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Sir Thomas Beecham (Richard Itter Collection Vol.1)
MP3 Album:
Sir Thomas Beecham caught ‘live’ often showed the mercurial side of his character, and no performance was the same either in the studio or in the concert hall. ‘What Beecham sought at all times was freshness, and his unpredictability was a way to achieve this’ (David Patmore). All the performances included here from the Edinburgh Festival, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the BBC Studios are from Beecham’s final years, from 1954 when he had fully established the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and himself as central figures in England’s musical life, to 1959 when he conducted an extraordinarily memorable account of Brahms’s Symphony No.2. Every broadcast is captured here in exemplary sound for the time, and apart from the Liszt and Haydn Symphony No.101, none of the performances in this set have appeared on CD before, which makes it extremely important for all collectors of the conductor.
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Legend of Butterfly Lovers
MP3 Album:
Susanne Hou’s father Bo Zhi (Alexander) Hou was the top violinist at the Shanghai Conservatory at the time this concerto was written, going on to lead major orchestras in China before and during the Cultural Revolution. Mr Hou was asked to make the world premiere recording of The Butterfly Lover’s Concerto but, due to sensitive political and societal circumstances, he ultimately left the country without having had the opportunity to make the recording. He therefore now passes the torch of his legacy in China, and his unfulfilled destiny of recording The Butterfly Lovers Concerto, to his daughter Susanne Hou.
