Paul Tortelier The Great EMI Recordings. 20 CDs EMI 6 88627 2 (2010) barcode 5099968862725
Paul Tortelier’s “Great EMI Recordings”: contents, sources and a partial discography
August 28, 2024
I just bought this set on eBay, for 20 euros, and at one euro per CD I think I made a good deal.
For about thirty years I’ve been reading that the CD medium is dying, and, one would assume, at the end of such a protracted process, it should be dead.
Yet, just look at Fanfare Magazine, count how many new CDs are reviewed every two months (and consider that Fanfare rarely does reissues), and the stiff corpse seems to be still enthusiastically kicking. In fact, with all the major labels reissuing those big-to-huge boxes with everything they ever recorded, dating back to the late 78s and early mono LP era, by such and such (performers or orchestras), we music lovers and record colllectors are living a veritable boon – and a preoccupying housing crisis in the search for shelf space.
The “reissue craze” seems to have taken steam around the mid 2010s, after Warner acquired the EMI / Parlophone catalog, becoming the third great conglomerate alongside Sony-BMG and Universal; but its started earlier.
A case in point, this Tortelier set was released in 2010, when EMI was still EMI and three years before the acqusition of its catalog by Warner. Most of its contents are not new to CD, and had been reissued before, especially on EMI’s early and valuable mid-price collection Studio, in 1988 and 1989, a series on which Tortelier was abundantly represented (I’ve counted 17 releases with performances by Tortelier). The old-timer and seasoned collector is likely to have much of the contents of the set already.
…but – and that is the motivation of this review – he may find it difficult to determine what he has already, because the information online isn’t always complete. The set’s entry on Discogs.com gives the complete listing of the works performed, which is very useful, but only occasionally provides the credits of performers, making it difficult to determine exact content and sources, especially in the cases where Tortelier re-recorded some pieces, or with the shorter trinkets and “encores”.
So – after purchasing the set rather than before, and to find out after-the-fact if it was worth purchasing – I made my own research, which I can now share with the improbable music lover with an interest. Website and catalogue of Paris Libraries (see tab “Contient”) has been helpful in that it lists performers, although in a presentation that doesn’t afford much comfort of reading.
I don’t make any attempt at listing all the previous CD issues (or LP, when I’ve found no previous CD release), only the first ones, mainly in the afore-mentioned EMI Studio collection, and I provide links to those LPs or CDs entries on Discogs.com or, occasionally, Muziekweb.nl. There are also three sets from EMI-France that are worth mentioning:
CMS 7 64069 2 (1991) 077776406923 (4 CDs) “Les grands concertos pour violoncelle” (Great Cello Concertos). Especially valuable for bringing back Tortelier’s earlier recordings of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto (Philharmonia Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent, June 1955) and Brahms’ Double Concerto (with Christian Ferras and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Paul Kletzki, June 1962, a recording re-reissued in 2004 on Testament SBT 1337, barcode 749677133726), as well as most of the bizarre program of Boccherini-Paganini-Vivaldi arrangements for two cellos and orchestra played with Tortelier’s daughter Maud Martin-Tortelier (reprised on the “Great EMI Recordings” set), alongside works already released on EMI Studio and also gathered on the 2010 set: Haydn Cello Concertos, Concertos of Saint-Saëns, Lalo (Frémaux), Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo Capriccioso and Rococo Variations, Boëllmann’s Variations Symphoniques, Bruch’s Kol Nidrei (Yan Pascal Tortelier), Dvorak’s Rondo (Previn), Fauré’s Elégie (Plasson).
5 74333 2 (2001) 724357433327 (2 CDs) “Paul Tortelier Sonates pour Violoncelle et Piano” (Cello Sonatas): Grieg & Rachmaninov (Ciccolini), Fauré (Heidsieck), Mendelssohn (Maria De La Pau). For a while, the only way to get the Mendelssohn Sonatas (they were subsequently gathered in a Mendelssohn Chamber Music 5 CD-set, in 2003), and a possible B-Plan for the Ciccolini collaboration if you had missed the original EMI Studio reissue. See entry on Discogs.com.
5 73172 2 (1999) 724357317221 (4 CDs) “Les Introuvables de Paul Tortelier” with most (not all) of the older, mono recording of Tortelier from EMI’s vaults, complete contents on Discogs.com. The trinkets on CD 4 as well as Grieg’ Sonata and Arthur Honegger’s rare Cello Concerto are reprised on the 2010 set.
In a separate page I also provide, for convenience, the complete list of EMI Studio’s installments featuring Tortelier.
I use the following shorthand:
ECO = English Chamber Orchestra
RPO = Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
LSO = London Symphony Orchestra
LPO = London Philharmonic Orchestra
SO = Symphony Orchestra
CO = Chamber Orchestra
I’ve put in bold type the works that, to the best of my knowledge, were CD-reissued here for the first time (at least in the West. Some Japanese reissues may have escaped my scrutiny).
CDs 1 & 2
Bach Cello Suites (rec. 4/82) from EMI CDC 7 49035 2 (1987) 077774903523 and 7 49036 2 (1987) 077774903622 (links to entries on Discogs.com, will open a new tab), reissued on 2 CDs EMI Great Recordings of the Century 5 62878 2 (2004) 724356287822 (HMV edition), 5 62879 2 (2004) 724356287921 (Angel Edition).
Not to be confused with Tortelier’s 1960 recording, first CD-reissued on 2 CDs EMI “Rouge et Noir” CMS 7694312 (1987) 077776943121
CD 3
Vivaldi-Malipiero: 5 Cello Concertos RV 400, 424, 401, 531 (2 Cellos), 561 (Violin & 2 Cellos). Maud Tortelier, Jacques-Francis Manzone, London Mozart Players, Philip Ledger 1979 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69835-2 (1989) 077776983523
Vivaldi-Dandelot: Concerto in D Major op. 3-9 (Tortelier, ECO, cond. Tortelier), Handel-Feuillard-Tortelier Trio Sonata in G Minor arranged for 2 cellos & orchestra (with Maud Martin-Tortelier, ECO, cond. Paul Tortelier) from LP HMV ASD 3015 (1974, link to Discogs.com). Vivaldi previously CD reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923 (see hereafter Boccherini CD 4 and Paganini CD 5). The Feuillard arrangement of Handel’s Trio Sonata finds here, to the best of my knowledge, its first CD representation.
CD 4
Haydn: Cello Concertos 1 & 2 Hob VIIb:1 & 2. Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Jörg Faerber 1982 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69299-2 (1989) 077776929927
Boccherini-Grützmacher Cello Concerto in B-flat Major. ECO, cond. Maud Martin-Tortelier from LP HMV ASD 3015 (1974), previously CD reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923 (see above CD 3 Vivaldi and below CD 5 Rossini)
CD 5
Schumann Cello Concerto, Bruch Kol Nidrei. RPO, Yan Pascal Tortelier 1979 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69504 2 (1988) 077776950426 (with Tchaikovksy Pezzo Capriccioso, Dvorak Rondo see below CD 6, Boëllmann CD 7). Bruch also reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923
Brahms Double Concerto. Menuhin, LPO, Paavo Berglund 11/84 from Studio CDM 7 63022 2 (1989) 077776302225 with Delius Double Concerto see CD 8
Paganini-Tortelier: Introduction & Variations on a Theme from Rossini’s Mosé for two cellos and orchestra. With Maud Martin-Tortelier, ECO, cond. Tortelier from LP HMV ASD 3015 (1974), previously CD reissued on EMI Studio CDM 7 63300 2 (1989) 077776330020 “Soirée musicale – Tortelier Family Favourites” with works by Bach, Fauré, Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn, Hekking, Popper, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Nin, Karjinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tortelier (see below CDs 12, 18 & 19). Also on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923 (see above CD 3 Vivaldi, CD 4 Boccherini)
CD 6
Dvorak: Cello Concerto. LSO, Andre Previn 9/77, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations. Northern Sinfonia, Yan Pascal Tortelier 1974 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69169 2 (1988) 077776916927. Rococo Variations also reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923
Dvorak: Rondo LSO, Andre Previn 9/77, Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso.Northern Sinfonia, Yan Pascal Tortelier 1974 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69504 2 (1988) 077776950426 (with Schumann, Bruch see above CD 5, Boëllmann see below CD 7)
CD 7
Lalo: Cello Concerto. City of Birmingham SO, Louis Frémaux 1976 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69457 2 (1988) 077776945729 (with Symphonie espagnole).
Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1, Allegro appassionato op. 43, Le Cygne. City of Birmingham SO, Louis Frémaux 1975 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69386 2 (1988) 077776938622 (with Caprice for violin and orchestra, Prélude Le Déluge, Wedding Cake Caprice). Lalo and Saint-Saëns Cello Concertos also reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923
Fauré: Elégie. Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson 6/79 from EMI CDC 7479392 (1987) 5099974793921 The Orchestral Works vol. II (with Ballade, Berceuse, Fantaisie, Caligula op. 52, Pénélope-Prelude). Also reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923
Boëllmann Symphonic Variations op. 23. RPO, Yan Pascal Tortelier from EMI Studio CDM 7 69504 2 (1988) 077776950426 (with Schumann, Bruch see above CD 5, Dvorak Rondo, Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso CD 6). Also reissued on 4 CDs EMI CMS 7 64069 2 Les grands concertos pour violoncelle (1991) 077776406923
CD 8
Elgar: Cello Concerto. LPO, Adrian Boult 1973 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69200 2 (1988) 077776920023 with Introduction & Allegro, In the South, Froissart Overtures
Walton: Cello Concerto. Bournemouth SO, Paavo Berglund 1973 from EMI Studio CDM 7 63020 2 (1989) 077776302027 with Shostakovich Cello Concerto 1 see below CD 9
Delius: Double Concerto. Menuhin, RPO, Meredith Davies 6/76 from EMI Studio CDM 7 63022 2 (1989) 077776302225 with Brahms Double Concerto see CD 5
CD 9
Strauss: Don Quixote. Max Rostal, Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe 1974 from EMI CDC-7 47865 2 (1986) with Don Juan & Dance of the Seven Veils, reissued 3 CDs EMI CMS 7 64350 2 (1992) 077776435022 “Kempe Conducts Strauss Orchestral Works and Concertos” with Metamorphosen, Alpensymphonie, Aus Italien, Macbeth, Dance Suite after Couperin
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1. Bournemouth SO, Paavo Berglund 1973 from EMI Studio CDM 7 63020 2 (1989) 077776302027 with Walton Cello Concerto see above CD 8
CDs 10 & 11
Beethoven The Five Cello Sonatas, Variations. Eric Heidsieck 1972, 1973 from 2 CDs EMI Studio CMS 7 69196 2 (1988) 077776919621 (Sonatas alone), 2 CDs EMI 5 68348 2 (1994) 724356834828, 5 69422 2 (1994) 724356942226 (Sonatas & Variations)
CD 12
Mendelssohn Trio No. 1 & Schumann Trio No. 1. Andre Previn, Kyung-Wha Chung 12/78. From LP HMV ASD 3894 (1980), EMI 1C 065-03 667 (1980), Japanese CD reissue EMI Classics Best 100 TOCE-91037 (2010) 4988006880917. Mendelssohn CD-reissued in 5 CDs EMI 5 85294 2 (2003) 724358529425 “Mendelssohn Musique de Chambre”. I haven’t found a previous CD release of the Schumann Trio.
Mendelssohn-De Hartmann Chant Populaire, Weber-Piatigorsky Adagio & Rondo. Maria De La Pau from EMI Studio CDM 7 63300 2 (1989) 077776330020 “Soirée musicale – Tortelier Family Favourites” with works by Bach, Fauré, Schubert, Hekking, Popper, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Nin, Karjinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tortelier, Paganini, see above CD 5 and below CDs 18 & 19
CD 13
Ravel: Piano Trio, Saint-Saëns: Piano Trio No. 1. Yan Pascal Tortelier, Maria De La Pau 1979 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69579 2 (1988) 077776957920
Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonata No. 1 op. 32. Maria De La Pau. From LP La Voix de Son Maître C 069-73016 with Le Cygne, Allegro appassionato, Sérénade, 2 Arias from Samson et Dalila, Andantino, Pavane from Etienne Marcel, Les Cloches du soir op. 85, see below CD 19
CD 14
Brahms: Cello Sonatas. Maria De La Pau 10/77 from Studio CDM 7 63021 2 (1989) 077776302126
Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata. Maria De La Pau from LP HMV ASC 4075 / 065-07 578T (1982) (with Beethoven Cello Sonata No 3 op. 69). I haven’t found indication of a CD reissue of the Beethoven Sonata. The present set priviledged the complete cycle with Heidsieck and avoids duplications.
CD 15
Chopin: Sonata op. 65 & Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata op. 19. Aldo Ciccolini 1968 from EMI Studio CDM 7 69851 2 (1989) 77776985121
Fauré: Cello Sonata No.2 In G Minor Op.117. Eric Heidsieck. From LP La Voix de Son Maître 2C 069-12894 (1975), CD-reissued in Japan Seraphim Super Best 121, TOCE-8941 (1992) 4988006676411 (with Sonata No. 1, Elégie op. 24, Sérénade op. 98, Papillon op. 77 see below CD 16 and 19). First CD reissue in the West 5 CDs EMI 336126 (2005) 094633612624 “Fauré Musique de Chambre”, further reissues 50999 501351 2 7 (2007), 50999 6483322 4 (2010)
All reissued on 2 CDs EMI 5 74333 2 (2001) 724357433327 “Paul Tortelier Sonates pour Violoncelle et Piano” with Mendelssohn (Maria De La Pau) see below CD 16
CD 16
Mendelssohn Cello Sonatas 1 & 2. Maria De La Pau 4/78 from LP La Voix de son Maître C069-16282 (1979), EMI Electrola 1C 065-16 282 (1979). CD-reissued in 5 CDs EMI 5 85294 2 (2003) 724358529425 “Mendelssohn Musique de Chambre”
Fauré Cello Sonata No.1 In D Minor Op.109. Eric Heidsieck. See references above CD 15
All reissued on 2 CDs EMI 5 74333 2 (2001) 724357433327 “Paul Tortelier Sonates pour Violoncelle et Piano” with Chopin Rachmaninov (Ciccolini) Fauré Sonata 2 (Heidsieck) see above CD 15
CD 17
Kodaly: Sonata for Solo Cello, Tortelier Solo Cello Suite from EMI Studio CDM 7 63292-2 (1989) 077776329222 not listed on Discogs.com, link is to Muziekweb.nl
Alexander Tcherepnin: Piano Trio op. 34, Duo for Violin & Cello op. 49 (Yan Pascal Tortelier, Alexander Tcherepnin), Solo Cello Suite op. 76 from LP HMV CSD 3725 (with more chamber music of Tcherepnin), La Voix de Son Maître 2C063-10912 (1972), subsequently reissued to CD on 9 07256 2 (2011) 5099990725623 (2 CDs with Piano Quintet, String Quartet No. 2, Piano Music, Songs of Nikolai Tcherepnin with Nikolai Gedda)
CDs 18
Grieg: Cello Sonata op. 36. Robert Weisz from “Les Introuvables de Paul Tortelier”, 4 CDs EMI 5 7172 2 (1999) 724357317221. Note: this recording should have been on CD 20, which reissues Tortelier’s “Historical Recordings”
The rest of CD 18 & CD 19 compile trinkets, reissuing mainly the contents of two EMI Studio CDs plus the complement from Saint-Saëns’ Cello Sonata No. 1 with Maria De La Pau (see above CD 13) and Fauré’s Cello Sonatas with Eric Heidsieck (CD 15 & 16):
Tracks 18-7 to 11, 18-14, 19-14 to 16, 19-20, 19-22 to 24 (Tortelier Trois Miniatures), 19-25 (Tortelier Valse “alla Maud” No. 1) from “Soirée musicale – Tortelier Family Favourites” with Maud Tortelier and Maria de la Pau, EMI Studio CDM 7 63300 2 (1989) 0077776330020 (see also CD 5 & CD 12)
Tracks 18-4 to-6, 18-12, 18-13, 19-9; 19-10, 19-17 to 19, 19-21 from “Encores” with Shuku Iwasaki (recordings 1973, 1976; 1988), EMI Studio CDM 7 69456 2 (1988) 077776945620
Tracks 19-1 to 8 Saint Saens: Le Cygne, Allegro appassionato, Sérénade, 2 Arias from Samson et Dalila, Andantino, Pavane from Etienne Marcel, Les Cloches du soir op. 85 with Maria De La Pau From LP La Voix de Son Maître C 069-73016 (see CD 13)
Tracks 19-11 to 13 Fauré: Elégie op. 24, Papillon op. 77, Sérénade op. 98 with Eric Heidsieck, from LP La Voix de Son Maître 2C 069-12894 (1975), CD-reissued in Japan Seraphim Super Best 121, TOCE-8941 (1992) 4988006676411 (with Cello Sonatas, see above CDs 15 and 16). First CD reissue in the West 5 CDs EMI 336126 (2005) 094633612624 “Fauré Musique de Chambre”, further reissues 50999 501351 2 7 (2007), 50999 6483322 4 (2010)
There were a few duplications of repertoire between the “Encores” with Iwasaki and the other recitals compiled on CDs 18 and 19: Saint-Saëns’ The Swan (Maria De La Pau, from the Saint-Saëns LP), Fauré’s Papillon (Heidsieck), Paganini’s Introduction and Variations on a Theme from Rossini’s Mosé (although the alternative version, on CD 5, is in an arrangement by Tortelier for two cellos and orchestra, so the “straight” version should have been kept), and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble-Bee (Soirée Musicale). In such case Iwasaki was sacrificed.
These are the complete contents and correspondences of “Encores” (in bold, those left out from the set): Saint-Saëns The Swan, Ravel Pièce en forme de Habanera 19-17, Fauré Papillon, Après un rêve 19-10, Massenet Elégie 19-9, Tortelier Pishnetto 19-21, Granados Intermezzo 19-19, Sarasate Zapateado 19-18, Chopin Introduction & Polonaise brillante 18-4, Valentini 18-13, Paganini Moto perpetuo 18-12, Introduction & Variations, Dvorak Rondo, Chopin Prélude op. 28-4 18-5, Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumble-Bee
“Soirée musicale – Tortelier Family Favourites”: Bach Adagio from Toccata BWV564 18-14, Fauré Sicilienne 19-14, Schubert-Casals The Bee 18-11, Weber-Piatigorsky Adagio & Rondo 12-10, Mendelssohn-De Hartmann Chant Populaire 12-9, Hekking Villageoise 19-16, Popper-Fournier Dance of the Elves 18-7, Rachmaninov Vocalise 18-9, Debussy Minstrels 19-15, Nin Granadina 19-20, Karjinsky Esquisse 18-10, Rimsky-Rose Flight of the Bumble-Bee 18-8, Tortelier Three Miniatures 19-22-24, Valse No. 1 alla Maud 19-25, Paganini Variations 5-8
The contents of CD 20, “Historical Recordings” (including Arthur Honegger’s Celllo Concerto with The French National Radio Orchestra under George Tzipine, from February 1957), come from “Les Introuvables de Paul Tortelier”, 4 CDs EMI 5 7172 2 (1999) 724357317221 and, for Debussy’s Cello Sonata and Tortelier’s own “Burlesque : Le Pitre” (with Gerald Moore), from EMI “Références” 5 65502 2 (1995) 724356550223 (with Strauss Don Quixote, RPO Thomas Beecham 1948, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations & Fauré Elégie, RPO Norman Del Mar 1949)
Bottom line for me: was it a good deal to buy this set? I have most of those EMI Studio CDs, and the later collections like Great Cello Concertos or Introuvables. But I guess, given the price I paid, it would have been more expensive to buy (especially if you account for postage) the few I was still missing, and the set is valuable also the material that wasn’t available before its release, like Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata with Maria De La Pau. The pieces of Tcherepnin are frustrating because they are limited to those, on the original double LP, performed by Tortelier and leave out the Piano Quintet and Second String Quartet, so I went ahead and ordered the CD reissue.
Mind you: “Great EMI recordings”, they call it, and don’t take it to mean “complete EMI recordings”. As indicated, the compilation leaves out, with a few exceptions, the earlier recording of Tortelier, as well as one of the EMI Studio releases (which, granted, may legitimately not be counted among Tortelier’s “great” EMI recordings):
CDM 7 63118 2 (1989) 0077776311821 Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3, Couperin Concert No. 8 “Dans le goût théâtral” from Les Goûts réunis (arr. Oubradous), Pièces en concert (arr. Bazelaire). Paul Tortelier, Scottish CO, Roderick Brydon harpsichord, John Wibraham trumpet 1977
But the big conglomerates have a way of milking it, so we may expect, before our deaths, to see the publication of a “Paul Tortelier Complete Warner Recordings” which, in addition to all the EMI recordings mentioned here, would add those he made for Erato and the the one he made as a conductor for Virgin Classics, “French Impressions”. Stay tune…