Album

Spanish conductor Ataúlfo Argenta cheated death many times in his short life; during the Spanish Civil War, he talked his way out of execution by a firing squad, contracted typhoid in prison, and survived that in addition to its recurrence later in his life. Argenta's accidental death at 44, sitting in his car warming up in an unventilated garage waiting for the heat to come on in his studio, seems like a grim joke on the part of fate. Ernest Ansermet must have thought so, too; Argenta was suave, handsome, and authoritative on the podium, and Ansermet had been grooming him as his successor in l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Such was not to be; however, fate has not entirely robbed posterity of Argenta's extraordinary talents as evidenced by the five-disc set Ataúlfo Argenta: Complete Decca Recordings 1953-1957.

The best known of these recordings are, ironically, not ones where Argenta himself is the star of the show—they are his Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Alfredo Campoli and his recordings of the two canonical Liszt piano concerti with the London Philharmonic and soloist Julius Katchen. The latter was already distributed extensively on behalf of Katchen, in the context of Argenta it is useful to note how these two artists seem to connect almost psychically with Liszt's music; wherever Katchen is, there, too, is Argenta. Argenta's Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique is instructive; whereas in a recording of this work made about the same time, Dimitri Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic demonstrate an impressive architectonic design for the whole, by comparison Argenta's interpretation is characterized by its youthful verve, brilliance, impetuousness, and drive; it is an untamed, relentlessly exciting Symphonie Fantastique. Argenta's recordings of Spanish literature, including the dreaded España of Chabrier, but also the Danzas Fantasticas of Turina, were considered pioneering in their day, and account for Argenta's posthumous renown in his home country.

Argenta died just short of Decca's adoption of stereo recording technology, and he seldom led first-class orchestras in recordings—the London Symphony was the only such group he conducted, the rest of his Decca work made with the aforementioned Suisse Romande and the Paris Conservatoire orchestras. The Suisse Romande lumbers ungainly into the opening Liszt's Les Préludes, with Argenta laboring to whip things into shape. However, once they are into the main tune, the Suisse Romande gets into gear and over the course of the remainder of the performance one can hear detail in Les Préludes seldom heard before. This is the standard scenario for some of performances here—weak opening, better exposition, and raucous, electrifying ending—although the Paris Conservatoire recording of Liszt's unfamiliar (at the time) A Faust Symphony goes quite well throughout. Perhaps this is what Ansermet saw in Argenta—a leader who could get the Suisse Romande up off the floor, even when the piece had already started.

It appears the further one goes back to the 1953 end of this set, the more brittle and congested Decca's vaunted "full frequency range recording" is, but toward the later part of the '50s the sound is so good it almost could be stereo—the Berlioz, although mono, somehow retains an element of three-dimensionality to it. Although it was more like a 100-yard dash than a marathon, Argenta made a good run as a conductor. Heretofore, Decca has done so little with its monophonically made recordings and it is heartening to hear this tribute to Argenta, whose extraordinary career is certainly valuable and worth documenting in a modestly priced package such as this one.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 5
Emmanuel Chabrier Composer España, rhapsody for orchestra Work Recorded 1957 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
1	España, rhapsody for orchestra	6:26			$0.99
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov Composer Capriccio espagñol (Kaprichchio na ispankskiye temï), Op.34 Work Recorded 1957 14:34 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
2	1.Alborada in A	1:11			$0.49
3	2.Variazioni in F	4:17			$0.99
4	3.Alborada in Bb	1:13			$0.49
5	4.Scena e canto gitano in D-	4:43			$0.99
6	5.Fandango asturiano in A	3:10			$0.99
Enrique Granados Composer 12 Spanish Dances, Op.37, H.142...12 Spanish Dances, Op.37, H.142 (arr. orchestra) Work Recorded 1957 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
7	5.Andaluza: Andantino quasi Allegretto	4:08			$0.99
Moritz Moszkowski Composer Spanish Dances (5), for piano, 4 hands, Op.12 Work Recorded 1957 13:59 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
8	No.1 in C	1:43			$0.49
9	No.2 in G-	4:05			$0.99
10	No.3 in A	2:44			$0.99
11	No.4 in Bb	2:31			$0.99
12	No.5 in D	2:56			$0.99
Achille-Claude Debussy Composer Images, for orchestra, L.122 Work Recorded 1957 32:26 L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
13	1.Gigues	6:51			$0.99
14	2.Iberia	17:55			$2.99
15	3.Rondes de printemps	7:40			$1.49
CD 2 of 5
Franz Liszt Composer Piano Concerto No.1 in Eb, S.124 Work Recorded 1957 18:35 Julius Katchen Piano, London Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
1	1.Allegro maestoso	5:20			$0.99
2	2.Quasi adagio	5:09			$0.99
3	3.Allegretto vivace	4:11			$0.99
4	4.Allegro marziale animato	3:55			$0.99
Franz Liszt Composer Piano Concerto No.2 in A, S.125 Work Recorded 1957 19:36 Julius Katchen Piano, London Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
5	1.Adagio sostenuto assai. Allegro agitato	6:57			$0.99
6	2.Allegro moderato	5:01			$0.99
7	3.Allegro deciso	6:02			$0.99
8	4.Allegro animato	1:36			$0.49
Isaac Albéniz Composer Iberia Suite, B.47 Books 1-4...Iberia Suite for piano, B.47, Book 1 Work Recorded 1953 13:40 Paris Conservatory Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
9	1.Evocación	5:26			$0.99
10	3.El Corpus en Sevilla	8:14			$1.49
Isaac Albéniz Composer Iberia Suite, B.47 Books 1-4...Iberia Suite for piano, B.47, Book 2 Work Recorded 1953 16:32 Paris Conservatory Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
11	6.Triana	4:40			$0.99
12	4.El Puerto	4:35			$0.99
13	5.Almeria	7:17			$1.49
CD 3 of 5
Hector Berlioz Composer Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'une artiste, Op.14 Work Recorded 1957 50:36 Paris Conservatory Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
1	1.Rêveries. Passions	12:43			$1.99
2	2.Un bal: Valse	6:21			$0.99
3	3.Scène aux champs: Adagio	15:30			$2.49
4	4.Marche au supplice	6:25			$0.99
5	5.Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat	9:37			$1.49
Joaquín Turina Composer Danzas fantásticas, for orchestra, Op.22 Work Recorded 1953 15:49 Paris Conservatory Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
6	1.Exaltación	5:16			$0.99
7	2.Ensueño	6:02			$0.99
8	3.Orgía	4:31			$0.99
CD 4 of 5
Franz Liszt Composer Les Préludes, S.97 Work Recorded 1955 L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
1	Les Préludes, S.97	16:27			$2.99
Franz Liszt Composer Faust Symphony, S.108, R.425 Work Recorded 1955 1:01:38 Paris Conservatory Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
2	1.Faust	27:19			$3.99
3	2.Gretchen	17:22			$2.99
4	3.Mephistopheles	16:57			$2.99
CD 5 of 5
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer Violin Concerto in D, Op.35 Work Recorded 1956 33:39 Alfredo Campoli Violin, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
1	1.Allegro moderato	17:58			$2.99
2	2.Canzonetta: Andante	6:04			$0.99
3	3.Finale: Allegro vivacissimo	9:37			$1.49
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer Symphony No.4 in F-, Op.36 Work Recorded 1955 40:26 L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Orchestra, Ataulfo Argenta Conductor
4	1.Andante sostenuto. Moderato con anima	17:11			$2.99
5	2.Andantino in modo di canzona	8:41			$1.49
6	3.Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato	5:24			$0.99
7	4.Finale: Allegro con fuoco	9:10			$1.49