EDUARD VAN BEINUM – Complete Recordings on Decca & Philips

Decca (UMO) / Classics / Decca

£114.75

Format: 43 x CD
Catalogue No.: 4851387
Barcode: 0028948513871
Release Date: 06 Jan 2023
Genre: Classical

The eminent Dutch conductor Eduard van Beinum described his relationship with orchestral musicians as ‘first among equals’. He said of his work ‘One must certainly not by tyrannical. A conductor must immerse himself in the possibilities of each and every orchestra member and bring everything out of them.’ It was a huge shock, when during a rehearsal of Brahms’ First Symphony on 13 April 1959, van Beinum suffered a fatal heart attack on the podium in the Concertgebouw at the age of just 58. His qualities as a musician had perhaps not been fully appreciated during his lifetime, but after his death, his recordings allow us to re-evaluate his impeccable musical intuition, his good taste and the spontaneity of his music-making. Collected here in one edition that predominately features the two orchestras he was Principal Conductor of — the Concertgebouworkest & London Philharmonic Orchestra — are the complete recordings he made for both Decca and Philips.

Highlights include:
o A sparkling interpretation of Beethoven’s ballet music to The Creature of Prometheus with the LPO
o Brahms’ Symphony cycle recorded with the Concertgebouworkest – a radically modern approach for the time they were made
o Lauded recordings of Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole (1946) ‘Without question, this is the best recording we have had of this pungently evocative work.’ — Gramophone; Boléro and La Valse and Debussy’s La Mer, Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (1946) ‘A truly brilliant recording, bringing out more of the score than I should have thought possible’ — Gramophone
o Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique (one of his most celebrated recordings full of incisive precision and spontaneous explosive abandon)
o Reference recordings of Bruckner’s 7, 8 & 9th Symphonies – “Bruckner is my bread and butter” said Van Beinum
o Diapason d’Or award-winning recordings of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.4 & A Midsummer Night’s Dream (CO) & Hebrides Overture (LPO)
o A series of 78rpm recordings made for ‘Dutch Decca’, Telefunken & Deutsche Grammophon, including many works van Beinum never recorded commercially, such as Richard Strauss’s Don Juan and Smetana’s Vltava – all released for the first time in nearly 70 years, in new hi-res transfers made especially for this collection
o Bonus Audio documentary feature produced by Jon Tolansky, with commentary by a number of musicians who worked with Eduard van Beinum
o 102pp book (English/Dutch/French/German) with essays by music historian Niek Nelissen and Jon Tolansky

TRACKLIST:
CD 1 J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suites Nos.1–4 Concertgebouworkest
CD 2 Clark: Trumpet Voluntary ∙ Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks Suite; Water Music Suite London Philharmonic Orchestra
J.C. Bach: Symphonies Nos.2 & 4, Op.18 CO
CD 3 Handel: Water Music CO
CD 4 Mozart: Concerto for Flute & Harp Hubert Barwahser, Phia Berghout; Symphonies Nos.29 & 33 CO
CD 5 Mozart: Symphony No.35 ‘Haffner’; Piano Concerto No.24 Kathleen Long, LPO
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto Bram de Wilde, CO
CD 6 Mozart: Serenade in D, K.320 ‘Posthorn’
Reger: Variations & Fugue on a theme by Mozart CO
CD 7 Haydn: Symphonies Nos.94, 96 (1952 rec.) & 97 CO
CD 8 Haydn: Symphony No.96 (1947 rec.) CO
aydn: Symphony No.100 ∙ Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus LPO
CD 9 Beethoven: Overtures LPO
CD 10 Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Op.61 Arthur Grumiaux; Symphony No.2 CO
CD 11 Schubert: Symphonies Nos.4 & 5; Rosamunde CO
CD 12 Schubert Symphonies Nos.3, 6 & 8 ‘Unfinished’ CO
CD 13 Mendelssohn: The Hebrides Overture; Violin Concerto Alfredo Campoli, LPO
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1946 rec.) ∙ Beethoven: Leonore Overture No.2 ∙ Rossini: Overture to La scala di seta CO
CD 14 Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1952 rec.); Symphony No.4 ∙ Rossini: Overtures CO
CD 15 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (1946 rec.); La Damnation de Faust (excerpts: 1946 rec.); Marche troyenne; Le Carnaval Romain Ouverture (1956 rec.) CO
CD 16 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (1951 rec.); Le Carnaval Romain Ouverture (1951 rec.); La Damnation de Faust (excerpts: 1947 rec.) ∙ Brahms: St Anthony Variations (1952 rec.) CO
CD 17 Brahms: Symphony No.1 (1947 rec.); St Anthony Variations (1949 rec.) CO
CD 18 Brahms: Symphony No.1 (1951 rec.) CO
Brahms: Symphony No.3 (1946 rec.) LPO
CD 19 Brahms: Symphonies Nos.2 & 4 CO
CD 20 Brahms: Symphonies Nos.1 (1958 rec.) & 3 (1958 rec.) CO
CD 21 Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 Clifford Curzon; Tragic Overture (1952 rec.); Academic Festival Overture (1952 rec.); Alto Rhapsody CO
CD 22 Brahms: Violin Concerto Arthur Grumiaux; St Anthony Variations (1958 rec.); Tragic Overture (1958 rec.); Academic Festival Overture (1958 rec.) CO
CD 23 Bruckner: Symphony No.5 in B flat CO
CD 24 Bruckner: Symphony No.7 in E (1947 rec.) CO
CD 25 Bruckner: Symphony No.7 in E (1953 rec.) CO
CD 26 Bruckner: Symphony No.8 in C minor CO
CD 27 Bruckner: Symphony No.9 in D minor CO
CD 28 Mahler: Symphony No.4 in G CO
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gessellen (1946 rec.) LPO
CD 29 Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde; Lieder Eines fahrenden Gesellen (1956 rec.) CO
CD 30 Lalo: Symphonie espagnole Alfredo Campoli, LPO
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings; Andante cantabile for cello & strings; Nutcracker Suite CO
Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet Overture–Fantasia
CD 31 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade CO
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances ∙ Bizet: L’Arlésienne Suites (excerpts: 1950 rec.) LPO
Debussy: Danses pour harpe et orchestre Chamber Music Society of Amsterdam
CD 32 Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Le Chant du Rossignol ∙ Kodaly: Háry János Suite CO
CD 33 Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste ∙ Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite CO
CD 34 Sibelius: Violin Concerto Jan Damen; Tone Poems LPO
CD 35 Franck: Psyché; Variations symphoniques Géza Anda
Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole; Boléro; La Valse CO
CD 36 Debussy: Nocturnes; La Mer; Images (Set 3) CO
CD 37 Elgar: Cockaigne Overture; Cello Concerto Anthony Pini; Elegy for Strings; The Wand of Youth Suites 1 & 2 LPO
CD 38 Britten: Spring Symphony ∙ Pijper: Symphony No.3 CO
Britten Four Sea Interludes & Passacaglia from Peter Grimes (1947 rec.) ∙ Arnold: Beckus the Dandipratt LPO
CD 39 Britten: Four Sea Interludes & Passacaglia from Peter Grimes (1953 rec.); The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Debussy: Berceuse héroïque; Marche écossaise ∙ Thomas: Overture to Mignon ∙ Grieg: Two Elegiac Melodies
Nicolai: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor Overture ∙ Sousa: The Stars & Stripes Forever CO
CD 40 Pijper: Six Epigrams; Concerto for Piano & Orchestra Hans Henkemans ∙ Henkemans: Violin Concerto Theo Olof
Diepenbrock: Marsyas, of De betooverde bron RC 101 Incidental music excerpts CO
CD 41 ‘Eduard van Beinum – 78 Rarities I’
Brahms: St Anthony Variations ∙ Bizet: L’Arlésienne ∙ Reger: Valse d’amour (Ballet Suite Op.130) ∙ Smetana: Vltava (Má vlast) CO
CD 42 ‘Eduard van Beinum – 78 Rarities II’
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini Overture ∙ Wagner: Prelude to Lohengrin Act III ∙ Beethoven: Egmont Overture
J.S. Bach: Suite No.2 in B minor BWV 1067 (excerpts); Suite No.3 in D BWV 1068
R. Strauss: Don Juan ∙ Sibelius: Finlandia CO
CD 43 ‘Eduard van Beinum – Memories’