ICON - Igor Markevitch

What a gorgeous variety of wonderful tunes both crazy and comfortably familiar.This is a rare treat for anyone who likes a mixed bag of goodies. Thoroughly recommend

Superb

Excellent collection . Markevich looks like a cross between Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in this slightly sinister cover photo .

18 CDs = 16 CDs mono, 2 CDs stereo..Including the conductor's earliest recordings.Eighteen CDs in cardboard sleeves (not "original jackets") with a 36 page booklet.No texts or translations, not even plot synopses for the operas by Glinka and Offenbach.For the layout of each disc, see the photo of the back of the box at the top of Amazon's web page:CDs 1-4 and 11-17 are twenty-five year old EMI remasterings.CDs 5-8 are Testament remasterings from the late '90s.CDs 9, 10, 17 (Brahms and Handel) and 18 are new 2015 remasterings.No complaints about the sound.- Bach: Musical Offering BWV1079 (orch. Markevitch) - 1956 French National Radio Orch. mono- Bartók: Dance Suite - 1954 Philharmonia Orch. mono- Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust: Ballet des Sylphes - 1954 Philharmonia Orch. mono- Borodin: Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances - 1954 French National Radio Orch, mono- Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn - 1951 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (2 performances)-------- 1952 Philharmonia Orch. (Peter Pears, narration in English), mono-------- 1969 Orchestre de Paris (Peter Ustinov, narration in French), stereo- Busoni: Tanzwalzer - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Chabrier: Fête Polonaise from Le Roi malgré lui - 1952 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Chopin: Les Sylphides - Mazurka (orch. Douglas) - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Dallapiccola: Canti di Prigionia - 1954 Santa Cecilia Orchestra, mono- Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Dukas: Sorcerer's Apprentice - 1952 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Falla: Dances from El Sombrero de Tres Picos - 1952 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Glinka: "A Life for the Tsar" SEE COMPLETE OPERAS- Handel: Concerto grosso, Op.6 No.5 - 1950 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Haydn: Symphonies 101, 102 - 1955 French National Radio Orch, mono- Liadov: Kikimora, Op. 63 - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Markevitch:--- L'Envol d'Icare - 1938 Belgian National Orchestra, mono--- Le Nouvel Âge - 1938 Belgian National Orchestra, mono- Mendelssohn: Symphony 4 - 1955 French National Radio Orch, mono- Mozart: German Dance K605 No.3 'Die Schlittenfahrt' - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Mussorgsky: Night on Bare Mountain - 1954 French National Radio Orch, mono- Offenbach: "La Perichole" SEE COMPLETE OPERAS- Prokofiev:--- Symphony 1 'Classical' - 1952 Philharmonia Orch, mono--- Peter and the Wolf (2 performances)-------- 1950 Philharmonia Orch. (Wilfred Pickles, narration in English), mono-------- 1969 Orchestre de Paris (Peter Ustinov, narration in French), stereo--- Love for Three Oranges Suite - 1955 French National Radio Orch, mono--- Le Pas d'Acier Suite - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono--- Scythian Suite - 1955 French National Radio Orch, mono- Ravel:--- Daphnis et Chloé Suite No.2 - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono--- La Valse - 1952 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Rossini: Overtures (Barbiere di Siviglia, Cenerentola, Gazza ladra, L'Italiana in Algeri, Scala di seta, William Tell) - 1957 French National Radio Orch, mono- Saint-Saëns:--- Danse macabre - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono--- Le carnaval des animaux - 1954 Philharmonia Orch. (Géza Anda & Béla Síki pianos), mono- Satie: Parade - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Scarlatti: Good-humoured Ladies (orch. Tommasini) - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Schubert: Symphony 8 'Unfinished' - 1955 French National Radio Orch, mono- Shostakovich: Symphony 1 - 1955 French National Radio Orch, 1955 mono- Sibelius: Valse Triste - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- R.Strauss:--- Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite - 1956 French National Radio Orch, mono--- Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche - 1956 French National Radio Orch, mono- Stravinsky:--- The Rite of Spring (2 performances)-------- 1951 Philharmonia Orch, mono-------- 1959 Philharmonia Orch, stereo--- Pulcinella Suite - 1954 French National Radio Orch, mono--- Le Baiser de la Fée Divertimento - 1954 French National Radio Orch, mono--- Petrushka Suite - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono--- Suite 2: Valse - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Tchaikovsky:--- Symphony 4 - 1956 French National Radio Orch, mono--- Nutcracker Suite - 1959 Philharmonia Orch, stereo--- Swan Lake, Op. 20 - 1954 Philharmonia Orch, mono--- Romeo & Juliet (2 performances)-------- 1954 French National Radio Orch, mono-------- 1959 Philharmonia Orch, stereo- Verdi: Overtures (Aida, Battaglia di Legnano, Forza del destino, Giovanna d'Arco, Luisa Miller + Macbeth Ballet Music) 1949-1951 Philharmonia Orch, mono- Weber: Invitation to the Dance (orch. Berlioz, 2 performances)-------- 1950 Philharmonia Orch, mono-------- 1954 Philharmonia Orch, monoCOMPLETE OPERAS:- Mikhail Glinka: "A Life for the Tsar" ("Ivan Susanin")Grand Opera in four acts and epiloguePerforming version by Rimsky-Korsakov & GlazunovIvan Susanin .................................................... Boris ChristoffAntonida, his daughter ..................................... Teresa Stich-RandallBogdan Sobinin, her fiancé ................................ Nicolai GeddaVanya, Susanin's adopted son ............................ Mela BugarinovitchChorus of the Belgrade OperaOrchestre de l'Association des Concerts LamoureuxRecorded: 1957 (mono)- Jacques Offenbach: "La Périchole"Opéra-bouffe in three actsLa Périchole, a street-singer ............................... Suzanne LafayePiquillo, a street singer ...................................... Raymond AmadeDon Andrès de Ribeira, Viceroy of Peru .............. Louis NogueraLe Comte de Panatellas .................................. Jean-Christophe BenoitChoeurs René DuclosOrchestre de l'Association des Concerts LamoureuxRecorded: 1958 (stereo)---------------------------------------------------------------POINTS OF INTEREST:-- Igor Markevitch (1912-1983) started out as a composer.He was the final protégé of Serge Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballet Russe (earlier protégés were Stravinsky, Ravel, Prokofiev and de Falla).Markevitch studied conducting so he could perform his own compositions.In 1938 he recorded two of his ballets 'L'Envol d'Icare' and 'Le Nouvel Âge' with the Belgian National Orchestra - in this box.Unexplained Mystery - In 1941, at age 29, Igor Markevitch stopped composing(rather like what happened to Sibelius in 1926 - except Sibelius was 62 years old).The rest of Markevtich's life was devoted to conducting.-- Igor Markevitch was typecast as a conductor of Russian music and of contemporary music.Given his name, the Russian stereotype was obvious, but in actuality he had very little contact with his homeland.His parents left Russia when he was two years old, and settled in Switzerland.His career was mostly centered in France and Italy..In addition to the inevitable Tchaikovsky, the principal Russian composers in this box are Prokofiev and Stravinsky.Glinka's 'Life for the Tsar' with the great Boris Christoff was the first Western recording of this seminal Russian opera.-- There are two recordings of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' in this box, both with the Philharmonia Orchestra.The 1959 stereo recording is two and-a-half minutes quicker than the 1951 mono.I think 1959 is played too fast for the complex rhythms to register clearly.1951 also has Dennis Brain and the legendary wind players of the early Philharmonia Orchestra.-- The 1969 'Peter and the Wolf' and 'Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra' are narrated in French by Peter Ustinov.EMI issued the same recording with a narration in Australian by Paul Hogan ("Crocodile Dundee"), but that's not in this box.Crikey.-- Igor Markevitch's later recordings are now available on CD in two boxes (see photos)“Igor Markevitch Deutsche Grammophon Legacy” (21 CDs = 11½ mono + 9½ stereo), recorded 1953-1965.“Igor Markevitch Philips Legacy” (26 CDs, all are stereo), recorded 1959-1968.