℗ 2021 SOMM Recordings
Released | October 15, 2021 |
Duration | 1h 17m 36s |
Record Label | SOMM Recordings |
Catalogue No. | ARIADNE5013 |
Genre | Classical (Orchestral) |
Beecham Conducts Sibelius
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham, John Underwood, Raymond Ovens, Jon Tolansky
Available in 44.1 kHz / 24-bit AIFF, FLAC audio formats
Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39
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1.1
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I. Andante ma non troppo - Allegro energico (Live)
Jean Sibelius; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
10:38 | |||
1.2
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II. Andante (Live)
Jean Sibelius; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
9:16 | |||
1.3
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III. Scherzo. Allegro (Live)
Jean Sibelius; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
5:33 | |||
1.4
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IV. Finale. Quasi una fantasia - Andante - Allegro molto (Live)
Jean Sibelius; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
12:09 | |||
Scènes historiques II, Op. 66 (Excerpts)
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1.5
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II. Minnelaulu (Live)
Jean Sibelius; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
4:44 | |||
1.6
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III. Nostosillalla (Live)
Jean Sibelius; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
5:20 | |||
1.7
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Playing for Beecham
Jean Sibelius; John Underwood; Raymond Ovens; Jon Tolansky; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Sir Thomas Beecham |
29:56 | |||
Digital Booklet
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SOMM Recordings is thrilled to announce the first release on disc of the only known live recording of Sir Thomas Beecham conducting Sibelius’s Symphony No.1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to mark the orchestra’s 75th anniversary. The RPO was founded in 1946 by Beecham to inject new energy and new ideas into British orchestral life. Taken from the 1952 Edinburgh International Festival, the First Symphony heard here, says Beecham biographer John Lucas in his booklet foreword, is “a spine-tingling performance”. Three months earlier Beecham had completed his exacting studio recording of the First and comparisons between the two are fascinating. Also being released for the first time are previously unissued live recordings from 1947 of two of the composer’s Scènes historiques, and an interview by documentary maker Jon Tolansky with two RPO stalwarts (Sub-principal Viola John Underwood and the late Sub-Principal Second Violin Raymond Ovens) who share their memories of playing for Beecham. Both performances feature the RPO’s fêted “royal family” of wind players – Gerald Jackson (flute), Terence MacDonagh (oboe), Jack Brymer (clarinet) and Gwydion Brooke (bassoon) – with luminaries Dennis Brain leading the horns, Richard (‘Bob’) Walton as first trumpet, and Principal Percussionist Lewis Pocock. The album has been curated by Tolansky, the original founder of the Music Performance Research Centre. The archive was created in 1987 to preserve the heritage of public performances which included among its collection the Sibelius First Symphony. In 2001 the archive was renamed Music Preserved and transferred to the Borthwick Institute at the University of York. The Symphony, together with Tolansky’s other discovery, Scènes historiques have been brilliantly restored by acclaimed engineer Lani Spahr.
44.1 kHz / 24-bit PCM – SOMM Recordings Studio Masters
Track 3 – 44.1 kHz / 16-bit PCM
Track 3 – 44.1 kHz / 16-bit PCM
Track title | Peak (dB FS) | RMS (dB FS) | LUFS (integrated) | DR | |
Album average Range of values | -1.55 -3.22 to -0.43 | -21.88 -26.65 to -19.26 | -18.14 -22.30 to -15.50 | 12 10 to 17 | |
1 | I. Andante ma non troppo - Allegro energico (Live) | -0.87 | -19.26 | -15.5 | 11 |
2 | II. Andante (Live) | -3.22 | -21.98 | -18.1 | 10 |
3 | III. Scherzo. Allegro (Live) | -1.48 | -21.22 | -17.5 | 11 |
4 | IV. Finale. Quasi una fantasia - Andante - Allegro molto (Live) | -1.04 | -19.82 | -16.6 | 10 |
5 | II. Minnelaulu (Live) | -2.79 | -22.55 | -19.2 | 12 |
6 | III. Nostosillalla (Live) | -1.02 | -21.68 | -17.8 | 12 |
7 | Playing for Beecham | -0.43 | -26.65 | -22.3 | 17 |