This box brings together a collection of Decca recordings displaying the dynamism of Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, including material previously unreleased on CD.

In the generation after Ataúlfo Argenta, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos became the most prominent Spanish conductor, both at home and abroad. Just 25 when he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Nacional de España in 1962, he trained it into a formidably adaptable and accomplished ensemble. Through the 1960s, he became known to international audiences not least thanks to the Decca recordings compiled complete for the first time in this set.

Of German parentage, but growing up in Burgos, Frühbeck de Burgos had an innate sympathy with both musical traditions of his heritage, and Decca played to this strength. His Schumann (“Rhenish” Symphony) is impulsive and virile, his Mendelssohn (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is springy and sparkling with detail. His label debut came in February 1965, as accompanist with the London Symphony Orchestra to the Romanian violinist Ion Voicu in a beautifully moulded version of the classic Mendelssohn/Bruch coupling on LP.

Frühbeck de Burgos also knew how to draw out an authentically vivid Spanish colour-palette from foreign orchestras. His 1966 version of Falla’s El amor brujo (with the mezzo-soprano Nati Mistral) still enjoys classic status. In 1967, he recorded his own picturesque orchestration of the Suite española by Albéniz, long-unavailable on CD. Likewise, his collaborations with Narciso Yepes present a compelling spectrum of lesser-known guitar concertos when compiled together, from the elegantly neo-classical Concertino of Salvador Bacarisse to the more adventurous set of Tres gráficos by Maurice Ohana, which Frühbeck de Burgos recorded in his sole album for Deutsche Grammophon.

The pianist Alicia de Larrocha also found in Frühbeck a congenial recording partner, who had a naturally idiomatic grasp of the concertos written for her by the likes of Montsalvatge and Suriñach. Though she made several versions of Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de España, her 1983 Decca recording with Frühbeck is particularly atmospheric thanks to the conductor’s grasp of the moods and feelings behind the notes. This digital-era album became his last Decca recording, included in this Original Jackets box, which includes a new essay by Peter Quantrill on the conductor’s life and career.

“Frühbeck de Burgos certainly persuades the LSO to play most brilliantly, and he gets every touch and effect possible from these scores.” – Gramophone, January 1966 (Schumann/Mendelssohn)

“Brisk, free of excessive sentimentality, and commendable for Frühbeck’s attention to colour.” – High Fidelity, April 1967 (Schumann: Symphony no.3)

“A brilliant extravaganza of Spanishry.” – Gramophone, October 1968 (Albéniz: Suite española)

“Authentically idiomatic … the recordings are well-nigh flawless examples of the most gleamingly transparent stereoism.” – High Fidelity, April 1969 (Falla: El amor brujo, etc.)

“The Alborada del gracioso especially comes off brilliantly … Frühbeck, looking like Dracula on the album cover, exhorts his players to a spacious performance [of El amor brujo], abounding in great arcs of sweet sound.” – Stereo Review, April 1969

“Nobody produces such an imaginative rustle of fairyland as he does with the New Philharmonia strings.” – Gramophone, June 1969 (Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

“His arrangements … are rich but sinuous, and he leads the New Philharmonia through a dazzling and appropriately temperamental performance.” – Stereo Review, May 1970 (Albéniz: Suite española)

“He performs a quite unique service here by recording, for the first time, in top-notch orchestrations (his own!), eight of Albéniz’s – and Spanish music’s – most seminal pieces.” – High Fidelity, July 1970 (Albéniz: Suite española)

“Frühbeck de Burgos, his chorus, and his players communicate the magic of Mendelssohn’s score in ample measure, backed by bright and clear sonics.” – Stereo Review, July 1970 (Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

“An exciting and idiomatic performance” – Stereo Review, May 1973 (Falla: El amor brujo)

“Larrocha and her collaborators serve [Khachaturian] handsomely … Mme. de Larrocha’s Franck is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard. Her Symphonic Variations is highly lyrical and introspective, warm-sounding and completely natural in its singing, expansive style.” – High Fidelity, April 1974 (Franck/Khachaturian)

“Playing and recording of the highest class … The finale is gay and nicely pointed.” – Gramophone, March 1975 (Schumann: Symphony no.3)

“Yepes’s playing of all four works is introspective and technically immaculate.” – Stereo Review, January 1977 (Bacarisse, Moreno Torroba, Ohana, Ruiz-Pipo)

“The performances are not only authoritative but, of course, extremely brilliant.” – Stereo Review, September 1977 (Montsalvatge, Suriñach)

“The most distinguished orchestral contribution and sonics as sumptuous as the knowing performance itself … neither of these performances is likely to be matched, let alone bettered, very soon.” – Stereo Review, October 1984 (Falla, Albéniz, Turina)

“Imaginatively conducted by Frühbeck de Burgos; the opening movement of the Bruch is more emphatic than usual, certainly from Voicu’s standpoint, which adds to the music’s impact.” – Gramophone, Awards 2015 (Mendelssohn, Bruch)