The brilliant Jean Martinon
David Mellor, Sunday 1 March 2014, 7pm.
Tonight David Mellor examines the work of renowned French conductor Jean Martinon.
Lyon-born Martinon served in the French army during World War II, and was taken prisoner in 1940. During his incarceration he composed a number of works such as Chant des captifs.
After the war, he was associated with a number of major orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he was music director from 1963 to 1968. His repertoire focused mainly on the works of early 20th century French and Russian composers.
He died at the age of 66 from bone cancer, not long after he guest conducted the San Francisco Symphony in their first complete performances of Gustav Mahler's tenth symphony.
Tonight David will be featuring Martinon's recordings of music by Bizet, Debussy and Ravel, and will focus n Martinon’s time spent with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, dipping into highlights from a newly issued RCA box set.
