Derek Haslam's Programmes

Back to 2011/12 season

A Boult from the Blue (Derek Haslam, Feb.3rd, 2012)

Composer	Music
Britten/Rossini	Matinées Musicales (March)
Schumann	Symphony No.1 in B flat - "Spring" (1st mvt.)
Berlioz	Overture: "Beatrice and Benedict"
Britten	Four Sea Interludes ("Peter Grimes")
Britten/Rossini	Soirées Musicales (March)
Schumann	Symphony No.3 in E flat - "Rhenish" (1st mvt.)
Berlioz	Overture: "Rob Roy"
Walton	Symphony No.1 in B flat minor (2nd mvt. - scherzo)
Elgar	Symphony No.2 in E flat (1st mvt.)

All the recordings in this programme were made by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. The recordings were made by the American Westminster company in conjunction with the Pye-owned Nixa label in an astonishingly short burst of activity in August 1956. The venue was Walthamstow Assembly Hall and all the works were recorded in stereo - early examples of the new medium. Included were:

all four Schumann symphonies
all the Berlioz overtures (exept the short prelude to "Les Troyens")
Britten's Matinées and Soirées Musicales
the Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from "Peter Grimes"
the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (with Boult providing the narration)
Walton's first symphony
Elgar's "Falstaff", "Cockaigne" overture, and second symphony

All the recordings have been remastered by First Hand Records and appear on CD for the first time as two 3-CD volumes, the first devoted to the Britten, Elgar and Walton items and the second to the Schumann and Berlioz.