CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE RECORDINGS BY SIR THOMAS BEECHAM

This is a sad list for a Beecham admirer to have to assemble, some of the most pleasure-giving recordings ever made, currently withdrawn from public availability. Most were part of EMI's Beecham Edition which, during four years or so of existence, presented nearly all of his stereo and several monaural recordings that had not seen the light of day for years--a worthy effort, if not as long-lived as one would like! This is not to say that the Beecham cupboard is even close to bare, just that any impression of his legacy will, for the time being, have to be formed without these splendid testaments to his musicality and joie de vivre. Let us hope that the companies involved will see fit to restore these recordings to circulation as new technology makes even better transfers possible--and within a reasonable period of time. For available recordings, return to the main list or visit catalog of discs only obtainable in theUnited Kingdom.

I should point out that record dealers are not always prompt in returning cutout stock to manufacturers, and it sometimes proves worthwhile to call around in search of a title that is officially deleted. Good hunting!

ORCHESTRAS
BBC = BBC Symphony Orchestra
BPO = Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
BSO = Beecham Symphony Orchestra (acoustic recordings)
CGO = Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
HPO = Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
LPO = London Philharmonic Orchestra
MET = Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
NYP = New York Philharmonic-Symphony
PO = Philadelphia Orchestra RTF = Orchestre National de l'ORTF
RCA = RCA Victor Orchestra
RPO = Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
SRO = Suisse Romande Orchestra

Collections

(RTF, rec. 1959)
FRANCK: Symphony in d
LALO: Symphony in g
EMI CDM 63396

(RPO, rec. 1958)
LISZT: Orpheus
LISZT: Psalm XIII
R. STRAUSS: Ein Heldenleben
EMI CDM 63229

OVERTURES (RPO, 1957-59)
ROSSINI: La gazza ladra: Overture
MENDELSSOHN: The Fair Melusina Overture, Op. 32
MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture, Op. 21
ROSSINI: La cambiale di matrimonio: Overture
BERLIOZ: Le Corsaire, Overture
SUPPÉ: Poet and Peasant Overture
ROSSINI: Semiramide: Overture
WAGNER: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Overture
EMI CDM 7 63407 2
[Some of the contents of this disc have been re-used in various other compilations.]

[monaural recordings]
(RPO, rec. 1951-52)
SCHUBERT: Sym. No. 8
BEETHOVEN: Sym. No. 8
MENDELSSOHN: Sym. No. 4
EMI CDM 63398

SIBELIUS: Sym. No. 2 (BBC, rec. 1954)
DVORAK: Sym. No. 8 (RPO, rec. 1959)
EMI CDM 7 63399 2

BANTOCK, BAX AND BERNERS: MINIATURES
BANTOCK: Fifine at the Fair (RPO, rec. 1949)
BAX: The Garden of Fand (RPO, rec. 1947)
BERNERS: The Triumph of Neptune (LPO, rec. 1937)
EMI CDM 7 63405 2

Composers

BALAKIREV
[monaural recording]
(RPO, rec. 1956 and 1954)
Symphony No. 1, Tamara
EMI CDM 7 63375 2

BEETHOVEN
(RPO, rec. 1958 and 1957)
Symphony No. 7
The Ruins of Athens, incidental music (w. Beecham Choral Society)
EMI CDM 7 69871 2

BRAHMS
(RPO, rec. 1958-9 and 1956)
Symphony No. 2
The Song of Destiny (Schicksalied) (w. Beecham Choral Society)
Academic Festival Overture
EMI CDM 7 63221 2

DELIUS
[monaural recording]
(RPO, rec. 1946-52)
Dance Rhapsody No. 1
Violin Concerto (w. Jean Pougnet)
Song of the High Hills
On the Mountains (Paa vidderne)
EMI CDM 7 64054 2

HANDEL-BEECHAM
[monaural recordings]
(RPO, rec. 1951-59)
Love in Bath
The Gods Go a'Begging
Amaryliss Suite
The Great Elopement: Serenade
EMI CDM 7 63374 2
[A collection of Beecham arrangements of music by one of his favorite composers.]

LISZT
A Faust Symphony (RPO, rec. 1958)
EMI CDM 63371
[How EMI could discontinue this disc demands an answer. The field is not exactly crowded and this is a striking recording.]

SIBELIUS
[monaural recordings]
(RPO, rec. 1955)
Symphony No. 7
music from Pelleas et Melisande
The Tempest, exceprts
The Oceanides
Tapiola
EMI CHM 7 63400 2

SIR THOMAS BEECHAM CONDUCTS SIBELIUS
(LPO, rec. 1932-39)
En Saga
Lemminkainen's Return
The Bard
In Memoriam
Valse Triste
Symphony No. 4
KOCH LEGACY 3-7061-2 H1

R. STRAUSS
[monaural recording]
(RPO, rec. 1947-48)
Don Quixote (w. Paul Tortelier, cello)
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, excerpts
EMI CDH 7 63106 2

TCHAIKOVSKY
[monaural recordings]
(RPO, rec. 1957 and 1953)
Symphony No. 4
Nutcracker Suite
EMI CDM 7 63380 2

(LPO, rec. 1940 and 1939)
Symphony No. 5
Francesca da Rimini
EMI CDM 7 64053 2

Concert Recordings

Collections

BEECHAM IN REHEARSAL
(RPO, rec. 1951-58)
EMI CDM 7 64465 2
[This compilation, reissued several times on LP and expanded for this CD, offers a charming look at the renouwned wit and rehersal wisdom of Sir Thomas. Part of the material on this disc was reused in "The Art of Conducting", EMI 5 65915 2.]

LEGENDARY PUBLIC PERFORMANCES (RPO, rec. 1959)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7
MENDELSSOHN: Fair Melusina Overture
DELIUS: North Country Sketches
MUSIC & ARTS CD-281
[While it causes regret that this and the following discs of concert air-checks have been deleted, they were available for a long time. The shame of the matter is that the holder of the actual tapes, the British Broadcasting Corporation, has chosen recordings from their vaults by nearly everybody but Beecham for reissue on the official BBC Radio Classics series. Why the B.B.C. should continue to slight the memory of England's best conductor makes little sense. Let us hope that they will see the error of their ways.]

SIR THOMAS BEECHAM DIRETTORE
(RPO, rec. 1957)
BEETHOVEN: Sym. No. 7
HANDEL-BEECHAM: Love in Bath, excerpts
DELIUS: The Walk to the Paradise Garden
SIBELIUS: Karelia suite: Alla marcia
ERMITAGE ERM 132

SIR THOMAS BEECHAM CONDUCTS THE RPO - CONCERT PERFORMANCES
(RPO, rec. 1954, 1958-59)
MOZART: Sym. No. 35
TCHAIKOVSKY: Nutcracker Suite
WAGNER: Die Meistersinger: Overture
MUSIC & ARTS CD-631

[monaural recordings]
DELIUS: Paris (RPO, rec. 1955);
ARNELL: Punch and the Child (RPO, rec. 1950)
BERNERS: The Triumph of Neptune (PO, rec. 1952) {m}
SONY Masterworks Portait SMK 46683

Composers

[monaural recordings]
GOUNOD
Faust (MET, rec. 1943)
ENTERPRISE RY 23 [2 discs]

OFFENBACH
The Tales of Hoffmann (MET, rec. 1944)
MELODRAM 27514 [2 discs]
ENTERPRISE RY 19 [2 discs]
[I have been told that the Metropolitan opera took legal action to have the above two sets removed from the U.S. market. It would be nice if this organization would offer the recordings officially, at a reasonable price, but that isn't likely.]

WAGNER
Tristan und Isolde (CGO, rec. 1937)
MELODRAM MEL 37029 [3 discs]
[It is unfortunate that Melodram has withdrawn this set, since it is all Beecham, but the Grammophono 2000 set remains in the catalog and will have to do until better comes along.]

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