Eccentric and dilettante, the quintessential English grand bourgeois, Sir Thomas Beecham was a self-taught conductor with a highly personal style and taste, brimming with elegance and charm. Beyond his tireless activity on stages around the world, he championed an eclectic repertoire ranging from Handel to Stravinsky, encompassing great classics as well as French composers such as Debussy, Saint-Saëns, and Bizet -his Carmen remains a landmark recording. A passionate advocate for the music of his compatriot Frederick Delius, Beecham also played a pivotal role in 20th-century English musical life, founding both the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1932) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1946). This box set brings together all the stereo recordings from his rich discography for Columbia and HMV, including the very first experimental stereo recording of Mozart's Symphony No. 41 first movement from April 1934.

Track List

1. Sibelius the Oceanides
2. Symphony No. 7
3. Pelléas Et Mélisande Incidental Music
4. Schubert Symphony No. 6
5. Grieg in Autumn
6. Old Norwegian Romance with Variations
7. Balakirev Symphony No. 1
8. Borodin Polovtsian Dances
9. Handel Solomon
10. Brahms Schicksalslied
11. Academic Festival Overture
12. Liszt Psalm XIII 3 "Herr Wie Lange Willst Du"
13. Mozart Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter"
14. Divertimento No. 2
15. Symphony No. 41 in C Major "Jupiter": I. Allegro Vivace (Stereo Test from 1934)
16. Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail
17. Beethoven Symphony No. 2
18. The Ruins of Athens Incidental Music
19. Bizet L'arlésienne Orchestral Suites
20. Sibelius Tapiola
21. Fauré Pavane
22. Delius Summer Evening
23. Irmelin Prelude
24. Dvorák Legend
25. Grieg Symphonic Dance Op. 64 No. 2
26. Delius Brigg Fair
27. A Song Before Sunrise
28. Marche Caprice
29. Two Pieces for Small Orchestra
30. Sleigh Ride
31. Intermezzo
32. Delius Florida Suite
33. Dance Rhapsody No. 2
34. Over the Hills and Far Away
35. Songs of Sunset
36. Grieg Peer Gynt
37. Haydn the Seasons
38. Handel Love in Bath Orchestral Suite
39. Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade
40. Lollipops
41. Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 (I. Andante Sostenuto)
42. Fauré Dolly
43. Bizet Carmen Orchestral Suite No. 1
44. Franck Symphony in D
45. Liszt a Faust Symphony
46. Orpheus
47. Strauss Ein Heldenleben
48. Beethoven Mass in C Major
49. Handel the Gods Go A'begging Ballet Suite
50. Amaryllis (Exc.)
51. Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
52. Mozart Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail Overture
53. Rossini Semiramide Overture
54. Haydn Symphony No. 99
55. Symphony No. 100 "Military"
56. Symphony No. 103 "Drum Roll"
57. Symphony No. 101 "Clock"
58. Symphony No. 102
59. Symphony No. 104 "London"
60. Schubert Symphony No. 3
61. Symphony No. 5
62. Mozart Bassoon Concerto
63. Clarinet Concerto
64. Bizet Carmen
65. Beethoven Symphony No. 7
66. Brahms Symphony No. 2
67. My Favourite Overtures: Rossini la Gazza Ladra ? la Cambiale Di Matrimonio
68. Mendelssohn a Midsummer Night's Dream
69. Die Schöne Melusine
70. Berlioz Le Corsaire
71. Delibes Le Roi S'amuse (Ballet Music)
72. Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
73. Bizet Symphony in C
74. Lalo Symphony in G minor