Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor Op.47 & Pelléas et Mélisande, Op.46 - Øivin Fjeldstad Conducts the London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Title: Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor Op.47 & Pelléas et Mélisande, Op.46
Artist(s): Øivin Fjeldstad & The London Symphony Orchestra
Ruggiero Ricci (Violin)
Sir Thomas Beecham & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Source used for Transfer: Violin Con: London 4-Track Tape
Pelléas et Mélisande: Angel 2-Track Tape
Recording Info: Violin Con: Recorded on 10-15 Feb 1958 at
Kingsway Hall, London
Producer: John Culshaw
Engineers: Alan Reeve & Gordon Parry
Pelléas et Mélisande: Recorded in 1955
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One of the great performances of this work
This is an brilliant performance of this brilliantly colored concerto. Ricci and Fjeldstad bring it all together with Ricci's brilliant technique and Fjeldstad's affinity for the Scandinavian repertoire. The recorded sound is classic Decca Kingsway Hall quality -- well balanced, detailed, full frequency extension, lovely hall acoustics. As Jonathan Woolf commented in one of his MusicWeb reviews: "This is Ricci, big of vibrato, meaty of response, ballsy and masculine. The performance naturally falls onto the side of chewy intensity rather than anything more variegated emotionally speaking but its rugged intensity is undeniable. There is an equally big response from the brass, which really lets rip when called for, once or twice rather startlingly." And this is precisely why one needs this performance in one's music library! The sound from the 4-track tape and 24-192 transfer misses the ultimate transparency that might have been provided from a 2-track 15ips tape and does not match my memory of the transparency heard in the Speakers Corner LP reissue (that was prepared from the master tapes, after all). Overall, it's a bit "scrappy". But I know of no better digital transfer of this concerto and I'm delighted to have found this at HDTT. The Beecham Pelleas et Melisande is a wonderful addition to this release. It's worth the price of admission entirely on it's own to hear Beecham in this 1955 EMI experimental stereo recording. Originally release in mono and reissued many times on LP in stereo over the years, it is filled with Beecham's genial touch and the sound quality is impressively good. Such a nice old friend to find once again!
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Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor Op.47, Ricci, Fjeldstad, LSO & Pelléas et Mélisande, Op.46, Beecham, RPO
A superb improvement over the old sound. Beautiful. There’s no noise in the concerto, and I’ve never heard it like this. Wonderful. A dynamic violinist, Ricci. Overall, a great performance. Pelléas and Mélisande is also cleaner than in our days of yore. Thank you.
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor Op.47 & Pelléas et Mélisande, Op.46 - Øivin Fjeldstad Conducts the London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
★★★★★ Excellent
Authoritative Performances from Different Perspectives
Fjeldstad and Beecham were noted Sibelius conductors and both turn in fine performances here. And both recordings are good examples of well-conceived mid-1950s stereo engineering. But the soundstage perspectives preferred by British Decca and EMI/HMV engineers couldn't be more different and that means that it's quite a shock to go from the detailed, sharp-edged Decca recording of the Violin Concerto to the much more mellow and recessed sound of Beecham's Pelleas and Melisande suite. If nothing else, this coupling indicates how fluid were stereo engineering concepts in stereo's early days! Ruggiero Ricci is the violin soloist in the concerto recording and he turns in a fine, dramatic performance. Ricci could be unpredictable technically, and if there are more than a few rough edges to his playing here, well, 'rough edges' are exactly what the Sibelius Violin Concerto is all about. But prettiness isn't at all out of place in a performance of the much slighter 'Pelleas' suite, and Beecham delivers prettiness in spades. A fine -- if somewhat odd sounding -- pairing.
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor Op.47 & Pelléas et Mélisande, Op.46
Very good! Thank you.
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