Ernest Ansermet

This portrait of the great Swiss conductor, Ernest Ansermet (1883-1969), draws on a wealth of archive material and the reminiscences of his colleagues and family. As founder and life-long director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, he was instrumental in making the French and Russian repertoire of the twentieth century known to music lovers around the some of Ansermet's favourite music, played by the orchestra, under Armin Jordan, including pieces by Stravinsky, Debussy and Chabrier. Archive film of Ansermet at work includes footage of him rehearsing and conducting Haydn's Symphony No. 88 in G, de Falla's Harpsichord Concerto, Ravel's La Valse, Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade and Schumann's Manfred Overture.