The present discs are a record of a unique event: Sir Thomas Beecham's 1955 Royal Festival Hall concert celebrating Sibelius's 90th Birthday. Sound is often rough, and the playing occasionally falters in the heat of the moment, but the conductor's conviction in this music is as consistent as ever. There is an incisive account of the tragic Fourth Symphony, still a "difficult" piece at this time, ...
It certainly seems the BBC has tried to cover most bases with this eclectic compilation of live recordings which have appeared on the Sunday-teatime God-spot Songs of Praise. Beginning with cathedral-style classic carols accompanied by full brass and a thundering organ, the collection moves through some "cheesy-listening" numbers from the Huddersfield Choral Society (a medley of "Winter ...