*** Limited Edition. Original Jackets Collection ***

A “tour de force” of thrilling orchestral playing and brilliant audio engineering, Antal Doráti's mono recordings are collected for the first time.

Newly remastered, this collection comprehensively documents a golden era in American classical recording and most of these vividly-characterised recordings appear on CD for the first time.

The Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti joined the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra as its music director in 1949, and immediately began making it into one of the orchestral powerhouses of the post-war United States. Mercury began recording the ensemble in 1952 and continued to do so until his departure in 1960.

Doráti’s 51 albums (24 mono, 27 stereo) are a testament to what he achieved with the orchestra during his eleven years there. They reveal a musical personality centred on dynamism, intensity, and an exceptional ability to persuasively articulate rhythms.

Eloquence presents the most complete ever reissue of the Doráti/Minneapolis legacy in two “original jackets” boxes, faithfully representing the contents of the albums as they were first issued. New remastering made or supervised by Thomas Fine, son of Mercury's long-time chief engineer and producer, as well as original remastering for CD by Wilma Cozart Fine, bring this legacy to life as never before.

Thomas Fine contributes a “sessionography” to each box detailing the technical facets of the Mercury Living Presence recordings, and Dennis D. Rooney is the author of authoritative booklet notes surveying the history of the partnership on record as well as his personal memoirs of the period.

The mono box begins with a blistering Firebird Suite of Stravinsky and ends with a contemporary Hungarian pairing of unrivalled idiomatic flair, brilliance (Kodály’s Peacock Variations) and lurid, controlled violence (Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin). Further highlights include the three Tchaikovsky ballets, in versions that quickly became gramophone classics and “library choices” and stayed that way for decades.

Particularly noteworthy is the first CD release of Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty recordings requested time and again for reissue. Doráti’s feeling for dance is further underlined by more landmark Ballets russes scores – Sacre, Petrouchka, Daphnis – and Viennese waltzes.

The legendary 1812 Overture recording is reissued with the original “Making Of” commentary by Deems Taylor. Taylor also narrates versions of Britten’s Young Person’s Guide. “Sonic spectacular” scores by Rimsky-Korsakov, Respighi and Richard Strauss leap from the speakers in Mercury's Living Presence sound, remarkably vivid even in mono. Doráti’s firm sense of rhythm and form gives strong contours to symphonies from Mozart to Copland.

The last two albums on the set are devoted to the two LPs Doráti recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As sequels to the Eloquence boxes dedicated to Kubelík in Chicago and Paray in Detroit, these Dorati collections comprehensively document a golden era in American classical recording.

“has to be heard to be believed ... is it possible to exceed this in the art of reproduced sound?” – The New Records

“The lively Mendelssohn symphony finds conductor and orchestra in superlative form. Their performance of this difficult work is amply virtuosic, yet very sensitively phrased.” – High Fidelity, January 1953 (Mendelssohn: Symphony no.4)

“Refreshingly brisk, straightforward and unmarred by any of the usual sentimentality … The reproduction here, of course, is tops.” – High Fidelity, January 1953 (Tchaikovsky: Symphony no.5)

“Doráti brought a keen sense of vivid theatrical effect and an enlivening imagination… The Minneapolis Symphony was honed to a fine edge of precision for the performance, the recorded sound is still the most dramatic this music has ever had.” – Hi-Fi Review, December 1962 (Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker)

“As performances, no others have ever won more deservedly widespread and enthusiastic praise. Technically, these discs set new standards for high-fidelity glitter and impact.” – High Fidelity, February 1964 (Tchaikovsky: Ballets)

“Doráti, who is a pupil of Kodály, plays this work with special perception and authority.” – High Fidelity, July 1953 (Kodály: Háry Janos)

“The most dramatic introduction to Beethoven … irresistible in its concentration of breathless conflict.” – High Fidelity, November 1953 (Beethoven: Symphony no.5)

“Doráti grasps the fiery work with both hands, throwing none of it away.” – Gramophone, June 1954 (Tchaikovsky: Symphony no.5)

“One of Bartók’s wittiest, most colourful, and most approachable compositions, and Doráti’s attitude toward it is thoroughly authoritative.” – High Fidelity, October 1954 (Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra)

“Doráti is a clever conductor and he makes of this symphony a memorable experience.” – Gramophone, November 1954 (Copland: Symphony no.3)

“A superbly rich, vital, and sensitive interpretation.” – High Fidelity, September 1955 (Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé)

“The performance itself is of great brilliance. Doráti is brisk, efficient, and at all times in full control, particularly in the final fugue. Mercury’s engineers deserve considerable praise.” – High Fidelity, November 1955 (Britten: Young Person’s Guide)

“Rude, brassy, and effective sonics have a good share in making the learned jollity of the Academic Festival infectious.” – High Fidelity, September 1956 (Brahms: Academic Festival Overture)

“Candidly, one would not have expected Mr. Doráti, who has said naughty things about Beethoven, to harbour an Eighth Symphony so brilliantly pertinent as the one Mercury has recorded here with her best skill.” – High Fidelity, December 1956 (Beethoven: Symphony no.8)

“The zestful playing of Antal Doráti and the Minneapolis Symphony, plus the fine sound, turn this ballet score into a vivid orchestral display piece.” – New York Herald Tribune, 1958 (Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé)

“A technical tour de force.” – Audio magazine, 1958 (Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker)

“Doráti and the orchestra outdo themselves … Everything about this performance and recording is right.” – The New Records, Philadelphia, 1958 (Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty)

“Doráti has a nice conception of these mostly familiar Strauss works, which he delivers with a firm hand and a healthy regard for the Viennese style.” – High Fidelity, March 1959 (Strauss: Waltzes)

“There isn’t, and won’t be another record like this one… it has to be heard to be believed… is it possible to exceed this in the art of reproduced sound?” – The New Records, Philadelphia, April 1959 (Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture)

“The conductor can have a field day, as Antal Doráti does, leading a band that is as dazzling as it is necessary to be in this music.” – La revue administrative, May 1968 (Respighi)

“Arguably the finest version of the Rite on record.” – Gramophone, August 1977 (Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps)

“The remarkable scoring in the Suite is very faithfully rendered… and the Chicago SO unleash all the wiry strength they possess into a truly memorable performance.” – Gramophone, February 1955 (Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin)

“Dramatic and lyrical, with strong contrasts and outspoken brass, assuredly what the [Unfinished Symphony’s] design specifies…  A strange coupling but a good record, with a great dynamic range and some thunderous climaxes… this is not for playing in a small room or one sparsely furnished.” – High Fidelity, December 1954 (Schubert/Tchaikovsky)