Georges Prêtre & Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire - Poulenc: Le bestiaire, Chansons villageoises, Rapsodie nègre, Le bal masqué, Les animaux modèles, Histoire de Babar, Aubade & Concerto pour piano (2024)
FLAC (tracks), Lossless / MP3 320 kbps | 2:13:07 | 656 / 304 Mb
Genre: Classical
Georges Prêtre was one of the leading conductors of the last half of the 20th century, especially known for operatic conducting and performances of French music. He studied trumpet as a boy, graduating from the Douai Conservatory. Nazi occupation of Paris did not substantially interfere with the teaching activities of the famous Paris Conservatory, where Prêtre continued his musical studies. He took first prize in trumpet in 1944 and studied harmony with Henri Challan and Maurice Duruflé. He began studying conducting with André Cluytens, Pierre Dervaux, and Richard Blareau. His conducting debut was in operetta, a fact that eluded biographers since he used the assumed name of Georges Dherain. His official conducting debut was at the Marseilles Opera in 1946, in Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys. He spent a decade primarily in provincial French opera houses: Marseilles (1946-1948), Lille (1948), Casablanca (1949-1951), and Toulouse (1951-1955). He was appointed music director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1956, debuting with Richard Strauss' Capriccio and conducting a wide variety of repertory there.