[PRE-ORDER] Beecham Collection - Delius: Pno Con [CD]

The Beecham Collection Vol. 37 from SOMM Recordings expands this celebrated series with a 1955 performance of the Nocturnes by Claude Debussy and, from 1954, the Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 'Little Russian' by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, both recorded in the Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The release also includes a live recording from a 1941 CBS Radio transcription disc of the Piano Concerto in C minor by Frederick Delius, featuring Betty Humby as soloist with the CBS Symphony Orchestra. Audio Restoration is by Lani Spahr, about whose work on Elgar from the Archives Volume 3 [ARIADNE 5048-2] Music Webb International's John Quinn wrote, 'I dread to think how many painstaking hours Spahr has dedicated to restoring these recordings; it has been worth every minute of his time.' This present volume of SOMM's collection honouring Sir Thomas Beecham opens with Debussy's three-movement Nocturnes: Nuages, Sirenes, and Fêtes. Beecham was not known as a Debussy 'specialist,' and Felix Aprahamian, one-time assistant to Sir Thomas and the guiding spirit behind the influential Concerts de Musique Francaise, noted that it was easy to forget 'how good a Debussy conductor Beecham was.' Here, he reveals the subtlest orchestral colouring in Nuages; superbly integrates the women's voices into the sound picture in Sirenes; and takes a personal and unexpected approach in Fêtes by introducing an accelerando in addition to a crescendo in the middle section.The British pianist, Betty Humby-the youngest person ever to win a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music-first met Beecham in London during the 1930s. In 1941 they were reintroduced in New York, and their performance of the Delius Piano Concerto was broadcast on 22 June that year with the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony. Just over a year and a half later, in February 1943, Beecham and Humby were married and remained so until her death in 1958. While Beecham and Humby made a studio recording of the Delius in December 1946, it did not match the exhilaration of the CBS concert reflecting the start of their life partnership. Delius's Piano Concerto, completed in 1904, had a mixed reputation, but Beecham was always an enthusiastic advocate, conducting it on numerous occasions.Tchaikovsky was one of the pillars of Beecham's concert repertoire, and he was particularly drawn to the more rarely played Second and Third Symphonies. Tchaikovsky's early symphonies were not at all familiar to London audiences in the 1950s, and Beecham did much to promote these works. Following this live performance of Tchaikovksy's Symphony No.2, The Times noted on 27 October 1954 that 'the opening movement, and, in particular, the brilliant and strongly nationalist Finale, found both conductor and gallant players aflame with excitement.'