Sir Thomas Beecham (conductor)
Complete Stereo Recordings on Warner Classics
Beecham Choral Society
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
rec. 1955-59
Warner Classics 2173240891 [35 CDs: 2190]
After Warner’s Barbirolli and Klemperer boxes here’s their first Beecham box, a 35-CD stereo collection with a mono box to come later this year, I believe. The first thing to say is that there has been very minimal remastering, which almost all derives from existing transfers made a number of years ago. There have been a few new restorations, which I’ll note during the course of this review. Ought a collection such as this to have been remastered anew? I suspect that Warner would reply that the vast bulk of recordings exist in perfectly fine remasterings made fairly recently but, given the precedent of the sets cited above, I know some may disagree. On thing’s for sure – it’s not a ‘remastered’ edition but a consolidation.
Collectors will know that EMI reissued a series of focused box sets in 2011 devoted to English and French Music and ‘The Later Tradition’ amongst others which covered a number of the stereo and mono recordings. This new approach therefore allows a before-and-after approach to Beecham’s mono and stereo legacy though one that has a few unfortunate corollary consequences. The most obvious of these is that Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, made over three sessions in Salle Wagram, Paris and the Kingsway Hall, London, is represented only by the first movement, the only one made in stereo. Doubtless the remainder of the work will appear in the second volume, but this is one of the regrettable results of demarcating music into mono and stereo, especially as both methods of reproduction were still employed at the same time in the 1957-58 period.
Whilst we are addressing this issue, chronology doesn’t imply that later recordings were made in stereo. Bizet’s L’Arlésienne suites were recorded in September 1956 in stereo but Grétry’s Ballet Suite from Zémire et Azor was recorded three weeks later in mono and therefore isn’t in this set. I assume that Edward German’s Gipsy Suite is also missing for this reason though I’ve never been quite sure if it’s mono or stereo and the same applies to Vidal’s Gavotte from Zino-Zina, one of Beecham’s more recherché recordings. In the original LP the German was released with Delius’ Songs of Sunset which was stereo but it’s possible that EMI issued the one in stereo and the other in mono. I have to be honest – I really don’t care if something was mono or stereo but I appreciate that Warner’s intention is to separate the two.
Going through these discs one by one would be an act of utter tedium for you (and me) but I’ll note that some are ‘original jackets’, such as CD 1 with Sibelius’ The Oceanides, Symphony No. 7 and incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande. An entertaining example is CD 19 his ‘Lollipops’ album with a cover picture of Beecham imperiously lolling about in – I assume – the French Riviera. I don’t recall this album having being reissued en masse before and the remastering dates, which range from 1991 to 2007, seem to support that. Similarly, the ‘More Beecham Lollipops’ disc (CD 20) bears a similarly wide range of remastering dates and includes the unfortunate Tchaikovsky torso hiding out as an embarrassed appendix or, as Beecham might have drawled, ‘attempting to efface itself, gentlemen’.
Is it really true that CD 3 has never been transferred to CD officially before by EMI (Warner)? The mastering date of 1974 suggests this was reissued on LP on EMI’s SXLP series and illustrates that there were things – exciting things – lurking overlooked in his discography. This disc contains his fine Balakirev Symphony No.1 and the Borodin Polovtsian Dances heard here in Art et Son Studio’s excellent remasterings. The LP The Inimitable Sir Thomas also seems to be making its first CD appearance and has been remastered courtesy of Art et Son. Here you’ll find Tapiola, Fauré’s Pavane and Dvořák’s Legend, Op.59 No.3 all with the RPO with the exception of the Pavane which was a product of his sessions with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française that also produced the Bizet, Franck and Lalo Symphonies, the Symphonie fantastique, Carmen and a few smaller pieces of which the Dolly Suite, in Rabaud’s orchestration, is the most lovable. A few other small things have been remastered by Art et Son on CD 25 – two movements from Amaryllis, Rossini’s Semiramide overture and the British National Anthem. Handel’s Solomon (CDs 4 and 5) bears a remastering of ‘Parlophone 2005’ which is pretty adjacent to Somm’s release of the work, reissued under licence from EMI. One curio is the 1934 LPO experimental stereo recording of excerpts from Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony – about 15 minutes’ worth – recorded by Alan Blumlein which has been remastered here by Art & Son.
At the bottom of my review I’ve noted reviews on this site of many of these recording, in previous incarnations, something that obviously applies to the stereo tranche of Delius recordings which should be very familiar to listeners. Haydn, another of Beecham’s many interests, is widely represented here though you’ll only find the stereo recordings. Thus, we have Symphonies 97, 99 and 100-104, and not the set of London Symphonies, some of which were made in mono. EMI’s neat arrangement of the complete ‘London’ symphonies and The Seasons can be found in a 6-CD box, reviewed below. Here Symphony 97 is tagged on to the end of CD 25 ‘The Gods Go A’Begging’, one of Beecham’s rather miscellaneous discs and I can imagine him imperiously demanding: ‘What’s the damn thing doing there?’
The LP ‘My Favourite Overtures’, largely a Rossini-Mendelssohn disc, hasn’t been remastered sincethe years 1992-2003. Love in Bath, his orchestral suite compiled from Handel – mainly, in fact, the then terra incognita of Parnasso in Festa, Rodrigo and Il Pastor Fido – was last remastered back in 1990. Beethoven’s Mass in C major is here in its previous 1992 remastering, a work it might surprise some to know that Beecham recorded. Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben is on CD 23 which should make for a fruitful source of comparison when the mono 1947 version is released. The earlier version, with the brilliant but very down-to-earth concertmaster Oscar Lampe is much more direct than the later 1958 version here with the young Steven Staryk, who had his run-ins with Beecham. Talking of Staryk, naturally Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is here, a great recording though I always preferred the greater ‘Two Ks’ – Kondrashin and Kletzki.
Two famous opera sets are here, Bizet’s Carmen with Victoria de los Ángeles, Nicolai Gedda et al and rather too famous to talk about except to note that it’s heard in 2016 remasterings. The other is the imperfect but personality-packed Die Entführung aus dem Serail which is subject to some arbitrary idiosyncrasies, though not as many as the rescoring of Messiah, which is not here as it’s an RCA recording.
Talking of Messiah, it’s important to appreciate that Beecham’s legacy from this period is scattered among various labels. You’ll need the Sony legacy to get to grips with other aspects of Beecham’s discography – the accompanying duties for Isaac Stern in Brahms and Sibelius, and a host of other important recordings among them Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations, Berlioz’s Harold in Italy and Te Deum, his Wagner LP, the Orchestral Favourites disc – his Suppé was always scintillating – Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, Goldmark’s Rustic Wedding, Arnell and Berners and much more. There are at least nine Sony CDs.
Included, also, are the well-known mono rehearsal sessions of music by Liszt and Haydn.
The solid box includes now standard pochettes with reproductions of the LP jackets on the front and track listings on the reverse. The booklet essay is by David Patmore and consists of a biography in English, French and German, with fine black and white illustrations. The inner container opens from the side as opposed to the top, or indeed bottom – just to warn you, in case you’ve ever found yourself with multiple discs scattered all over your floor.
Recommendation? It depends how much stereo Beecham you already have, whether you’d prefer it consolidated in this box and whether the music missing from previous CDs makes purchase mandatory (for the obsessive collector), of interest (to the determined listener) or of historic significance only (to the majority of listeners, I’d have thought). In any case, Beecham’s legacy is available on a wide number of CDs from many labels, both studio and in concert. As a reminder, if, for example, you want the ‘London’ Symphonies complete, you’ll need the mono box and if you wanted everything remastered by Art & Son à la Barbirolli and Klemperer, you’ll be disappointed, though you shouldn’t be crestfallen as existing transfers are first-class.
Now allow me to fly an obsessive’s kite. I hope the next volume goes right back to Beecham’s 1910 sessions, continues with the Beecham Symphony Orchestra sides of 1915-18, then carries on with the LSO electrics of 1926. But if so, I hope they would be sympathetically transferred.
Jonathan Woolf
Previous review: Len Mullenger (June 2025)
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Contents
CD 1 Sibelius The Oceanides ⋅ Symphony No. 7 ⋅ Pelléas et Mélisande, Incidental music
RPO rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955 remastered 2008 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 2 Schubert Symphony No. 6⋅ Grieg In Autumn ⋅ Old Norwegian Romance with variations RPO rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955 remastered 1999 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 3 Balakirev Symphony No. 1⋅ Borodin Polovtsian Dances
RPO Beecham Choral Society. rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955 remastered 2025 Art & Son Studio
CD 4-5 Handel Solomon John Cameron (bar) Elsie Morison (sop) Lois Marshall (so) Alexander Young(ten) RPO Beecham Choral Society
rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955-6 remastered 2005 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 6 Brahms Schicksalslied ⋅ Academic Festival Overture⋅ Liszt Psalm XIII 3 “Herr, wie lange willst du” Walter Midgley (ten) RPO Beecham Choral Society
rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955-6 remastered 2005 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 7 Mozart Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” ⋅Divertimento No 2 RPO
rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955-6 remastered 2001 Parlophone Records Ltd | Symphony No. 41 in C major “Jupiter”:I. Allegro vivace (LPO Stereo test from 1934 newly remastered 2025 by Art and Son Studio)
CD 8-9 Mozart Die Entführung aus dem SerailLois Marshall (sop), Gerhard Unger (ten) Ilse Hollweg (sop) Gottlob Frick (bass) Leopold Simoneau (ten) RPO
rec Kingsway Hall 1956 remastered 1990 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 10 Beethoven Symphony No. 2 ⋅ The Ruins of Athens, incidental music
CD 11 Bizet L’Arlésienne, Orchestral suites | The Inimitable Sir Thomas Sibelius Tapiola ⋅ Delius Summer Evening ⋅ Irmelin Prelude ⋅ Dvořák Legend⋅ Grieg Symphonic Dance, Op. 64 No. 2 RPO rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1955, 1956,1959 remastered 2000 Parlophone Records Ltd Fauré Pavane ⋅ Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Français rec. 1959 Salle Wagram, Paris remastered 2025 Art & Son Studio
CD 12 Delius Brigg Fair ⋅ A Song before Sunrise ⋅ Marche Caprice ⋅ Two Pieces for small orchestra ⋅ Sleigh Ride ⋅ Intermezzo RPO
rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1956-7 remastered 2001 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 13 Delius Florida Suite ⋅ Dance Rhapsody No. 2 ⋅ Over the Hills and Far away RPO rec. No 1 studio, Abbey Road 1956-7 remastered 2001 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 14 Delius Songs of Sunset John Cameron (bar) Maureen Forrester (cnt)| Grieg Peer Gynt Ilse Hollweg (sop) Beecham Choral Society rec No1 studio Abbey Road 1956-57 remastered 2011 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 15-16 Haydn The Seasons Elsie Morison (sop) Alexander Young (ten) Michael Langdon (bass) Beecham Choral Society RPO
rec No1 studio Abbey Road 1956, 57, 58 remastered 2024 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 17 Handel Love in Bath, Orchestral Suite (tr20 Ilse Hollweg (sop))
rec No1 studio Abbey Road 1956, 57, 59 remastered 1990 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 18 Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazaderec Kingsway Hall 1957 remastered 1999 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 19 Lollipops RPO Beecham Choral Society
rec No1 studio Abbey Road 1957 remastered various dates Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 20 More Beecham Lollipos| Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4(I. Andante sostenuto) RPO
rec No1 studio Abbey Road and Kingsway Hall 1957, 58, 59 remastered 1991-2007 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 21 Fauré Dolly⋅ Bizet Carmen, Orchestral suite No. 1 | Franck Symphony in D minor Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Français rec. 1959 Salle Wagram, Paris remastered 2004 & 2007
CD 22 Liszt A Faust Symphony ⋅ Orpheus RPO Alexander Young (ten) Beecham Choral Society
rec Kingsway Hall 1958 remastered 2005 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 23 Strauss Ein Heldenleben RPO rec Kingsway Hall 1958 remastered 2006 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 24 Beethoven Mass in C major Jennifer Vyvyan (sop) Monica Sinclair (cont) Richard Lewis (ten) Marian Nowakowski (bass) Beecham Choral Society
rec No1 studio Abbey Road 1958 remastered 1992 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 25 Handel The Gods go A’Begging, Ballet Suite ⋅ Amaryllis(exc.) ⋅ Arrival of the Queen of Sheba⋅ Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Overture ⋅ Rossini Semiramide, Overture, English National Anthem, Bonus: Haydn Symphony No. 97 RPO rec No1 studio Abbey Road 1955 -1958 remastered 2022, 2025 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 26 Haydn Symphonies Nos. 99, 100 “Military” & 103 “Drum Roll” RPO
rec. 1958-59 Salle Wagram, Paris 1958 No1 studio Abbey Road remastered 1992 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 27 Haydn Symphonies Nos. 101 “Clock”, 102 & 104 “London” RPO rec. 1958-59 Salle Wagram, Paris 1958 No1 studio Abbey Road remastered 1992 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 28 Schubert Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 RPO rec. 1958-59 Salle Wagram, Paris 1958 No1 studio Abbey Road remastered 1999 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 29 Mozart Bassoon Concerto ⋅ Clarinet Concerto Gwydion Brooke (bassoon) Jack Brymer (clarinet) RPO
rec. 1958-59 Salle Wagram, Paris 1958 No1 studio Abbey Road remastered 2001 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 30-31 Bizet Carmen Victoria de Los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Janine Micheau, Ernest Blanc
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Français rec. 1958-9 Salle Wagram, Paris remastered 2016
CD 32 Beethoven Symphony No. 7⋅ Brahms Symphony No. 2 RPO
rec No1 studio Abbey Road and Kingsway Hall 1958- 59 remastered 1989 Parlophone records Ltd.
CD 33 My Favourite Overtures: Rossini La gazza ladra, La cambiale di matrimonio ⋅ Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Die schöne Melusine ⋅ Berlioz Le Corsaire | Delibes Le Roi s’amuse (Ballet music) RPO
Delibes 1958-59 Salle Wagram, Paris . Others 1958, 59 No1 studio Abbey Road remastered 2002, 2003 Parlophone records Ltd rec.
CD 34 Berlioz Symphonie fantastique Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Français rec. 1959 Salle Wagram, Paris remastered 2003 Parlophone Records Ltd
CD 35 Bizet Symphony in C⋅ Lalo Symphony in G minorOrchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Français rec. 1959 Salle Wagram, Paris remastered 2000, 2004 Parlophone Records Ltd
BONUS (Mono) Rehearsals (on CD 9, 23, 25, 26, 29)
