Delius

I just received this set from Amazon last night, and am delighted with it. Most of the later mono and stereo recordings here are represented by masterings from 2001 or thereabouts, but all of the 1920s and 1930s recordings, and some from the second half of the 1940s, represent new analog-to-digital transfers, and it all sounds a lot cleaner and sharper than its age would normally tell you it has a right to. The performances themselves are priceless, as Beecham was to Delius's music what Toscanini was to Puccini and Verdi, and Boult and Barbirolli were to Vaughan Williams. The only mystery is what took so long to deliver a set like this to us? (Bravo to Warner Classics and the Parlophone imprint -- Oscar Preuss and George Martin would probably be gratified to see the imprint they shepherded still in use, on projects such as this . . . . ) Oh, and the inside sleeve recreations of the classic original LP artwork -- apparently a standard practice in this release series -- represent a nice, thoughtful touch, too.

From the earliest days of recording, Sir Thomas Beecham was the man for Delius. This set contains many recordings from the 30s and virtually all of the post-WW II records that Beecham made for EMI. Thus there are superb stereo versions of the Florida Suite and Over the Hills, a mono Village Romeo and Juliet from 1948 and pre-war recordings of Appalachia, Eventyr and excerpts from Hassan. Regardless of recording date, all are listenable and enjoyable. They are conducted with skill and deep affection by the man who knew Delius and brought Delius's music to the public.

A great collection of Delius music. Early stuff sounds like it was taken off old 78’s so be prepared. Original album cover artwork is utilized which is something I like. Beecham was a champion of Delius and it shows. You perhaps can get better recorded sound of some of the later material, but you won’t get better performances. A must-have if you are a Delius admirer.

For those new to Delius, what a magic trove this box set is. For those familiar with his work, the remastering and reissues are first rate. It seems to have been unnecessarily more about Beecham than Delius, but other than that I have no quibbles.

The product was received on time and in good condition. The recording is as good as one can expect from the wax and vinyl era.

Excellent musical. Compelling story with beautifully written music and lyrics.

Great music and great value

Most Delius compositions were recorded multiple times by Beecham.For this seven CD box, Warner has selected one representative EMI recording of each work (usually Beecham's final effort).If Warner had allowed just four additional CDs, they could have included all the published and unpublished EMI recordings.Contents:LONDON PHILHARMONIC MONO- Appalachia with BBC Chorus (1938)- Eventyr (1934)- Hassan Incidental Music (four excerpts) (1934-38)- In a Summer Garden (1936)- Koanga "La Calinda" (1938)- Koanga Closing Scene (1934)- Paris, The Song of a Great City (1934)ROYAL PHILHARMONIC MONO- Concerto for Piano with Betty Beecham (1946)- Concerto for Violin with Jean Pougnet (1946)- Dance Rhapsody No.1 (1952)- Mass of Life, Prelude to Part II (1948) NEW TO CD- Paa Vidderne (1946)- Sea Drift with Gordon Clinton baritone (1951)- Song of the High Hills with Luton Choral Society (1946)- Village Romeo and Juliet, complete opera (1948)ROYAL PHILHARMONIC STEREO- Brigg Fair, An English Rhapsody (1956-57)- Dance Rhapsody No.2 (1956)- Fennimore and Gerda: Intermezzo (1956)- Florida Suite (1956)- Irmelin: Prelude (1956)- Marche Caprice (1956)- On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1956)- Over the Hills and Far Away (1957)- Sleigh Ride (1956)- Song Before Sunrise (1956)- Songs of Sunset with Maureen Forrester, John Cameron & Beecham Choral Society (1957)- Summer Evening (1956)- Summer Night on the River (1957)SONGS - MONO-- Five Songs sung by Dora Labette (1929) accompanied by Beecham at the piano: "Cradle Song", "Irmelin Rose", "The Nightingale", "Twilight Fancies", "Le Ciel est par-dessus le toit"-- Four Songs sung by Dora Labette (1938) accompanied by the London Philharmonic: "I-Brasil", "Klein Venevil", "The Violet", "Whither" (orchestrated by Beecham)Sir Thomas Beecham was one of my all-time favorite conductors.He was born in 1879 and lived until 1961, which qualifies him for my select list of "Nineteenth Century Conductors Who Lived Long Enough to Record in Stereo" (along with Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Pierre Monteux and a few others).Sir Thomas always maintained that Frederick Delius was one of the truly great composers:"The last great apostle in our time of romance, emotion and beauty in music."I have always found this difficult to accept.In the last fifty years, I have listened (and re-listened) to a lot of Delius conducted by Beecham:Each time I begin with hope in my heart, but come away more mystified than ever.Very pretty music, but Delius was a contemporary of Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Mahler, Puccini and Richard Strauss (not to mention Elgar and Vaughan Williams).For EMI, Beecham recorded the music of Delius over three decades, from 1927 to 1957.The 1927 recordings were with the "old" Royal Philharmonic, an orchestra that disbanded in 1930.Beecham went on to found two orchestras: The London Philharmonic (1932) and the Royal Philharmonic (1946).In this box:-- Two CDs of mono recordings with the London Philharmonic (remastered 2017)-- Three CDs of mono recordings with the Royal Philharmonic (remastered 1992 and 2017).-- Two CDs of the complete stereo recordings with the Royal Philharmonic (remastered 2001-2011).-- Nine songs sung by Dora Labette (remastered in 2017).In the 1930s EMI sponsored two subscription series of worthy, but under-recorded music: The Sibelius Society, and The Delius Society.After sufficient advance sales, the music was recorded and mailed to subscribers.---- In 2015 Warner reissued the Complete Sibelius Society Recordings on CD: The Jean Sibelius Edition (7CD)---- The Delius Society 78s featuring Beecham and the London Philharmonic appeared between 1934 and 1938.A Complete Delius Society CD Edition would be at least as historically important as Sibelius,but apparently Warner does not agree.Only seven of the London Philharmonic recordings are in the new box.Nine were left out (see Comment One, dated March 26, 2017).Missing from this box:---- Fifteen pre-war mono recordings:One with the Beecham Symphony, one with the London Symphony, three with the "old" Royal Philharmonic, nine with the London Philharmonic + one song with Dora Labette accompanied by Beecham at the piano.---- Sixteen post-war mono recordings:Three with the London Philharmonic, thirteen with the Royal Philharmonic.All the missing recordings have been issued on CD by Naxos, Dutton, and Somm (see Comment One).The new box is very attractive.Seven CDs in modified "original jacket" format.More-or-less original LP cover art (see photos), with track listings and discographic information on the back.Twenty page booklet with a helpful four-page essay in three languages.No texts or translations for the vocal works.ADDENDA:-- The jacket for CD 5 erroneously attributes In a Summer Garden (1936 recording) to the Royal Philharmonic. It should be the London Philharmonic.-- The jacket for CD 7 erroneously attributes The Song of the High Hills to 9 November 1934. It should be 22 November 1946. The orchestra is the Royal Philharmonic.-- The front of the jacket for CD 6 (Appalachia etc.) erroneously credits the Royal Philharmonic. It should be the London Philharmonic.-- The jacket fronts for CDs 5 & 7 only credit the Royal Philharmonic, though the London Philharmonic is also on each CD.COMPLETE BEECHAM DELIUS DISCOGRAPHY 1927-1957See Comment one (dated March 26, 2017). Click on "Oldest First".