Beecham Conducts Delius

Editorial Reviews
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Sir Thomas Beecham enjoyed a career-long association with the music of Delius. As Grieg provided the encouragement to Delius to keep composing, Delius in turn helped Beecham choose conducting as his path. In return, Beecham championed the composer's music as no other interpreter has or ever will. There is a delicacy in these sunny accounts, a lightness of touch and of texture that sets them apart. While one encounters occasional out-of-tune notes as well as ensemble problems in the playing by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the spirit of Sir Thomas easily carries the day. The performances were captured in good early EMI stereo, which, while it comes with some tape hiss, is eminently listenable and has a wonderful presence. --Ted Libbey

Tracks:

Over The Hills And Far Away
Sleigh Ride
Brigg Fair - An English Rapsody
Florida Suite: Daybreak, Dance
Florida Suite: By The River
Florida Suite: Sunset, Near The Plantation
Florida Suite: At Night
Marche Caprice

Tracks:

Dance Rhapsody No. 2
Summer Evening
Two Peices For Small Orchestra: No. 1: On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring
Two Peices For Small Orchestra: No. 2: Summer Night On The River
A Song Before Sunrise
Fennimore And Gerda - Intermezzo
Irmelin Prelude
Songs Of Sunset

Amazon.com

Sir Thomas Beecham enjoyed a career-long association with the music of Delius. As Grieg provided the encouragement to Delius to keep composing, Delius in turn helped Beecham choose conducting as his path. In return, Beecham championed the composer's music as no other interpreter has or ever will. There is a delicacy in these sunny accounts, a lightness of touch and of texture that sets them apart. While one encounters occasional out-of-tune notes as well as ensemble problems in the playing by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the spirit of Sir Thomas easily carries the day. The performances were captured in good early EMI stereo, which, while it comes with some tape hiss, is eminently listenable and has a wonderful presence. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

landmark Delius recordings by his greatest conductor.......2006-12-09

Here you've got probably the most essential set of Delius recordings ever made. Thomas Beecham, the composer's ardent champion of many decades, made the most of this opportunity to record (and re-record) many key works in stereo. The playing of his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is exemplary, with some gorgeous woodwind soloing.

Delius is an elusive but highly original composer with a rhapsodic style; an acquired taste, he can definitely grow on one with repeated listenings. A kind of English impressionist (born the same year as Debussy), he was also a major inspiration to Duke Ellington. Here you'll find some of the finest short tone poems ever composed, such as "Summer Evening," "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring," "Summer Night on the River," and "A Song before Sunset"--all gloriously poetic evocations of the natural world and presented here in definitive interpretations. The early four-movement "Florida Suite" is another favorite, and it's recorded here, as are several other works, in Beecham's own editions.

The highlight, however, is the final and longest piece on this set, "Songs of Sunset," a choral work with baritone and contralto soloists that sets passages by Ernest Dowson (a short-lived and largely forgotten nineteenth-century English poet who contributed several immortal phrases to the language, including "days of wine and roses" and "gone with the wind"). Australian baritone John Cameron is wonderful with his rich, mahogany voice, and Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester is simply transcendent, as she is also in the classic Bruno Walter recording of Mahler's 2nd. The passage "and dream we shall lie,/ Red mouth to mouth, entwined" is ecstatic--pure aural magic.

As an introduction to Delius's music, this can't be topped. And for the true Delian, it's desert island material.

A composer for a conductor!.......2006-12-03

Delius was an eminent landscape painter musician if I may; he might be catalogued as late Impressionist. Temperament and lyric refinement are basically the most relevant features of his artistic profile.

To my mind there just have been three eminent conductors who have been able to capture with all fervor and slender elegance the magic of his compositions: Thomas Beecham, John Barbirolli and Anthony Collins.

The eulogizing devotion of Beecham to play the most of his compositions is worthy to admire, and in this sense he must be considered as the most genuine herald, pioneer and defender of his music, especially when Sir Edward Elgar seemed to cover practically all the spectral universe in the early decades of the XX Century.

Don't miss this album that will always keep for us the minim facets of that illuminated and talented composer.

A gramophone classic.......2000-05-29

This set has the power to bring back a sense of wonder to even the most jaded of today's listeners. Something of the magic of the early stereo era is conveyed. If the LP equivalents sounded half as good as this, they must have been some kind of landmark in the history of recording. I would love to have been there to experience the sense of revelation that these recordings brought to their first listeners.

Beecham was and is the undisputed master of this music. Following along with the score of "Brigg Fair", "A Dance Rhapsody" and "Two Pieces for Small Orchestra" as I listen to Beecham conduct them, I fully appreciate how complete Beecham's seduction of his players was. There is no feeling that an interpreter is imposing his will but rather of complete identification with the spirit of the music, a sense of fantasy and, again, wonder. It's as if Delius is speaking directly to us and surely that is the mark of a great performance!

Hard to top Beecham conducting Delius.......2000-05-26

Want to check out Delius? Start here. Ah, the days when conductors like Sir Thomas Beecham roamed the earth... Highly recommended.

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Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Delius

Manufacturer: Dutton Labs UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Delius: Orchestral Works

ASIN: B0006840GG
Release Date: 2005-02-08

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Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Delius

Manufacturer: Dutton Laboratories
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005D0F
Release Date: 1994-01-01

Sir Thomas Beecham conducts Delius [United Kingdom]

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Delius' Champion

Sir Thomas Beecham conducts Delius [United Kingdom]
Beecham , and Royal Philharmonic Orcehstra
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005QX7G

Tracks:

Autumn, The Wind Soughs In The Trees
Winter Landscape
Dance
March Of Spring
In A Summer Garden (Rhapsody)
Appalachia (Introduction)
Appalachia Theme
Appalachia Un Poco Piu
Appalachia Moderato Sempre
Appalachia Piu Vivo
Appalachia Molto Moderato
Appalachia Con Moto
Appalachia Giocoso, Allegro Moderato
Appalachia Lento E Molto Tranquillo
Appalachia Misterioso
Appalachia Andante Con Grazia
Appalachia Andante Molto Tranquillo
Appalachia Allegro Alla Marcia
Appalachia Marcia. Molto Lento Maestoso
Appalachia L'istesso Tempo
Appalachia Misterioso Lento
Appalachia Lento Piu Mosso

Customer Reviews:

Delius' Champion.......2006-01-06

British composer Frederick Delius basically owes his legacy to conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. In fact my introduction to Delius came via Beecham's disc in EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" series. This Sony import title captures TB in mono performances from 1949-52 of Delius works not included in that aforementioned EMI CD. Here he leads his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in "North Country Sketches," the rhapsody "In a Summer Garden," and "Appalachia." Many classical music devotees dismiss Delius as a lightweight, but I find this music to be compelling if not absolutely essential. In all, another fine Beecham reissue from Sony UK.

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Beecham Conducts Delius (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00007DWLY
Release Date: 2003-03-18

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Almost forgotten composer's greatest work

Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Delius

Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000DO9F
Release Date: 1992-05-12

Customer Reviews:

Almost forgotten composer's greatest work.......2006-08-31

My first introduction to Frederick Delius was a 6 record, 78 r.p.m. set that included a march, the piano concerto and A Song of the High Hills, all conducted by Beecham, who definitely understood the English impressionist. When this came out on CD I snatched it up. How nice not to have a side break every 5 minutes (the piece took 6 sides in the 78 set.) While the Dance Rhapsody and the other works on this CD are nice, it is the Song of the High Hills that is a must. The sound isn't digital, but the sounds that Beecham got from the RPO while shaping this piece are high fidelity to the score and spirit. The piece is wonderful. At first hearing, you may wonder where the heck the score is going, but keep with it. The ascent to the top of the "high hill" is beautiful and breathtaking. This is the most vivid version there is, where the poetry and performance far outclass more modern counterparts.

Beecham Conducts Atterberg's Symphony No. 6

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Beecham Conducts Atterberg's Symphony No. 6

Manufacturer: Dutton Laboratories
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000005D0U
Release Date: 1998-01-13

Tracks:

Ov, The Magic Flute, K.620 - Sir Thomas Beecham/LSO
Sym No.34 in C, K.388: Allegro Vivace
Sym No.34 in C, K.388: Adagio Di Molto
Sym No.34 in C, K.388: Allegro Vivace
The Walk To The Paradise Garden ('A Village Romeo And Juliet')
The Nightingale, Op.48, No.4 - Dora Labbette
The Emigrant, Op.58, No.5 - Dora Labbette
Sym No.6 in C, Op.31: Moderato
Sym No.6 in C, Op.31: Adagio
Sym No.6 in C, Op.31: Vivace

Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Beethoven, Handel, Delius, Sibelius

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Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Beethoven, Handel, Delius, Sibelius

Manufacturer: Ermitage
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000MQHB54

Product Description

1-4. Beethoven: Sinfonia n.7 in la maggione op. 92~~~5-11. Handel: Suite dal balletto "Love in Bath"~~~12. Delius: Walk to the Paradise Garden~~~13. Alla marcia da Karelia Suite.

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Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Beethoven, Handel, Delius, Sibelius

Manufacturer: Aura Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00005AU7A
Release Date: 2001-03-27

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