{"product_id":"beecham-berlioz-la-grande-messe-de-morts-requiem-1959-paco157","title":"BEECHAM Berlioz: La Grande Messe de Morts (Requiem) (1959) - PACO157","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBERLIOZ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eLive broadcast recording, 1959\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration:  78:48\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eRichard Lewis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e, tenor\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus    \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eSir Thomas Beecham\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFanfare magazine review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fThe Pristine Audio version of the 1959 Berlioz Requiem is a major addition to the Beecham discography. Highest recommendation578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eOn December 13, 1959 at London’s Royal Albert\nHall, Thomas Beecham conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and\nChorus in a performance of the Berlioz \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eGrande Messe des morts\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e.\nIn addition to being England’s pre-eminent conductor and a towering\ninternational presence, Beecham was long recognized as one of the finest\nBerlioz interpreters of his era. Beecham was 80 at the time of this\nperformance, and had only 15 months to live. I don’t think there is any\nquestion that everyone present in Royal Albert Hall on December 13, 1959\n(Beecham included), realized this was an event that would never be\nreplicated. The result is a performance for the ages, one of the\ngreatest and most affecting renditions of the Berlioz Requiem preserved\non disc. The 1959 Beecham Berlioz Requiem has been reviewed three times\nin \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e. In\nthe March\/April 1984 issue (7:4), William Youngren reviewed a Cetra\ndouble LP issue. Youngren wrote: “I found myself as overwhelmed, by both\nmusic and performance, as ever … this is a set to be grateful for, one\nthat should be in every collection, bar none.” Adrian Corleonis took a\ndifferent point of view when appraising a CD release on the Hunt label\n(Nov\/Dec 1988, 12:2): “Beecham’s brisk pace—saved from headlong\nprecipitateness only by gentlemanly elegance—scants Berlioz’s grandeur\nwith amazing dexterity.” But Corleonis had the opportunity to return to\nthis Berlioz Requiem, courtesy of the BBC’s official release of the\nconcert (Nov\/Dec 1999, 23:2). The vast sonic improvement of the BBC\nissue over the Hunt led Corleonis to conclude: “Heard in more or less\nadequate sound, Beecham’s go at the Requiem leaves even the best of\nother recordings toiling in the rear.… Indispensably awesome.” I join my\ncolleagues in their glowing assessment. This is a recording that\ncommands attention from anyone who is interested in Berlioz, or the\nlegacy of Thomas Beecham. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eAnd now it is my turn to reappraise my feelings\nabout the performance. Until now, I was familiar with the Beecham\nBerlioz Requiem courtesy of the previously mentioned official BBC issue.\nIt is a fine example of a late-1950s radio broadcast, offering\nrespectable dynamic range and impact, as well documenting the beautiful,\nrich sound Beecham was able to coax from his beloved Royal Philharmonic\nOrchestra and Chorus, as well as tenor Richard Lewis in the Sanctus. I\nhave to confess that in listening to the BBC issue, my impression was\nthat the Beecham interpretation, while the most beautiful I have ever\nheard, did not quite realize this epic work’s potential for electrifying\nimpact. But a new Pristine Audio restoration erases any previously held\nreservations. Andrew Rose processed the BBC recording with Pristine\nAudio’s “XR remastering” and “ambient stereo.” I hear nothing artificial\nin Rose’s superb restoration. What I do hear is the version of this\nperformance that, at long last, invokes the experience of hearing the\nmusic in the vast acoustic of Royal Albert Hall, but with absolutely no\nloss of detail. In fact, the voices and orchestra emerge here with even\ngreater clarity. It would perhaps be stretching things just a bit to say\nthe Pristine Audio restoration equals the best stereo recordings of the\nera (compare it, for example, with Beecham’s contemporaneous RCA\nrecording of Eugene Goossens’s Cecil B. DeMille orchestration of\nHandel’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eMessiah\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e). But now, such moments as the climax of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTuba mirum\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e, the trombone interjections in the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eHostias\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nand concluding Agnus Dei, and the timpani in that final movement all\nhave the hair-raising effect Berlioz and Beecham intended. It is a sonic\nrestoration that can be enjoyed by any listener, even those not partial\nto historic recordings. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThe inclusion of the announcer’s closing comments\n(not included on the BBC release) is a welcome addition. The CD insert\nincludes a brief essay and track listings. No texts or translations, but\nthey are of course readily available from other recordings, and via the\ninternet. The Pristine Audio version of the 1959 Berlioz Requiem is a\nmajor addition to the Beecham discography. Highest recommendation. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESb\"\u003eKen Meltzer \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"dateBlockDiv\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\n\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eThis article originally appeared in Issue 42:6 (July\/Aug 2019) of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003e Magazine.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\n\u003c\/div\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PACO157.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\nBerlioz was undoubtedly one of Thomas Beecham’s favourite composers. He\nconducted Berlioz’s music even when it was unfashionable, and after the war\nhe was one of several conductors responsible for a reassessment of\nBerlioz’s merits. In 1947 he conducted a radio performance of Berlioz’s\nepic opera, \u003cem\u003eLes Troyens\u003c\/em\u003e, and throughout the 1950s regularly\nprogrammed pieces by Berlioz in his concerts.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nBeecham conducted Berlioz’s \u003cem\u003eLa Grande Messe des Morts\u003c\/em\u003e on several\noccasions, but this is the sole recording of his interpretation of this\nwork. He had conducted the piece in 1958 in the Royal Festival Hall but\nfound the results rather disappointing. The space was too constricted to\npermit the full orchestral requirements from the score, and the LPO chorus\nwas not as polished as he would have liked. Beecham decided to try again in\nlate 1959, this time in the much larger Royal Albert Hall, with a\nsignificantly larger orchestra, and a smaller but better-trained chorus.\nThe result was a triumph. The Times praised his ‘remarkable ear of\norchestral balance’ that produced a ‘magnificently vital performance.’ The\nTimes wished that the radio audience had been able to hear the work in\nstereo to appreciate Beecham’s careful spacing of the instrumental forces\nin the hall, including some in the boxes. The BBC did not record it in\nstereo, unfortunately, though the ambient stereo version presented here\ngives us some sense of how the audience in the hall heard it at the time.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe soloist is the Welsh tenor Richard Lewis, a well-known recitalist,\nconcert and opera performer in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. He was\nparticularly famed for his \u003cem\u003eGerontius\u003c\/em\u003e (see PASC525) and his Mozart\nroles at Glyndebourne, but was also one of the few able to cope with\ncomplex roles in new operas such as \u003cem\u003eKing Priam\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMoses and Aaron\u003c\/em\u003e.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThis was Beecham’s last concert in the Royal Albert Hall. He gave his last\nconcert (in Portsmouth) less than six months later in May 1960, and died in\nMarch 1961.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 20px;\"\u003eBERLIOZ \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 20px;\"\u003eLa Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem) Op. 5, H. 75\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït  (9:42)\u003cbr\u003e2. Dies iræ. Prose - Tuba mirum   (11:10)\u003cbr\u003e3. Quid sum miser  (3:22)\u003cbr\u003e4. Rex tremendæ  (5:32)\u003cbr\u003e5. Quærens me  (5:04)\u003cbr\u003e6. Lacrimosa  (9:39)\u003cbr\u003e7. Offertoire. Chœur des âmes du Purgatoire  (8:57)\u003cbr\u003e8. Hostias  (3:09)\u003cbr\u003e9. Sanctus  (10:44)\u003cbr\u003e10. Agnus Dei  (11:29)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Lewis\u003c\/b\u003e, tenor\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus  \u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003econducted by\u003cb\u003e Sir Thomas Beecham\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eXR remastering by \u003cb\u003eAndrew Rose\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover artwork based on a photograph of \u003cb\u003eSir Thomas Beecham\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePerformance of 13 December, 1959, Royal Albert Hall, London\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginal recording by BBC Transcription Services\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal duration:  78:48    \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PACO157.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PACO157.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fConcert Review: The Times578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 24px;\"\u003eVital Performance of Requiem\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nBerlioz’s astonishing Requiem is a work very dear to the heart of Sir\nThomas Beecham. He has in any case a special sympathy for the mixture of\npassion and fastidiousness, elegance and sonorous curiosity in Berlioz, all\nindeed which poises this genius between classic and romantic ideals, and\ntherewith made him for so long an enigma in the story of music. The\nRequiem, if not the greatest of Berlioz’s works, has a special curiosity\nappeal since it is gravely noble as well as amazingly original: the\ncontrast of timbres and textures between movements is itself striking, and\nto these Berlioz adds many, many new effects whose realization gives\nspecial scope to another of Sir Thomas Beecham’s qualities, his remarkable\near for orchestral balance.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nA year ago he conducted the work in the Festival Hall, but it does not\nbelong there; it requires space and resonance for those sonorities to tell\nas Berlioz intended. He calculated his music for performance at a solemn\nnational ceremony in the Parisian church of Les Invalides, and the music\ncomes to life only in similar acoustical surroundings. Those of the Albert\nHall, for instance; and it was there that Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the\nwork last night in a magnificently vital performance which, fortunately,\ncould be heard by radio listeners as well as the throng that packed the\nhall.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe music needs stereophony at least and visible presence ideally not only\nfor the antiphony of the four brass bands (two on the platform, and two in\nthe second tier of boxes above), but for the alternation of male and female\nvoices from movement to movement, for the uncanny spaciousness of the eight\ntrombones (four on either side) in the \u003cem\u003eHostias\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAgnus\u003c\/em\u003e,\nthe ethereal sparkle of five pairs of cymbals softly clashed simultaneously\nin the \u003cem\u003eSanctus\u003c\/em\u003e, the four gleaming tubas rarely discerned in such a\nherd as during the Hosanna, and the seven drummers who end the work with\ntheir muttered timpani chords.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nEnsemble is a thorny problem with such monstrous forces; it was not\nperfectly solved here of all places, but the degree of precision obtained\nwas remarkable in the circumstances and an occasional flaw in unanimity\nwent for nothing amid the vitality and refinement of the interpretation,\nand the beauty of sound elicited by an anonymous and excellent chorus, and\nby the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The technical difficulties of the\ntenor solo in the Sanctus were long since conquered by Mr. Richard Lewis,\nwho makes of it just such a song of “tender beings angelical” as Gerontius\nheard in Heaven. It was a noble and beautiful performance; to have heard\nthe \u003cem\u003eLacrymosa\u003c\/em\u003e so performed was to understand why Sir Thomas\nBeecham cherishes Berlioz, and why we should cherish him too.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Times Music Correspondent\u003cbr\u003e14 December 1959\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Ambient Stereo 24-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932349223251,"sku":"pdw1789302465628","price":14.66,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932349256019,"sku":"vyz1789302465629","price":9.19,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":54932349288787,"sku":"npt1789302465630","price":7.31,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/1833\/9155\/files\/beecham-berlioz-la-grande-messe-de-morts-requiem-1959---paco157_1.jpg?v=1789302495","url":"https:\/\/lovevividclad.shop\/products\/beecham-berlioz-la-grande-messe-de-morts-requiem-1959-paco157","provider":"luckagni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}