Kuentz: 6 Brandenburg Cti - Club National du Disque CND 1019/1023 (4 10" LPs, box set)

Box VG / Booklet and LPs NM

French pressing - blue/silver label - mono

This remarkable 4-LP box set (10" format) from Club National du Disque features Bach's Six Brandenburg Concerti with conductor Paul Kuentz and his eponymous Chamber Orchestra.

These are wonderfully stylish performances, quite ahead of their time in that they eschew the "big band" style still predominant at that time. These are brilliant readings, light on their feet, yet with no loss of gravitas when required.

Moreover, the production standards are superb, equal to – if not better than – what the major labels were issuing at this time. The set consists of a very heavy cloth box that houses a second cloth album holding 4 individual jackets and a nice 16-page booklet with extensive notes on the music by Olivier Alain.

These performances were recorded in the warm acoustics of the Schola Cantorum, Paris, in November 1957 and sound splendid here. The vinyl pressing themselves are also of high quality. In short, a wonderful set.

With this particular copy, the outer box shows some wear, discoloration and aging, but remains solid and attractive – there are no corner breaks, splits, markings, or other defects. The booklet is in NM condition, as are the 4 10" LPs.

This set is quite heavy, weighing 2 lbs. 12 oz, or about 1250 grams.