ANSERMET Ernest (A-43)

Swiss conductor. Originally he was a mathematics professor, teaching at the University of Lausanne. He began conducting at the Casino in Montreaux in 1912, and from 1915 to 1923 was the conductor for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He was keen of Russian music and Igor Stravinsky in particular. In 1918 Ansermet founded his own orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR). He toured widely in Europe and America and became famous for accurate performances of difficult modern music, making first recordings of works such as Stravinsky's Capriccio with the composer as soloist. Ansermet was one of the first in the field of classical music to take jazz seriously, and in 1919 he wrote an article praising Sidney Bechet.