Sir Thomas Beecham – Complete Stereo Recordings on Warner Classics
This 35-CD collection gathers all of Sir Thomas Beecham’s stereo recordings for Columbia and HMV, made between 1955 and 1959, along with a rare experimental stereo test from 1934 of the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter). These sessions, Beecham’s last in the studio, feature mainly the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which he founded, with occasional appearances by the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française. Notable soloists include Teresa Berganza, Victoria de los Ángeles, and Yehudi Menuhin.
The repertoire spans symphonic works by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Sibelius, and Schubert; large-scale choral pieces such as Handel’s Solomon and Haydn’s The Seasons; and opera recordings including Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Bizet’s Carmen. French repertoire is represented by Bizet, Fauré, and Franck, while Beecham’s advocacy of Delius is documented in orchestral suites, tone poems, and song cycles. Russian music includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Balakirev’s Symphony No. 1, and the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. The set also offers overtures, concertos with woodwind soloists, and two discs of lighter “Lollipops,” giving a rounded portrait of Beecham’s late-career style and interpretative priorities.
Walter Gieseking – His Columbia Graphophone Recordings: The Complete Warner Classics Edition
Spanning recordings from 1923 to 1956, this 48-CD set presents the complete Columbia Graphophone sessions of Walter Gieseking, newly remastered from the best available 78 rpm sources and original LP tapes. It traces the pianist’s career from the shellac era through to his final studio years, capturing both his celebrated repertoire and rarer projects.
Gieseking’s complete solo piano works of Debussy and Ravel, recorded in their entirety, form one of the set’s central pillars. His Mozart is equally prominent, with concertos, sonatas, and shorter works, alongside Beethoven sonatas and concertos, Bach’s Partitas and Italian Concerto, and music by Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms. The range extends to Poulenc, Roussel, Franck, Grieg, Mendelssohn, and Scriabin, reflecting the breadth of his musical interests.
Collaborations include concertos with Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Rafael Kubelík, Bruno Walter, and Alceo Galliera, as well as lieder with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Among the highlights are nine recordings making their first appearance on CD, together with many other rarely reissued items. The set offers both definitive readings of Gieseking’s core repertoire and a wealth of rarities, from a pianist whose clarity of touch and tonal refinement remain distinctive in the recorded legacy.
Eduard van Beinum – Complete Recordings On Decca & Philips
This 44-CD set gathers the complete Decca and Philips recordings of Eduard van Beinum, newly presented in Original Jacket format. The majority feature the Concertgebouw Orchestra, where he served as chief conductor from 1945 until his death in 1959, alongside notable sessions with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The repertoire spans from J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suites and Handel’s Water Music to large Romantic symphonic works by Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky. Brahms is well represented, including a full symphony cycle with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Other highlights include Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole, Boléro and La Valse, Debussy’s La Mer, Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps, and award-winning Mendelssohn performances. Van Beinum’s interest in 20th-century music appears in recordings of Britten, Pijper, and Bartók, while soloists such as Arthur Grumiaux, Clifford Curzon, Alfredo Campoli, and Géza Anda feature prominently in concertos.
Karel Ančerl – Live Recordings – Concertos
This 7-CD release from Supraphon presents Karel Ančerl in a role less often documented – in the role of concerto accompanist to some of the most celebrated soloists of the mid-20th century. Drawn from the Czech Radio archives, most of the performances date from the 1950s and early 1960s, when Ančerl was chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.
The set includes multiple interpretations of the same work with different soloists, such as Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with both Ida Haendel (1957) and Henryk Szeryng (1966), and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Sviatoslav Richter (1954) and Emil Gilels (1953). Other featured artists include David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Ivan Moravec, Eva Bernáthová, and Jan Panenka. Rarities include Wilhelm Kempff in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 – a performance in which the pianist sounds somewhat underprepared.
The earliest recordings are of particular historical value: Oistrakh’s 1950 Dvořák Violin Concerto and Rostropovich’s 1952 Dvořák Cello Concerto, the latter issued here for the first time. While sound quality varies, the character of the soloists and orchestra is clearly preserved. The collection offers an illuminating portrait of Ančerl’s skill in matching his accompaniment to the style and flexibility of his partners, capturing unrepeatable live performances with some of the era’s most distinguished musicians.
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