Cheap Beecham Conducts the 1959 Royal Festival Hall Concert (Music) (John II Addison, Thomas Arne, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Charles Gounod, Felix Mendelssohn, Camille Saint-Saens, Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) Price

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Customer Reviews of Beecham Conducts the 1959 Royal Festival Hall Concert

A you-are-there moment of Beecham mystique
When at long last the BBC began to release treasures from its vast archives, this CD was one of the first to emerge. It finds Beecham at his best and includes all the trademarks of his ocncerts: the National Anthem at the beginning, rapturous, uncritical applause for his every effort, and witty remarks from the conductor at the end to wrap the whole audience in his warm mystique. The Nov. 1959 date puts this concert near the end of Beecham's long life, but it is representative of his entire era on the podium as the lion among British musicians. <
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>As for musical values, they are mixed. The opening overture, Mendelssohn's Fair Melisande, is vintage Beecham--light, vivacious, and totally winning. Next comes the "Carte blanche" Suite from John Addison, forgettable music from a forgotten composer. It's idiom is fairly daring if you consider an offshoot of William Walton to be daring. <
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>Beecham was a maverick, famous for disparaging the great German composers and Beethoven in particular. This rare Beethoven symphony performance of the Seventh coincided with a commercial recording (available on EMI). The poco sostenuto opening is brisk enough to be considered anti-Klemperer or simply cheeky. Beecham has no choice but to drastically speed up when the allegro appears. The result is either exciting or a rushed mess, depending on your point of view. The allegretto second movement proceeds fairly briskly, which is refreshing from this era. But the tossed-off Scherzo and finale give the impression that Beecham took a cavalier view of this music--this recording will appeal mostly to those who find Beethoven's heroism tiresome, as apparently the conductor did. <
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>The concert then tapers off with Beecham's entertaining remarks and two lollipops, as he called them: an excerpt from Debussy's L'Enfant prodigue and Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. These are done delightfully, and everyone went home happy, as we do, too, except for curmudgeons who somehow feel that Beethoven didn't really get a fair shake.

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A real party piece 7th
I have had this wonderful performance of the Beethoven 7th for a number of years on the Music and Arts label (which has different companion pieces, except for sharing the Mendelssohn overture), and it has always been my favorite for the infectious joy it conveys. Yes, the tempos are fast, even more so than the likes of Toscanini, Carlos Kleiber, Reiner or Szell, but they never sound rushed or hard driven, because Beecham brings out the dance element in the music more adeptly than anyone else that I have heard. The audience immediately bursts into applause at the end, which suggests to me that they felt the same way as I.

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Captures the magic of a Beecham concert.
Polishing his spectacles with a large white silk handkerchief, the shapeless little man ambles slowly through the orchestra ranks, mounts the rostrum, dons his spectacles, calmly surveys the cheering audience, and signals the beginning of a stupendous performance of the British National Anthem.

Such is my recollection of how many nights of music making began in London concert halls or Covent Garden Opera House during the 1950s when Sir Thomas Beecham conducted. Seated far back, in the cheapest seats, I was never close enough to see how Beecham worked with his performers, but it was always clear that he, his performers, and the audience were enjoying themselves immensely.

This impression is wonderfully well-communicated in this splendid issue from the BBC's archives of a 1959 concert. Apart from John Addison's 1953 ballet suite "Carte blanche", Beecham and his orchestra had recently studied, rehearsed and recorded all these works. Comparing the commercial studio recordings with these live performances has been interesting. Whereas everything in the recorded performances is classically moulded, carefully judged and perfectly balanced, the same works at the concert sound as if they are being newly-created.

When the cheering has died down after the fastest Beethoven's Seventh I have ever heard, Beecham says to the audience, "If you applaud like that, I'm made to wonder if I shall ever be permitted to go home". He then offers three of his so-called "lollipops": serene, cool little pieces contrasting with the Bacchanalian excesses of the Beethoven symphony's finale.

The sound quality is much as any audience member in the Royal Festival Hall might have heard it in 1959. Extensive notes and many photographs add considerably to the value offered by this 75 minute CD.