Beecham Conducts Delius

In my opinion, if you are going to start listening to the orchestral music of Frederick Delius, this is probably the best place to do so.

There might be more convincing performances with Beecham in mono, but those historical recordings are not for my aural capacities.

Sir Thomas was the ultimate advocate for the composer, giving Delius widespread attention in his homeland. In particular, Beecham was great for taking off the velvet glove when dealing with the music of Delius. Of course, Beecham didn't like everything Delius composed, and he very often excerpted, edited, orchestrated, arranged his music. In this way, the British conductor is an interventionist, ala Stokowski.

Still, these are treasures, most notably Delius' orchestral miniatures. As a complete program, the first CD is better than the second, but the best way to listen to these works, particularly on the second CD, are individually.

I don't think the audio is outstanding, but I generally like the old stereo perspective, which are upfront and colorful. This performance of Songs of Sunset is my least favorite; it is just too old-fashioned sounding, not aided by the fluttery vibrato from the soloists.

 

A review from 2024

This 2CD set of stereo recordings from Sir Thomas Beecham leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the music of Frederick Delius is a great way to begin exploring the composer’s music.

Here, Delius is very much a landscape artist, using music to express visualizations. In this regard, not only is he Romantic sounding, ala the British Pastoral School, he is an Impressionist too, and I hear both aspects fairly strongly.

In other hands, Delius can sound too delicate, handled with velvet gloves, making sure not to besmirch a single note or texture. Beecham equally creates beautiful sounds with the Royal Philharmonic, yet in most cases, he is not afraid to jostle Delius a little rougher, or to forge ahead if he deems it appropriate. This is where Beecham stands out from the crowd, and makes this the place to meet Delius’ music.

For me, I like the program of the first disc more than the second. The latter is programmed a little dozily, more a case of how Delius composes than a criticism of anything played here. The EMI sonics are not state of the art, it wears its years, but I must say the sound is intoxicating all the same, with a clear view of each section of the orchestra.

The 25-minute Songs of Sunset is rather old fashioned sounding to me, where the soloists have a quick beat to their sound, and the chorus is old-timey cinematic sounding. I am glad to have heard it, but I will stick to Dame Janet and John Shirley Quirk, also on EMI, or Bryn Terfel on Chandos for that one.

Everything else is great, and the magic of Sir Thomas Beecham in the music of Frederic Delius cannot be missed. Of course, he had a lot of historic, mono recordings of Delius music, but the stereo is a must hear, especially for beginners to the composer. 

 

Conductor: Sir Thomas Beecham

Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Label: EMI

Year: 1958-1963; 1985

Total Timing: 2hrs 27min

 

A great way to be introduced to the orchestral music of Delius.

After that, this recording is one to live with too!

Find more Delius recordings HERE!