The Beecham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Beecham, plays the Overture to ‘The Magic Flute.’
This was Beecham’s first recording for Columbia, made c. July 1915. It is rather difficult to work with Columbias of this era. The laminated pressings of the day were much noisier than the later ‘new process’ Columbias, and – like this disc – are often found in less than pristine condition. In addition, the Columbia recording process tended to favour the lower frequencies, and bringing back the highs increases the noise. Despite that, I think this is a worthwhile upload.
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 transferred this recording from a contemporary English laminated pressing of Columbia L 1001.
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I should know this famous overture but I don't recall it musically. To me, this appears a very well-structured account with everything unfolding with impeccable timing, whilst also giving a sense of spirited freedom. Very good, thank you, VS.
Pretty good sound for an acoustic of an ensemble of this size. Thanks, as ever.
Beecham's indefinable manner comes through, in spite of the surface noise. Was this the first batch of rcordings he ever made? He called Seattle (I've lived in its outlying greater areas since 1995) "an esthetic dustbin". He would doubtless have saltier language for it were he around today.
It is striking that even in 1915 Beecham, who was not noted for slow tempi in those days, was taking the overture at a fairly sober pace. He seems to have perceived that this piece is Mozart's interpretation of the old 'French overture' form as used by Purcell, Bach, Handel etc. and that it therefore stands quite apart from the overtures to the Italian-libretto operas and should not be given the kind of headlong tempo which suits those other pieces. I cannot understand why modern conductors never seem to recognise this point. Incidentally, what has happened to the third of the 'Masonic chords', which should be heard at about 3:30? It is certainly present in my (post-1922) copy, where the triple chords come at the beginning of the second side.