 In May 1954 Decca recorded Ansermet and the orchestra in Europe's first commercial stereophonic recordings.They went on to record the first stereo performance of the complete "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky on LP (Artur Rodziński had already recorded a stereo performance on magnetic tape, but this had been released on LP only in mono).Ansermet also conducted early stereo recordings of Debussy's "Nocturnes" and the "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune".