Grieg: Peer Gynt / Beecham

Thomas Beecham

Grieg: Peer Gynt, etc

Sir Thomas Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain, as a conductor and impresario, and according to Neville Cardus, was the first British conductor to have a regular international career. In the concert hall, London still has two orchestras founded by Beecham: the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic. His repertoire was eclectic, sometimes favouring lesser-known composers over famous ones. His specialities included composers whose works were rarely played in Britain before Beecham became their advocate, such as Frederick Delius and Hector Berlioz. Columbia Records produced many of his early recordings, using EMI crews in London. From 1926 to 1932, Beecham made nearly 150 78-rpm sides, including an English version of Gounod's Faust and the first of three recordings of Handel's Messiah. He began recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1933, recording more than 300 78-rpm sides for Columbia, including music by Mozart, Rossini, Berlioz, Wagner, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and Delius. His stereo recordings included performances of Sibelius's late symphonic poem Tapiola, later reissued as the very first Seraphim Records LP disc, and his incidental music to The Tempest. Most of these recordings were made by EMI and released on HMV in the United Kingdom and on the Angel or Capitol labels in the US. Grieg's incidental music for Peer Gynt, together with a few other similar scores from Bizet and Strauss, were great favourites of Sir Thomas Beecham. He described them as 'among the supreme examples of the kind', and they figured in his concerts and recording programmes throughout his long career. He first recorded some movements from Peer Gynt in 1938, but his famous recording of ten numbers has always been regarded as a touchstone of excellence ever since its earliest release as a stereo LP in 1958 and it has rarely been out of the catalogue.

Price: $13.98