Boyd Neel String Orchestra conducted by Boyd Neel
Rossini, arr: Britten: Soirees musicales, op.9
Rossini, arr: Britten: Matinees musicales, op.24
New Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edgar Cree
3 files zip FLAC Mega Download
Decca ACL 229 1964 LP/matrices: ARL 6241 -2A / ARL 6242 -2A
Recorded: 15 April 1953 / 29 Sept.1954 - Decca West Hampstead Studios. Original issues: Decca LXT2790 / London W91075
(**) March 2012 file: re-edited. 'Musicales' aren't overly analytical recordings.. Dec.2014 +1.4dB Treble EQ Sleeve-note >>>
I'm so grateful for the Britten/Boyd Neel . I used to have this LP, in fact I may still do so, but several house moves later I'm not sure where it is, if it is. I always considered it a thoughtful performance - I find Britten's own to be just too keen to point out the references to other composers, rather than let us find them. I like Menuhin's for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it please!
Andrew Smith
I think someone asked for this 'flip-side' when I'd uploaded the Frank Bridge Variations with Handel's Water-Music (BTW: have the 1938 Boyd Neel FBV 78 album: X-226/8).
DeleteYou've missed-out mentioning Irving's excellent 'Musicales' from 1958 - which I've always ignored as think it's on CD (have the mono CLP/stereo SXLP) -coupled with the 1953 Arnold: English Dances.
Christopher Breunig (HFN/RR, early '70's) considered the Cree to have superb sound: but the early 10" received a negative comment - and does appear too 'damped' by lots of Orchestral Players in the Studio.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThe acceptable face of Britten - he is highly overated, as is JS Bach.
Most of the Britten canon is inaccessible to me - the Mattines and Soirees are highly tuneful and happy music, unlike most of his other work.
Thanks for the upload.
Cheers,
Douglas (UK)
'Too Facile' !!!!!!
DeleteYou might like Abrams early stereo performance (HMV) of the Piano Concerto: but am mindful that almost everything on LP (pre 1963) is on CD which these aren't (except for a Naxos dubbing?)
Decca's mono LP version of 'Prince of the Pagodas' hasn't been available for almost 45 years: much of that score is 'ear-tickling' - and tuneful - in a slightly 'severe' manner.
Indeed Tin Ear, I hadn't overlooked the Irving Soirees/Matinees. I have it on the CLP coupled with the Arnold English Dances - with the splendid cover of the drop curtain for the 'Solitaire' ballet. Thanks for reminding me of the PotP set - I have just rescued it from my partner's attempt to reduce my LP collection. It does need reducing, another removal looms, but some things are too precious and I must stay resolute. I think I have the Abrams - must check (and search that 'weeding out' box!).
ReplyDeleteAS
I'd a vague idea of uploading another Britten/Decca mono with this..but as 'they're are all on CD' - only justified if the 'LP sound' was better; however I'm rarely willing to do more than a few 'duplicates'.
DeleteFrom the technical viewpoint some time back would've liked to have uploaded Pears' Facade/Illuminations/STHS - as they sound so good (as do many Decca re-cuts: RVW-Boult /Collins-RVW/Elgar(LXT 2699: that not on CD?).
Thank you once again. As for Britten & Bach being overrated, I don't think so. Bach is the cornerstone of western music and Britten the finest 20th Century composer of opera. That's pretty good all things considered.
ReplyDeleteDouglas probably performed such material; so all those intricate 'repetitions' may have palled over time..
DeleteWhilst uploads don't necessarily reflect my 'taste/s', JSB is, intellectually, a fascinating listen - and intended transferring a couple of HMV/Germani organ discs (mono/stereo) last year; being 'a fan' of his playing-style.
Thank you for the transfer, and keeping it available all these years.
ReplyDeleteJerry
Here's a bio of Edgar Cree from the page describing his papers in the University of Cape Town:
ReplyDelete"Dr Edgar Cree (1914-2002) was a well-known conductor and broadcaster in South Africa in the years between the second world war and the early 1990s.
Born in Sheffield, England, in 1914, he was only 14 years old when he first conducted as a pupil at Oundle School. He ran away from school to audition for the post of assistant organist at Peterborough Cathedral and, although his father took him back to school, the cathedral kept the job for him and he became the youngest cathedral organist in Britain. Later, he became an organ scholar at Kings College, Cambridge and then trained at the Royal College of Music under Ralph Vaughan Williams.
During the war, Edgar Cree joined the RAF and served as a pilot with Coastal Command. He came to South Africa in 1946 when he joined the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation as the conductor of its symphony orchestra, a position he held for 28 years. He was also the founder of the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg.
Known as a gifted raconteur, he had his own radio programme for many years and in 1975, he was given the first honorary doctorate in music awarded by the University of Natal. He also conducted in England and Europe, and during his retirement, continued to be in demand as a guest conductor of various orchestras including the then Natal Philharmonic Orchestra. – Margaret von Klemperer"
The Edgar Cree still not on CD. Files sound fine - God knows the download tally after a decade...
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