An early Westminster issue from 1951 with Henry Swoboda conducting a program of music by Jacques Ibert. Leading the Winterthur Symphony, Swoboda directs energetic performances of Divertissement and Capriccio and with the Vienna SO and women of the Akademie Chorus, he conducts an enjoyable Suite Elizabethaine.
This has to be one of the very first records ever to focus solely on Ibert and the program is a great window into this composer's varying styles. Swoboda, impresario, record producer, conductor was extremely adept at crafting recorded programs that were unique not to mention in some cases, premiere recordings. Though imaginative, Swoboda was not considered a great conductor but rather a competent, workaday one. However, I think that he rises above the typical assessment of his abilities on this Ibert record. This music is lively, with first class orchestral writing and its, well, all very "snappy." One cannot imagine why musicians would not like playing this fare. And, I would think that many of the musicians here were playing Ibert for the first time making the session a sense of discovery in which Swoboda rises to the occasion, much in a way we would expect from Munch, Ansermet or Monteux.
I will call your attention to the Suite Elizabethaine which is Ibert's delicious recollection of music from another time albeit with a marvelous modern twist.
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