Sir Thomas Beecham conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (which, as saltburner2 has previously pointed out, was the Orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society) in Mozart’s Symphony No. 34, recorded on 24 and 25 October 1928 in the Portman Rooms, Baker Street, London.
The movements are:
00:00 1st movement
07:12 2nd movement
16:47 3rd movement
From Wikipedia: Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 – 8 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain’s first international conductor.
Born to a rich industrial family, Beecham began his career as a conductor in 1899. He used his access to the family fortune to finance opera from the 1910s until the start of the Second World War, staging seasons at Covent Garden, Drury Lane and His Majesty’s Theatre with international stars, his own orchestra and a wide repertoire. Among the works he introduced to England were Richard Strauss’s Elektra, Salome and Der Rosenkavalier and three operas by Frederick Delius.
Together with his younger colleague Malcolm Sargent, Beecham founded the London Philharmonic, and he conducted its first performance at the Queen’s Hall in 1932. In the 1940s he worked for three years in the United States where he was music director of the Seattle Symphony and conducted at the Metropolitan Opera. After his return to Britain, he founded the Royal Philharmonic in 1946 and conducted it until his death in 1961.
Beecham’s repertoire was eclectic, sometimes favouring lesser-known composers over famous ones. His specialities included composers whose works were neglected in Britain before he became their advocate, such as Delius and Berlioz. Other composers with whose music he was frequently associated were Haydn, Schubert, Sibelius and the composer he revered above all others, Mozart.
I made this transfer from Columbia L 2220/2.
source
Beecham & Mozart …..it is like the oracle of Delphi : Mozart sends the mysterious instructions and Sir Thomas makes it public with an orchestra in the concert….🎶🎶🎶🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼🎙🔊
This is the earliest of his 3 recordings of the Symphony. It has been re-issued by Dutton. Very good sound here!
Thank you. For me there is nothing not to like about this, and good to take me beyond admiration and all the way to adoring this musicianship. I prefer this to Beecham's 78 remake [which I have in a World Record Club/EMI transfer on LP], though I have never listened to the third recording. My favourite remains Klemperer, who perhaps surprisingly, brings just as much of the charm, while being very strong and firm as well. A more classical reading which keeps the charm. Quite a balancing act.
But this is superb. Hard to understand why Mozart was so little known in England at the time. Something Beecham succeed in correcting.
I often do wonder if such nice tone as this, is actually down to two quite separate factors. Obviously the recording men had to get it right, but in my view the fine quality of timbre and balance here is also down to the players. The recording men started with a good sounding performance, and preserved this remarkably well! And the transfer is the last hurdle, and this lives up the my greatest hopes.
Best wishes from George
"Recorded in a Concert Hall" – but which one? Lovely acoustic.