The life of Charles Munch mirrors the changing face of Europe during the half-century from 1890 to 1940. A brilliant concert violinist, he became one of the greatest French conductors of his era – first in Paris in the 1930s and 1940s and then, after the War, in the United States, where he was chief conductor of the Boston Symphony in succession to Serge Koussevitsky from 1949-1962.

On his retirement from Boston, he returned to Europe where he founded the Orchestre de Paris. Munch’s repertoire was very wide, ranging from the established classical repertoire to world premieres of new music, but it was upon French music that his international reputation was founded.

In this rare selection of music by his compatriots, we can hear for ourselves the truth of that claim. The three composers represented – Debussy, Ravel and Roussel – were contemporaries of each other and of Munch himself, which gives his interpretations a unique insight. The sound has been refurbished brilliantly.

Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 28 March 1954.