Many music lovers miss the sound from vinyl pressings.
Many others have yet to discover how pleasant the sound can be.
Most of our albums are mastered from vinyl LP pressings and earlier
recordings (before 1953) from 78 rpm discs. It is our ability to
recreate, in the digital age, the sound from the disc era that many of
our customers find most enjoyable.
Unlike modern digital recordings tracks in our
albums do contain some distortion, and the occasional surface noises,
but for many listeners these "defects" are soon forgotten.
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" The 1951 SULLIVAN concoction ballet Pineapple Poll, ... is especially
delightful when performed by its begetter,
Sir Charles Mackerras. Beulah have already reissued the Eastman Wind
Ensemble recording of the suite but their new reissue is better still,
especially when coupled as it is here with that other Mackerras
confection, this time from VERDI, The
Lady and the Fool. There’s a budget-price Classics for Pleasure
coupling of both suites with Mackerras and the LPO, but the Beulah
reissue on 1PS10 restores the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1962,
ADD/stereo) and the Philharmonia (1955 ADD/mono), both with Mackerras.
It’s due for release in March 2017.
"
This definitive account of Pineapple
Poll when first released and again when reissued took a whole
LP, as did The Lady and the Fool
in 1956. With more generous selections than on the CFP album – the
complete Lady, not just the
suite – Beulah give us over 97 minutes. The 1962 recording has come up
as fresh as paint and the 1955 is very good for its age, clear if a
trifle dry and with a touch of end-of-side insecurity in the Epilogue. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
What the Critics Say
"
Two classic performances here: the ‘Gypsy’ Trio, still sounding very
well for its age, and a sample of Beecham’s Haydn from the second
(stereo) set of the ‘London’ symphonies, still my go-to recordings
despite the conductor’s wilful refusal to abandon old and corrupt
editions of the scores.
"It’s hardly credible that the Trio recording is 90
years old: not only
has it come up very well here – as good as any of the many transfers
that I’ve heard – the performances retain their esteemed position. With
Beecham’s Haydn enclosed in multi-CD boxes, this reissue of his ‘Clock’
Symphony is very welcome, one of the best of the series, but it’s
likely to tempt you to obtain all twelve, still available as two Gemini
twofer downloads from Warner, Nos. 93-98 in mono and 99-104 in stereo.
"The Piano Sonatas are not in that league; in fact,
I didn’t recall their being released (on two mono LPs on the Delta
label in 1963). What Sophie Svirsky-Stern lacks in technique she makes
up for in a sense of involvement in the music and the recording, if a
little thin, sounds fine – the lack of stereo spread is less of a
problem with the solo instrument. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"
I’m simply going to draw attention to the reissue of these two
recordings. G&S is just not my scene, I fear, but I know that
connoisseurs will welcome the Beulah downloads of these classics. When
this recording of Yeomen was first reissued by Beulah I mentioned that
I did think that work and Mikado superior to the other Savoy operas,
but only comparatively – DL Roundup September 2012/1. I did enjoy
listening to the overtures and can report that the transfer is crystal
clear though inevitably somewhat boxy. At £7.99 they are less expensive
than alternative reissues and though they come without a libretto or
notes, these are easily available online. As usual I recommend the
Qobuz lossless transfers at the same price as the mp3 alternatives:
Mikado is already available there. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"Some of these recordings are otherwise available
but the Beulah reissues are very valuable. The Prokofiev Violin
Concerto, for example, offers an alternative to that made with Lovro
von Matačič around the same time (Warner) and the stereo remake, now on
Alto. The recording sounds almost good enough for me to check that this
wasn't the 1963 recording, formerly on Brilliant Classics; the quality
is especially surprising in view of the date and the Melodiya
provenance.
"
The Tchaikovsky concerto has also come up sounding better than I ever
remember: always a strong recommendation, it sounds as good as on the
2-CD DG Originals set which also offers the Beethoven Romances along
with Bach and Brahms. The Heliodor reissue of this recording, which I
owned, was rather muddy and no amount of care can quite remove that but
it doesn't interfere with the enjoyment of a very fine performance. In
fact all the transfers have been made with Beulah's usual care: my only
reservation is that some of the material has appeared on an earlier
Beulah release: Violin Greats (2PDR12). "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"Though there are other more recent recordings of
all these works and even a Lyrita CD of Bliss Conducts Bliss in stereo,
these generously filled Beulah reissues are very valuable. I don’t
recall hearing the Warsaw Concerto-like Baraza before. The only other
recording, on Naxos Film Music is better recorded than this 78-based
transfer but this is the music from the horse’s mouth as it were.
"
The Campoli recordings of works composed for him are especially
valuable, in very decent transfers for their age, though you may have
obtained them from earlier Beulah releases on CD (6PD10 – review)
"
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"I’m sorry that my tardiness means that I have
missed the Christmas market with this one but there’s no reason not to
enjoy Humperdinck’s music all year round. The story may be grim, though
the composer toned down the Grimm brothers’ original where the father
and step-mother deliberately abandon the children, and the ending is
happy enough in true pantomime fashion. For most music lovers,
especially those of a certain age, this Karajan recording remains
paramount. I’ve already made the Handel/Beecham a Recording of the
Month but this has to qualify too. I can’t better Alec Robertson’s
comment from 1953 that this sounds as if it was ‘sung, played and …
directed with love’.
"
The EMI transfer remains available on two CDs from Warner Classics at
mid price – review – and as a download but the Beulah reissue is less
expensive. Less expensive still is the Past Classics version from
emusic.com which I compared with the EMI in Download Roundup December
2011/2 but the Beulah transfer has been made with greater care and is
comparable in quality with the EMI, a little shrill but more than
tolerable. "
Brian Wilson's Recording of the Month at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
" Though I’d turn first to Rubinstein in this
concerto, unbelievably improved on CD over its LP incarnation, Askenase
is not far behind. My only reservation is that Beulah had already
released this recording on a very generous Great Piano Concertos
programme (1PDR28 – review).
That’s a logical coupling, with Mozart and Beethoven concertos, but so
is the new release in the company of other classic Chopin recordings.
"
The other items could hardly be better interpreted than by Rubinstein
and the legendary Paderewski and the vintage sound of the latter,
though clangorous, is tolerable: the hiss and fizz is almost completely
absent with no tonal loss. Odd as it may now seem, Paderewski’s
left-hand-before-right style may well be authentic for Chopin. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"
I recall reading a review of van Beinum’s Brahms – not these
recordings, I think, but it applies to them – to the effect that he
couldn’t put a foot wrong. It’s certainly true of his recording of the
First Symphony: I’d be hard pressed, for example, to name a more
affectionate account of the ‘big tune’ in the finale. The recording has
come up well for its age, though it’s inevitably rather thin.
"This recording of the Violin Concerto ... at nearly
22 minutes this is one of those performances where the first movement
sounds almost as slow as the real slow movement but most seem to like
it so and it’s certainly not the worst offender. Listen to Heifetz and
Reiner (RCA) and you may never wholly enjoy any other account but
there’s no lack of passion in Grumiaux’s playing or the accompaniment
throughout. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"
Though modern period practice inevitably makes Deller’s approach sound
somewhat dated, it was revelatory in its day and paved the way for
today’s practitioners. As I wrote in a Download Roundup when some of
these tracks were released separately in 2010 and 2013, Deller’s
beautiful voice is always worth hearing and the recordings mostly wear
their age lightly in the Beulah transfers. (The Messiah excerpts on
tracks 17 and 18 are a rare exception). "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"
These performances are available elsewhere, otherwise coupled: the
Brahms with the other two sonatas, Beethoven and Mozart on Australian
Eloquence, the Bruch on Opus Kura and the Sibelius on Andromeda. The
Beulah coupling, however, gives us a broad range of his recordings in
very decent transfers which largely belie their age. Kulenkampff died
in 1948, so don’t expect too much – there’s even more of a trace of
surface noise or rumble than usual from Beulah, especially in the
Sibelius – but I especially enjoyed revisiting the performance of the
Brahms, to the success of which Solti’s pianism also plays a
considerable part. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"
The unavailability of Love in Bath except
as a download coupled on a
budget twofer with Solomon makes the Beulah reissue of this delightful
music, originally concocted from a wide range of Handel’s music as The
Great Elopement, all the more welcome and the inclusion of the
Delibes,
another ballet which Beecham brings off superbly, clinches it...for me Love in Bath
is too full of sheer delectation and delight to be
criticised.
As for Le Roi s’amuse, I fell
in love with the music years ago when
BBC2 used it as theme music for a dramatisation of Kenilworth.
Beecham’s is the most complete recording of the music and easily the
best. "
Brian Wilson's REISSUE
OF THE MONTH at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"
Sir John Barbirolli’s Antartica appeared on HMV ALP1102 mere
months before Sir Adrian Boult’s now much better known Decca recording;
they shared Margaret Ritchie in the soprano role. Though the Boult is
the one which has become a classic – in many ways preferable to more
recent recordings, even Boult’s own – the Barbirolli stayed at full
price in the catalogue well into the stereo era: it was still
advertised as such in 1966 and it was until recently available in a
Warner British Composers set (now download only). Like Barbirolli’s
Eighth (4PDR17, with Elgar Symphony No.2 – DL
News 2016/6), this deserves to be heard by every VW enthusiast and
the recording has come up well for its age, though not quite as well as
the Decca Boult. The Beulah transfer is good for its age, a trifle dry
but no more so than the Warner reissue, streamed via Qobuz.
Barbirolli recorded the Franck Symphony with the New
York Philharmonic in the days of 78s and that remains available on
Guild but his Czech Philharmonic version is rarer. I wish I could be
more enthusiastic about it: the performance has a vitality that
sometimes challenges even the classic Beecham (Warner, download only)
and Munch (RCA and Sony, download only or 86-CD set) recordings but the
Supraphon recording seems to have been problematic, even for Beulah who
have made much older Supraphons sound very acceptable. I suspect that
the original LP was a ‘swinger’, with the central hole not quite
accurately placed, or slightly warped. It’s not a gross problem but the
pitch is just sufficiently off to be the musical equivalent of that
slightly rough tooth that your tongue keeps getting attracted to. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
" A well-filled RPO/Beecham album brings reissues
of Overtures: to BEETHOVEN’s Ruins
of Athens, BERLIOZ’ Le
Corsaire and Le Carnaval
Romain,
BRAHMS’ Academic Festival,
MENDELSSOHN’s Midsummer
Night’s Dream, ROSSINI’s La
Cambiale di Matrimonio and La
Gazza Laddra,
SUPPÉ’s Poet and Peasant,
BOCCHERINI’s Overture in D and MÉHUL’s Timoléon. Carnaval Romain and the last two
were recorded in 1953/4 in
mono, the rest in stereo in 1959/60. It’s very convenient and enjoyable
to have them collected by Beulah in such good transfers. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"The Brahms is beautifully sung and accompanied but
the recording sounds much older than 1958. I checked and it was indeed
recorded in February 1958 and issued later that year on a 10” LP. The
fault clearly lies with the original recording, not with Beulah’s
transfer. The VSO and Gillesberger may not have been in the top league
but they offer mainly stylish accompaniment in the other items. At the
time Heynis was compared with Kathleen Ferrier but I prefer her voice
to Ferrier’s and she is much better recorded than Ferrier. The rest of
the Beulah recording is better than the Brahms: Philips quality had
improved immeasurably in three short years. Recommended for all but the
Brahms. "
Brian Wilson at MUSICWEB
INTERNATIONAL where you can read the full review
"I can’t resist giving Beulah the accolade twice
this month – see Handel above. I’ve been hoping for some time that they
would reissue their recording of the Enigma Variations to replace the
earlier release on 1BX181 –
DL Roundup February 2012/2). It was a
Recording of the Year and I see no reason not to stand by my very firm
recommendation in its new guise.
"The Brahms is one of two versions which Monteux
recorded around the same time. Originally on RCA, this is preferable to
his LSO Philips recording made shortly afterwards. Monteux’s more
relaxed and caressing account makes a fascinating adjunct to
Klemperer’s rugged recording of around the same time, also recently
reissued by Beulah. Even if you bought the original Beulah reissue of
the Elgar, the modest price of the new download is worth paying for the
Brahms. Both recordings are available on Eloquence but differently
coupled, adding to the value of the Beulah release. The transfer is
very good, with a touch of brightness on the upper strings reflecting
the Decca sound of the time."
Brian Wilson's RECORDING
OF THE MONTH at Music
Web International
