This video of the end of the Firebird doesn't really take off but I really admire the sense of quiet and stillness and beauty of the music making from the period. (I also quite like the fact that he put the boot in for serialism when Stravinsky turned towards it in the '50s...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWiAvP6qHU
Ansermet's idiosyncratic and detailed approach, and fine ear for timbre and texture has always stayed with me: I came across him with my first La mer, his second recording from 1957, coupled on LP with the Prelude and some lesser Busser arrangements: the main pieces are absolutely in the impressionist spirit of this greatest of music, evocative of the sea as few later conductors have been.
Ansermet is one of my favorite conductors. He did some marvelous Debussy and Ravel recordings, of course, but also shone in some Russian music. His recording of the Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition on London is still my favorite, even though there are many with even better sound. I also enjoy his recordings of the Beethoven symphonies, which some may think eccentric (but perhaps they haven't heard the recordings), though the Ninth is rather low-key.
Yes. He's of that generation of conductors who could let the spirit of the music issue out of it itself, letting music speak for itself yet the interpretation full of personal touches.
i'm proud to have kept around a tasty supply of the ansermet vintage since i was in jr high...mostly his stravinsky and rimsky-korsakov. very good listening!
dj
My favorite recordings of Ansermet are Falla's Ballets: El Sombrero de Tres Picos (with Teresa Berganza) and El Amor Brujo (with Marina de Gabarain). A splendid dynamic, clear, detailed.
I am an Ansermet fan. One of my first classical LPs was of Ansermet conducting Rimsky Korsakov (Russian Easter Festival Overture, Sadko, Christmas Eve etc).
I like his "La Mer" and Honegger symphonies.