26 June 2008

Mewton-Wood, Part 2

Continuing our series of the recordings that Noel Mewton-Wood did for the Musical Masterpiece Society circa 1950, we have a wonderful performance of this supreme work by Beethoven.

Mewton-Wood was one of those artists whose work always seems perfectly natural; whether elegant or impassioned, it just seems right. To achieve such results in rushed sessions for a budget label continues to be a source of wonder.

In this concerto, he partners with the Utrecht Symphony, which was a "real" orchestra (unlike the Netherlands Philharmonic heard earlier in this series). Once again, the conductor is the talented Walter Goehr.

I do hope you will listen - and forgive the noise at the beginning of the transfer. It soon fades, but the impression left by Mewton-Wood's artistry does not.

(Note: this noise has now been all but eradicated in the latest version.)

LINK



4 comments:

  1. I have a couple of 10 inchers myself and I love them, to me they even sound clearer than later recordings.

    I appreciate the sympathetic reviews you are giving these old albums, the way they sound 'just right', I know what you mean.

    Clifford Curzon's playing has that effect on me. It's like a lost world.

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  2. Thanks Bruce - if you like Clifford Curzon, you probably will like Mewton-Wood. I love Curzon as well, and have featured his recording of Rawsthorne before (as I imagine you know).

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  3. Since I found these Beethoven recordings on your site, Buster, I can't get enough of them :)

    Thanks, Buster!

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