II. Adagio ma non troppo 7:23
7 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegretto 4:03
8 IV. Finale. Presto assai 5:26
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Allegro 8:07
2 II. Allegretto 6:08
3 III. Menuetto – Trio. Moderato 5:03
4 IV. Finale. Presto 5:15
5 I. Adagio – Allegro 8:25
6 II. Andante 8:08
7 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegro 4:26
8 IV. Finale. Spiritoso 6:48
# Title Length
1 I. Adagio – Presto 7:50
2 II. Andante 6:52
3 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegretto 7:14
4 IV. Finale. Vivace 4:36
5 I. Largo – Vivace 7:55
6 II. Adagio 5:40
7 III. Menuetto – Trio. Allegro 5:23
8 IV. Finale. Presto 4:39