# Beecham's best recordings



## Notung

Hey everyone,

Getting into this conductor and was wondering which recordings best depict his style.


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## Roland

I have enjoyed Beecham's recordings of Frederick Delius. They are some of my favorite compact discs and they made me a fan of Delius.


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## Itullian

love his Schubert and Mozart.


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## Vaneyes

Delius, Schubert, Haydn, Sibelius. :tiphat:


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## elgar's ghost

He gave good Bizet, too - check out his EMI releases of Carmen (3-disc set), the Symphony in C and the L'Arlesienne Suites (together on 1 disc). They are also blessed with a recording quality where the engineering staff were on top of their game.


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## AClockworkOrange

His Wagner is interesting and his Strauss (R) is excellent too.

For someone who wasn't a fan of Beethoven, he gives good readings of his 2nd & 7th Symphonies.

His Delius and Schubert are truly superb and for me,his version of Berlioz's Fantastique sets the bar.


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## StlukesguildOhio

Among my favorite Beecham recordings:


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## moody

Anybody who can persuade people to like Delius must be fairly magical,but that's just my opinion of course.
His Mozart, Schubert, Richard Strauss and the French composers was brilliant and his Beethoven and Brahms dire.
Russian music wonderful and Sibelius very much approved of his renditions.
He has never been bettered as an exponent of Berlioz ,certainly not by Colon Davis or Muench who was good.
His recording of Grieg's "Peer Gynt" music plus other sundry pieces is a classic.
Beecham's great recording of Liszt's "Faust" Symphony has been refurbished and reissued,top class and superior to Bernstein's version most certainly.
You can't do better than his "Boheme" after all these years it easily stands ahead of most others.
The recordings given him were of a high standard so you need have no fear in that direction.
He was a fantastic character and his concerts were events and of course the Royal Philharmonic was actually his orchestra.
I see that there are a number of live opera recordings available from earlier days so we must not forget how big he was in opera at one time.


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## JCarmel

I learnt to love Haydn listening to Beecham's recordings of his symphonies. He relished Haydn's sense of humour & his interpretations reflected this.

Coincidentally, I came upon this cd yesterday & put it out to listen-to as I hadn't heard it for ages. His Mozart was great too & the Concerto k299 for Flute and Harp receives a lovely performance here....


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## Manxfeeder

I'd have to concur with the remarks about his his Delius and Haydn. I look forward to hearing the other suggestions that have been listed.


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## joen_cph

I like practically all I´ve heard, except his Sibelius`"Tapiola". _Moody_ has already made good summary above.

But personally I definitely prefer more recent recordings of Delius´ works to Beecham´s (such as Handley & Hickox as conductors on Chandos, the Delius Unicorn-Kanchana series, Barbirolli on EMI, etc.).

Among Beecham´s early recordings, the Beethoven Concerto 4 with Rubinstein is one of the best, exemplifying his temperamental style 



 (1947)(Rubinstein also an early one even more dramatic, with Mitropoulos, unfortunately with very poor sound).


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## Notung

elgars ghost said:


> He gave good Bizet, too - check out his EMI releases of Carmen (3-disc set), the Symphony in C and the L'Arlesienne Suites (together on 1 disc). They are also blessed with a recording quality where the engineering staff were on top of their game.


Is the "Carmen" with the added recitative, or spoken dialogue? I would prefer the latter.


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## Notung

If I am a beginner in certain repertoire (like Schubert's symphonies and Delius), are his recordings a good place to start with those composers? or is he too idiosyncratic for a non-experienced listener in said composers?


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## moody

Notung said:


> If I am a beginner in certain repertoire (like Schubert's symphonies and Delius), are his recordings a good place to start with those composers? or is he too idiosyncratic for a non-experienced listener in said composers?


Not at all,his Schubert is charming and remember that he was the man who was responsible for keeping Delius alive with the musical public.


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## moody

Notung said:


> Is the "Carmen" with the added recitative, or spoken dialogue? I would prefer the latter.


It uses the Guiraud recitatives.


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## ShropshireMoose

I love his recording of Bantock's "Fifine at the Fair", it's on the 6th cd in the English Music box on EMI, and is far, far superior to Handley on Hyperion (who never achieves anything like the passionate intensity of Beecham in the more frenzied passages), also on that disc is a charming performance of German's "Gipsy Suite". The live recordings of Sibelius 2 and Dvorak 8 on BBC Legends are amongst the finest performances of these pieces that I've ever heard. I don't think his Franck Symphony or the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique have ever been bettered, and nobody, but NOBODY does the latter's "Corsaire" Overture with anything like Beecham's style and swagger. He also gives one of the most heartfelt readings of Elgar's Serenade for Strings. He's never less than interesting, even if you don't always agree with him! Oh, and much to my surprise, I loved his Beethoven 9 that came out on BBC Legends a couple of years ago- and the amazing performance of Elgar's arrangement of the National Anthem that precedes it. I've played that again and again and never tire of it.


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## ShropshireMoose

His recording of Bantock's "Fifine at the Fair" is superb, he gets so much blazing passion into the more heady moments of this piece, it's on CD 6 of the EMI English Music set- there's also a very alluring performance of Edward German's "Gipsy Suite" on the same disc. His live performances of Sibelius 2 and Dvorak 8 on BBC Legends are second to none. I don't think he's ever been bettered in the Franck Symphony, or the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, and his recording of the latter's "Corsaire Overture" knocks everyone else's into a cocked hat! So much life and adrenalin in it! He also gives one of the most heartfelt and moving performances of Elgar's Serenade for Strings. The biggest surprise for myself though, was his Beethoven 9 on BBC Legends- I absolutely love it- when I first bought it, I couldn't stop playing it- wonderful stuff- and the marvellously over the top performance of Elgar's arrangement of the National Anthem with which it's coupled is a delight too! Really you can't go wrong with Beecham, even if you don't always find yourself in full agreement with him, he's rarely less than interesting.


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## Notung

moody said:


> It uses the Guiraud recitatives.


Is it good for a Carmen beginner? I confess I haven't heard it in its entirety (I tried the Abbado and it didn't click...)


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## Itullian

He did one of my favorite Jupiter symphonies.

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Sympho...qid=1380852038&sr=1-1&keywords=mozart+beecham


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## Itullian

Notung said:


> Is it good for a Carmen beginner? I confess I haven't heard it in its entirety (I tried the Abbado and it didn't click...)


It's a great Carmen. I just don't care for Carmen.
For a great French opera get Cluytens stereo Tales of Hoffman.
A classic recording.


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## Pip

He was a great Wagner conductor and was thankfully recorded in live performance at Covent Garden in 1936 and 1937.


























The Götterdämmerung is almost 2 hours of highlights. The Tristan is complete, recorded on separate nights, giving us a different Brangäne and Kurwenal in Acts 2 & 3. The Meistersinger from CG in 1951 is preserved (a complete Act 1 and 2) and the Walküre scenes recorded at the BBC in 1947.
These recordings are still available, and should be investigated.


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## moody

Notung said:


> Is it good for a Carmen beginner? I confess I haven't heard it in its entirety (I tried the Abbado and it didn't click...)


Yes it is and he's much better than Abbado.


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## moody

Itullian said:


> It's a great Carmen. I just don't care for Carmen.
> For a great French opera get Cluytens stereo Tales of Hoffman.
> A classic recording.


Yes sir but he wants to know about Beecham. Although it's been messed about somewhat the film of Hoffmann with Beecham is quite an event.


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## Notung

moody said:


> Yes it is and he's much better than Abbado.


How can you tell the difference between what Guiraud wrote and what Bizet wrote?


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## Itullian

moody said:


> Yes sir but he wants to know about Beecham. Although it's been messed about somewhat the film of Hoffmann with Beecham is quite an event.


You are correct sir.
Beecham is one of my favorite conductors.
I enjoy everything I've heard by him.


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## moody

Notung said:


> How can you tell the difference between what Guiraud wrote and what Bizet wrote?


The original libretto was by Halevy and Meilhac,but was replaced by recitative and the one used until recently at least was that by Guiraud--which is lousy.
There are all sorts of abominations circulating,I think it would be useful to you to try looking on line ,etc. for more details.


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## DavidA

Notung said:


> Is it good for a Carmen beginner? I confess I haven't heard it in its entirety (I tried the Abbado and it didn't click...)


The Beecham Carmen is splendidly conducted and has a lovely turn of the wrist that sounds really natural. Of the cast things are rather more contentious. Is de Los Angeles too nice in the role? She is lovely but sis this Carmen? Gedda sings with taste but is a bit feeble. The Michaela is certainly sour and elderly. And the Escamillo average. I think Beecham is the reason to buy it, though for some this is the definitive recording.


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