“André Cluytens and The Philharmonia Orchestra a new LP in STEREO or MONO full of glittering musical contrasts.” – Advertisement in the July 1960 Gramophone

André Cluytens was an interesting figure and appreciation of his artistry was on the ascent when he died prematurely in 1967 at the age of 62. Born in Belgium in 1905 to a musical family, his career spanned the concert hall, opera house and recording studio and he spent many years as chief conductor of opera houses in Belgium, France and Vienna. He was also was the first Frenchman (he became a citizen in 1940) to conduct Wagner at Bayreuth. In 1949 he succeeded Charles Munch as Chief Conductor of the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra and he toured widely, taking the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to the UK, US, and Canada. He was renowned for his interpretations not only of the French but also German/Austrian repertoire. He made several recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London for EMI in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, of which this is a fine example and the original LP is much sought after by collectors.

The recording information is somewhat more vague than usual. What we do know is that it was recorded at the Kingsway Hall, London in November 1958 and produced by the splendidly named Walter Jellinek. The engineer is unknown.

Cut at Abbey Road Studios from the original stereo analogue master tapes with the Neumann VMS82 lathe fed an analogue pre-cut signal from a specially adapted Studer A80 tape deck with additional ‘advance’ playback head, making the cut a totally analogue process.

Pressed on 180g vinyl to audiophile standards using the original EMI presses by The Vinyl Factory in Hayes, England. Featuring the original album artwork.

In the original review in The Gramophone of July 1960, D.C. remarked that “The performances are full of vitality and brilliantly brought off…’La Valse’ is… a really thrilling affair…”