What's New for December
New at iTunes
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New at Beulah Extra
Reveiws are by Brian Wilson at Music
Web International
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1st movement
2nd movement
3rd movement
4th movement
5th movement
6th movement
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"The Bambergers never sound hurried, even at the fast
tempo they adopt for the scherzo fifth movement, and the recording, if
a trifle on the ‘warm’ side, sounds well in this transfer. "
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"You’re not likely to find a better performance than
that given by Erich Leinsdorf with the Concert Arts Symphony Orchestra
in stereo in 1958 and the recording still sounds first rate. "
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"It’s still well worth hearing though we’re used to
hearing it played less majestically and at a rather faster tempo these
days"
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"There are more modern versions of this bold and
attractive music, some of the first to feature instruments in their own
right rather than accompanying the voice, but these Mercury recordings,
grand and unhurried, are rather special and it’s good to have them
available again, not just as historical curiosities or as demonstrating
the range of Fennell’s musical interests – like Gendron’s Haydn they’re
more valuable than that in their own right. If you’re new to this
repertoire and wonder where to start, the sonata pian’e forte is the
best known of these pieces. "
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"Felix Slatkin conducts his ‘other’ orchestra, the
Hollywood Bowl
Symphony, in a snappy performance of George Gershwin’s An American in
Paris, recorded in stereo in 1959. I’ve heard more raucous car horns in
this work, but that’s my only (small) grumble. The sound may be a
trifle thinner than more recent recordings, but you’d hardly notice."
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1st movement
2nd movement
3rd movement
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"My personal favourite of Beulah’s reissues this month
is the performance of Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) Cello Concerto in D,
with Maurice Gendron (cello) and the Lamoureux Orchestra conducted by
Pablo Casals. Not the least of the virtues of this recording is the
fact that a veteran cellist conducted the orchestra. The recording, in
stereo from 1960, has come up sounding very well in this transfer."
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"The performance is one of the best ever set down and
the recording still sounds fine, even if it doesn’t open out quite as
spaciously as more modern versions. "
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"I don’t recall Victoria de los Angeles and Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau recording much together but they make a fine-sounding
combination with Gerald Moore at the piano in Henry Purcell’s Duets,
Let us wander and Lost is my quiet – recorded in stereo in 1961 and
still sounding well. "
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"The performance from Erich Leinsdorf with Felix
Slatkin’s
foundation, the Concert Arts orchestra is about as good as it gets. The
sound, though canned as long ago as 1958 (stereo) is first-rate"
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Coming soon...
The best of Beulah's 2012 releases
"Beulah’s reissues of Sir Thomas Beecham (Goldmark), Sir
Adrian Boult (Elgar),
Sir Colin Davis’s Beethoven and,
above all,
Pierre Monteux’s Elgar
Enigma Variations take top place." MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL Recordings Of The Year 2012
Seasonal Ringtones
Here are our Christmas ringtones 
Seasonal Music
Here are our Christmas downloads
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Part 1 Scene 1
Part 1 Scene 2
Part 1 Scenes 3 and 4
Part 1 Scene 5
Part 1 Scene 6
Part 2 Overture
Part 2 L'adieu des bergers
Part 2 Le repos de la sainte
Part 3 Scene 1
Part 3 Scene 2
Part 3 Scene 3
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Brian Wilson's Reissue
of the Month
Among the Christmas choral blockbusters, L’Enfance du Christ is
something of an orphan by comparison with Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s
Christmas Oratorio, apart from the ubiquitous Shepherds’ farewell. To
be honest, I can’t remember when I last chose to listen to it – and
this reissue reminds me what I’ve been missing. This is the first Colin
Davis recording, made in 1960 for the Oiseau-Lyre label, not his later
Philips remake or his even more recent version for the LSO’s own label.
With that LSO Live version apparently the only one currently available
in the UK, this Beulah reissue of Mark 1 is very welcome. On its first
appearance Alec Robertson wrote ‘There is no need for any critical
hesitation here. This performance of L’Enfance du Christ has all the
qualities that I have for years dreamt of and longed for’ and that
remains true.
I’m not a great fan of the timbre of Peter Pears but his performance as
narrator has not been bettered and the other soloists can all hold
their own, even with the incomparable Dame Janet Baker as Mary on the
Philips recording as against Elsie Morison here, singing low in her
register. Joseph Rouleau as Herod, singing of the hardships of being a
king (Toujours ce rêve … Ô misère des rois) offers a particularly
strong argument for this early recording.
In this transfer the recording holds its own as well as the performance
does. There’s no libretto, but that’s easy to come by, for example at
berlioz.com.
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The Solesmes choir under Dom Joseph Gajard were
trend-setters in the editing and performing of plainchant, with
recordings from the 1930s onwards. These performances of the first and
third masses of the Nativity appeared in 1956 on Decca LXT5251 to a
warm welcome. The recording, too, was very good for its time, albeit in
mono only. Though there have been other recordings since which aim at
reproducing the authentic sound of plainsong at a particular period of
history – it has been something of a moveable feast – it was Solesmes
who established the modern norm and these reissues of their singing the
Christmas Masses make recommendable reissues.
Watch this space for December releases at iTunes
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