This is an important
disc for admirers of Beecham’s credentials as an elevated exponent
of the Sibelian symphonic canon. Neither symphony was exactly
uncultivated by the conductor who left recordings of both. Indeed
his travails over the Fourth are the stuff of legend and have
been well documented. It may have been that which gave rise
to the allegation that Sibelius referred to him as a first fiddle
conductor but it’s certainly the case that relations between
the two were more than cordial. If there are no explosive revelations
here, in view of the known recorded evidence, in quite the same
way that there was with regard to the recent Stokowski-Cala
re-release of the first two symphonies then that’s because,
as noted, we know much of Beecham’s approach through commercial
and live performances and also because of the distinctly less
than spectacular sound accorded the Fourth.
This is a definite
pity because if we contrast this October 1951 performance, recorded
live off-air in the Criterion Theatre with the BBC Symphony,
with both the pre-War commercial Columbia and, even more interestingly,
the slightly later 1955 RPO live performance we find that it
could very well be the best of the three. The orchestra had
just lost Boult, removed on reaching retirement age, and not
a conductor especially partial to Beecham. They are on fine
form, strong and characterful and having begun to recover from
post-War privation. I’m not sure who was the principal cello
then but he makes an eloquent sound at the opening and one should
on no account overlook the wind principals who are so adept
in the first movement. The powerful peroration in the Poco
vivace is spine-tingling stuff and Beecham’s sense of rhythmic
impetus courses throughout the finale which becomes, in his
hands, something of a master class in the screwing up and relaxation
of tension. To demonstrate that his ideas in this work remained
fluid, one needs to point out the far greater sense of concentration
in the later RPO reading, also live, where he tightens the first
and the third movements by almost a minute each and drives through
the finale that much quicker as well. It’s clearly not the case
that this 1951 BBC reading is in any sense provisional, rather
that here was a particular occasion that gave rise to a specific
sense of greater expressive and expansive response. The deficiencies
of the recording are however palpable: hiss, a constricted spatial
response, a rather shallow sound and some pits and damage to
the grooves. These deficiencies are duly noted in the documentation
and are so here; the performance however is superb and I urge
you to hear it.
The Sixth is really
no less fine. Beecham is inclined to be trashed as a symphonic
conductor for some perceived lack of formal, symphonic control.
There’s a degree of truth in that in repertoire with which he
was broadly unsympathetic but – first fiddle jibes apart – it’s
really not remotely the case in his Sibelius recordings, all
of which demonstrate acute structural control and a canny sense
of rhythmic tension. The Sixth was recorded live at one of Beecham’s
very few Prom appearances in 1954 with his RPO, an orchestra
seemingly built to respond to the Sixth. The strings have great
purity, the winds marvellously evocative individuality and so
far as Beecham is concerned he reprises those qualities that
informed the Fourth: dramatic sweep, control of individual nuance,
mastery of rubato, warmth, and tensile accumulation. The result
is a wholly symphonic utterance rendered without dislocation
or fracture, with incidental beauties serving the greater whole.
It also attests to things so often missed about Beecham: sheer
hard work and preparation.
The Sixth is in
much better sound than the Fourth – some coughs are of relatively
trifling account. The usual fine notes from Graham Melville-Mason
are another asset. You may be deterred by reservations concerning
the sound quality of the Fourth but perseverance will brings
its rich reward, especially because this is the finest Beecham
Fourth that I know.
Jonathan Woolf
see also Review
by Rob Barnett
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir
Thomas Beecham (6) 
for
details
