It's always a pleasure to have contributions from our friends, and here's one from anonymousremains. It is a joyful performance of a suite from The Nutcracker by the Royal Philharmonic and its founder, Sir Thomas Beecham.
The recording, a very good one, was made in December 1953 in Walthamstow Town Hall. The transfer, which I have cleaned up a bit, is excellent.
Beecham had a way with this music, and there are few more exhilarating recordings than this version of the Waltz of the Flowers. Even if you have heard this music many dozens of times, you should hear this.
I've been trying to find identifications for the dancers on the cover, without luck. I think the woman may be Alicia Markova.
Thanks again to anonymousremains for his thoughtfulness.
16 comments:
May I ask you a question? Did you correct the non-RIAA curves in your transfers? Keep working, nice blog :)
Yes, I always correct for that - very few of the recordings here were mastered on the RIAA curve.
Buster,
You're right about this performance. It's got zest. I'm not used to an "Arab Dance" sounding so bubbly, but I sure like it. You should have saved this for Christmas. But when I think of the 78s, 45s and LPs you must have from that time that will be seasonably correct, maybe you could spare us one cracked nut this early on. I still remember my dad buying the boxed 45 set of Spike Jones' "Nut Cracker," and the whole family doubled over in laughter. They say Spike destroyed the classics for lots of people; I say he saved them. But I digress. Beecham's recording has a wonderful carefree spirit to it. Thanks.
'Tis the season for Nutcrackers, so I'm enjoying this share from last year as I type. It's as good as I remembered. I think you're right about the photo being of Alicia Markova, with her frequent partner Anton Dolin. This site (http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/KilburnTheatres.htm) has a photo of the pair about two-thirds of the way down the page. The costume and make-up may be different, but the shape of her legs and feet is very distinctive. Cheers!
@ Gigh-Fi - Many thanks! I am sure you are correct, which means I am correct!
Best Nutcracker I've ever heard. Why? not an expert just a listener but imo it is very sensitive bringing out the details of the music. The performance seems to allow for it being about the dance so it is not overpowering and 'egotistical'. Thanks for this wonderful music.
Buster, would there be any way to reload this share?
Thank you for the reshare, Buster!
I suspect that I could happily survive on a desert island, with a "gram" and a select collection of Beecham's greatest records. Here are some that were celebrated in their day but which are largely unknown now; only one item has been reissued in a commecial UK CD in recent years, and I did not think it sounded that good; the LP was better: so the LP was used in this production!
I call this collection, 400 MB's of files, "Beecham's Flower Garden". This arbitrary selection consists of the following:
10" Columbia LP of Delius's Over the Hills & Far Away; and Bizet's Fair Maid of Perth Suite - RPO
12" Columbia LP of Wagner Overtures (Meistersinger, Dutchman, Goetterdaemmerung, Parsifal; plus a bonus from another album: Tannhauser Ov.) - RPO
12" Columbia LP of Beecham's version of the ballet suite, after Handel, "The Faithful Shepherd"; and Haydn's 93rd Symphony - RPO
12" Columbia LP of Sibelius's Sym No. 1 and "Alla Marcia" from Karelia - RPO
12" Columbia LP of Sibelius's Violin Concerto (Isaac Stern), plus four movements from "Scenes Historiques" - RPO
https://www26.zippyshare.com/d/PeRwVcLk/20159/Beecham%20Flower%20Garden.zip
NOTE: this direct link, above, should eliminate any 'spurious' ads or spawned browser pages; if that doesn't work, then regular link is:
https://www26.zippyshare.com/v/PeRwVcLk/file.html
(400 MB, mp3's, zipped, with original American Columbia cover images; file will be available ONLY for about 30 days, starting on 9/6/18)
Pip-pip, cheerio, and all that rot!
8H Haggis
Thanks so much - I love Beecham! (Among other reasons, Thomas is my given name and Beecham is a family name.) I think I have all these LPs, with the possible exception of the Handel-Haydn. Pleased to have your transfers.
The direct link went to the usual download page, with the usual Zippy nonsense. Full marks for trying, though!
Hi Buster again,
Its so irritating to find yet another of 8H Haggis's uploads - and it has expired. I wish there was a way in which you could re-up these expired "shares" of his.
Your upload has expired of this favourite recording of mine.
Any chance that you could re-up this please?
Many thanks.
Cheers,
Douglas (UK)
Remastered version (Apple lossless):
https://mega.nz/file/eAlkXJDB#PiMrkli7xAZCgl_wCHXSqnWuJrH2YEdrKwqK4dLkfms
Thanks for this as well as for the Van Kempen and Lehmann versions.
I have to admit that Markevitch's Philharmonia version (the first one, in mono) is firmly implanted in my brain from infinitely repeated childhood hearings but this is a good one. We had it on one of those RCA pressings with a generic Bluebird cover.
The acoustic of this account is a bit cavernous but not much to be done about it now.
Charlot - Strange, I don't think I have ever heard that Markevitch version.
I am fairly certain that he also did a stereo version, as he often did. (Or am I thinking of "Le sacre du printemps?"
He was a strangely underrated conductor (and composer.)
The B-side of that Bluebird LP was "Peter and the Wolf" with the narration intoned by the British character actor Wilfred Pickles.
Pickles got a rough ride from the critics at the time but that's the voice I hear in my head when I think of P&tW.
Markevitch and the Philharmonia again provide excellent accompaniment.
Charlot - I did listen to the Markevitch and the orchestral control and playing are very fine. His reading, however, could be both hard-driven and fussy, or so it seemed to me. And some of the tempos were not chosen for dancing, which I hate in this score, in particular, having seen it staged so many times.
I don't have that Bluebird and so have not heard the Peter/Wolf side. I am sure I heard the score when I was a child many times, but can't recall the narrator.
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