Sibelius, Jean - Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39 & Scenes historiques II, Op. 66 - Beecham, Thomas

SOMM Recordings is thrilled to announce that the only known live recording of Sir Thomas Beecham conducting Sibelius's First Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has been released on CD to mark the orchestra's 75th anniversary. Beecham founded the RPO in 1946 to bring new energy and ideas to British orchestral life. According to Beecham's biographer John Lucas, the First Symphony, recorded at the 1952 Edinburgh International Festival, is a "backbone-chilling performance." Three months earlier, Beecham had completed his demanding studio recording of the first symphony, and comparisons between the two are fascinating. Also being released for the first time are previously unreleased live recordings from 1947 of two composers' Scènes historiques , as well as documentary director Jon Tolansky's interview with two pillars of the RPO (principal viola John Underwood and the late principal second violin Raymond Ovens), who share their memories of playing with Beecham. Both performances feature the RPO's celebrated family of wind players – Gerald Jackson (flute), Terence MacDonagh (oboe), Jack Brymer (clarinet), and Gwydion Brooke (bassoon) – and soloists Dennis Brain on trumpet, Richard ('Bob') Walton on first trumpet, and Lewis Pocock on percussion. The album was curated by Tolansky, the original founder of the Music Performance Research Center. The archive was established in 1987 to preserve the heritage of public performances, whose collections included Sibelius's First Symphony. In 2001, the archive was renamed Music Preserved and moved to the Borthwick Institute at the University of York. The symphony orchestra, like Tolansky's other discovery, Scènes historiques, has been brilliantly restored by the renowned engineer Lani Spahr.