Word: beecham
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Able, splenetic Sir Thomas Beecham had once disdained the Scots as "damned fools to throw away ?60,000 on a festival." But on opening night, before a jammed audience in Usher Hall, he was right there, ready, and with Franck, Sibelius, Brahms and Berlioz, he put on as good a show as ever. When he waved the men of his Royal Philharmonic to their feet on the fourth curtain call, they sat still; he howled at them in mock fury, then turned to the delighted audience: "You have observed, ladies and gentlemen, that this orchestra has every sort of virtue...
...Edinburgh to conduct at the annual music festival, peppery old (70) Sir Thomas Beecham struck a sonorous chord: "It is an honor and a privilege for the festival for me to come." But when someone mentioned the Festival of Britain, planned for 1951 as a mammoth cultural fair, he sounded a brassy note: "A monumental piece of imbecility and iniquity...We are going to celebrate 50 years of the most abominable misgovernment by having an exhibition and festival at the expense of U.S. money...We are broke-underline that three times. The country has gone potty. We have no moral...
Brahms: Tragic Overture (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Willem Mengelberg conducting; Capitol-Telefunken, 4 sides). The competition is tough (Beecham, Toscanini), but this performance stands with the best of them. Recording: good...
Gounod: Faust (Georges Nore, tenor; Roger Rico, bass; Geori-Boue, soprano, and others; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Thomas Beecham conducting; Victor, 32 sides). Faust, with its razzle-dazzle choruses and radiant arias, brought instant fame 90 years ago to French Composer Gounod; this performance adds to Beecham's. Recording: good...
Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp, K. 299 (Rene Le Roy, flute; Lily Laskine, harp; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham conducting; Victor, 6 sides). Not particularly a Mozart masterpiece, it is nicely performed by a master of Mozart. Recording: good...