Back in its day,
Thomas Beecham and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's 1958 recordings of
Liszt's "Faust" Symphony and tone poem Orpheus were greeted with heartfelt gratitude by the listening public. Here were performances of tremendous power but wonderful delicacy, of terrific sophistication but marvelous tenderness, of high-minded idealism and deep-in-the-body sensuality that seemed to capture all the aspects of
Liszt's multifaceted genius. In this nearly half-century-later reissue,
Beecham and the
RPO's performance still sounds grand, if not quite so grand as it sounded then. The caveat is not for the playing -- the
Royal Philharmonic was then one of the finest London orchestras and its playing here combines brilliant polish with a very un-English passion -- nor is it for the conducting --
Beecham was then one of the very finest English conductors and his direction here combines compelling commitment with unstoppable joi de vivre. No, the caveat is for the recording itself, which, while it sounded great in the early days of stereo, here sounds dim, distant, and dated in this 2005 reissue. Also, additional caveats may be the inclusion of
Constantin Silvestri and the
Philharmonia's rough and ready recordings of
Liszt's Les Préludes and Tasso and
Beecham's over-the-top recording of
Liszt's hellbent for glory setting of Psalm XIII. Still, anyone who loves the works will want to hear
Beecham's recordings of A Faust Symphony and Orpheus, still arguably among the finest performances of either work ever recorded.