BEECHAM—FRENCH ORCHESTRAL MUSIC • Thomas Beecham, cond; O Natl de la Radiodiffusion Française;1 Royal PO;2 London PO3 • EMI 79985, mono;4 stereo5 (77:35)

BIZET Carmen Suite No. 1.1,5 Patrie.2,4 Roma: Carnaval.2,4 CHABRIER Gwendoline: Overture.1,4 Joyeuse marche.2,4 España.3,4 SAINT-SAËNS Le rouet d’Omphale.2,4 FAURÉ (orch. Rabaud) Dolly Suite1,5

To the end, Beecham possessed the fabled Midas touch, transforming nearly everything he conducted to ringing gold. The recorded performances offered here range from a suavely exuberant España in 1939 to the early stereo of the deftly exhilarating first Carmen Suite and a caressing Dolly, recorded in 1958 and 1959, respectively. The mono of the other numbers, all from the late 1950s, is generally distant, tending to some murkiness, but still serviceable, though things pick up considerably, sonically speaking, when the venue moves from the Salle Wagram, for the French orchestra, to Abbey Road Studio No. 1 for the RPO. Bizet’s Patrie overture, at 12 and a half minutes, and Carnaval, from the Roma Suite, are more dumplings than lollipops—repetitive and bombastic—but Beecham’s vigorous conviction resurrects them with sovereign persuasiveness. To live with.

FANFARE: Adrian Corleonis