12 January 2012

Sir Thomas Beecham live in Helsinki 1954 (reup)





Partially published on a Ondine CD (Tapiola & Symphony no7),
here - from a radio broadcast source - the complete concert conducted by Beecham in Helsinki - Sibelius Festival june 17, 1954.

As a "Bonus" - to fill the second CD - again two Sibelius 7 by Sir Thomas: the New York 1942 and above all the 1955 version, one of the best recordings ever made of this work (with Mravinsky and Barbirolli, of course) and Finlandia (LPO, 1938). NYPO Seventh and Finlandia are not taken from Dutton & Naxos CDs but from 78rpm.



SIBELIUS

Symphony No. 6 (27.55)
Tapiola (17.40)
The Tempest, Incidental Music (27.56)
Symphony No. 7 (19.36)

Helsinki City Symphony Orchestra
SIR THOMAS BEECHAM

Concert of June 17, 1954 - Sibelius Festival


+ SIBELIUS
Symphony no. 7 (19.04)
New York Philharmonic
SIR THOMAS BEECHAM
Studio, 1942 - from Columbia 78rpm set XO 32946-60

Symphony no. 7 (20.27)
Royal Philharmonic
SIR THOMAS BEECHAM
Studio, november 1955 - EMI

Finlandia (8.56)
London Philharmonic
SIR THOMAS BEECHAM
Studio, 1938 - from 78rpm


reup 2019 (see comments)

14 comments:

ion said...

Guido! Grazie assolutamente per queste gemme! Sono un sibeliano convinto e ti ringrazio, un abbraccio.

Guido said...

@Ion

Grazie a te per l'apprezzamento!
Vedrò se riesco a scovare qualche altra prelibatezza sibeliana.

David said...

Guido thank you so much for posting this. I have always found the Sibelius 7th very elusive, but after listening to the 3 Beechams 3x each (yes really!), I begin to think I know the symphony a lot better! The RPO recording is stunning of course, but after listening to the other 2 repeatedly I am still not sure if they are weaker only because the sound/balance isn't as good!?! The Helsinki one, nearly contemporary, is pretty much the same interpretation I think, but the HYPO one seems extrovert where the later ones are inward-looking, and less extrovert where the others are open. Or maybe I've just heard the symphony too many times in a row!! Thanks for the opportunity.

Now, back to Tapiola which is another elusive piece...!!

Guido said...

David, You are completely right!
I tried many times to approach the 7th listening to the studio recordings by Ashkenazy, Maazel, Davis, Rattle, and many others, but only with those of Beecham is possible to "understand something" of this soooo elusive (perfect word!) score.
Thanks a lot for the very appropriate comment!

maxtorello said...

Guido, ti sarei grato se potessi ripostare - è da tempo che lo aspetto dopo gli eventi MU. grazie!

Invocation said...

Hi Guido,
Can you consider re-up this post? Thanks!

Guido said...

Hi Invocation... done!

Andrew said...

iThank you. I appreciate your re-uploading these posts whch I missed on their first appearances.

Guido said...

You're very welcome, Andrew!

Invocation said...

Thank you very much, Guido!

Winter breeze said...

Welcome Guido.So glad for your return. Keep on surprising us everyday with your acoustic treasures.

Magellan said...

Guido great to see you back again!!

Guido said...

Very kind comments, thanks!

Guido said...

NOTE: Updated link

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_PIz2Jrz2V3UEo9LgcW6JcFbQLIp33qF