Sir John Barbirolli

[Nimrod]

Harold Gray..Gosh, I saw him lots of times in Birmingham. His best piece was Sibelius 2nd, but that fell far short of JB. But he did put on Berlioz's Requiem in the Town hall, for which I'm grateful and a bit of a squash for the performers but deafening in the loud bits! But his reportoire was very conventional otherwise.

[Nimrod]

I only saw JB's final season in Sheffield as I started a degree course there in 1969. I have been a devotee ever since. I doubt there will be recordings in these special editions that I don't already have. As for audio quality I have low standards, the Czech Phil Mahler 1 is the most satisfying recording I have. Hence I may not be subscribing.

There are off-air recordings circulating that have not made it to commercial cd to date - e.g. much Mahler with the Halle (5,6) and Berlin PO (4), superb concerto performances of Berg and Sibelius with Szeryng. I hope the anniversary may see such new performances emerge, perhaps through the Barbirolli Society.

Hi Vibrato...Interesting to see you mentioning off-the air recordings of the Mahler 4,5 and 6 with JB. I'd heard about these too, though not the Berg Violin. Do you have copies of these?
I've heard the Barbirolli Society will be issuing two off the air recordings this year which will no doubt be interesting. Does anyone have any idea what's happened to the BBC Legend recordings?

[Once Was 4]

Your comment about JB's performance of the National Anthem is spot on. It was a performance, not just another hackneyed run-through (such as we used to get in Birmingham in the mid-60's). I'll never forget the first time I travelled up to a concert, Elgar's Funeral March to Grania and Diarmid and Bruckner's 8th (my main reason to motor bike 80 miles on a Winter's afternoon!). JB came on and faced the audience to acknowledge the applause and then, with a flick of his baton to the side drummer we all arose and heard the anthem as I, for one, had never heard it performed with such intensity and feeling. The horns roared out their notes towards the end with spine tingling effect. Unforgettable

One critic (probably Gerald Larner - he did not like anything!) called that 'horn roar' a 'signal of bovine distress!'
The old-school horn players in Manchester used to call it the 'Moss Side ending' I could never get an explanation for that; was it a comment on Moss Side (rough?) or, 'you could have heard that in Moss Side? Or, just possibly, all those old school players (the entire BBC Northern section, Arthur Bevan & Enid Roper from the Halle etc.,) had been taught by Otto Paersch who had been born and brought up in Moss Side?
We used to refer to it as the 'falling 7th' - for a technical explanation of that I could offer one at one time but my grasp of these matters is a bit rusty now.
And do not expect anything profound from me.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The 6 disc Sony/RCA set is not exactly bargain price.

This arrived on my doormat yesterday. As you say, Bryn, not cheap. But the quality of the transfers is quite excellent considering the age of the recordings.

[Bryn]

This arrived on my doormat yesterday. As you say, Bryn, not cheap. But the quality of the transfers is quite excellent considering the age of the recordings.

Fortuntely, I can stream in via QOBUZ. Got to get the most out of my annual sub.

[cloughie]

This arrived on my doormat yesterday. As you say, Bryn, not cheap. But the quality of the transfers is quite excellent considering the age of the recordings.

It is available currently from one Amazon merchant at £27 - worth a shout!

[johnb]

The old-school horn players in Manchester used to call it the 'Moss Side ending' I could never get an explanation for that; was it a comment on Moss Side (rough?) or, 'you could have heard that in Moss Side? Or, just possibly, all those old school players (the entire BBC Northern section, Arthur Bevan & Enid Roper from the Halle etc.,) had been taught by Otto Paersch who had been born and brought up in Moss Side?

Might it have been a reference to their rehearsal rooms which were in Moss Side?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It is available currently from one Amazon merchant at £27 - worth a shout!

That's where I got mine from.

But I'm expecting the Warner box to cost much, much more.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Of course the Warner box is labelled "The Complete Warner Recordings" of Barbirolli. It's a company for whom he made zero recordings.

[BBMmk2]

Of course the Warner box is labelled "The Complete Warner Recordings" of Barbirolli. It's a company for whom he made zero recordings.

Well yes, even though he was with EMI, which WBs bought, of course.

[Barbirollians]

Most of those Sony recordings were released on Dutton and I have most of them - not sure I need both these sets.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I’m assuming his EMI Columbia Studio Two recording of Peer Gynt will be included.

Despite being a huge Barbirolli admirer since attending many of his concerts in Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds in the 1960s, I haven’t bought many of his recordings. It’s always been a question of “one day” and that day is about to come.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I’m assuming his EMI Columbia Studio Two recording of Peer Gynt will be included.

I owe a big debt to that recording even though I've never owned it. My dad had a Studio 2 sampler with, on one track, JB's Hall of the Mountain King with terrifying men's chorus
Since then I've always felt let down by the purely orchestral version even though, being then snooty about Studio 2 recording quality, I eventually opted for the Beecham, which is a pretty fair substitute

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I owe a big debt to that recording even though I've never owned it. My dad had a Studio 2 sampler with, on one track, JB's Hall of the Mountain King with terrifying men's chorus
Since then I've always felt let down by the purely orchestral version even though, being then snooty about Studio 2 recording quality, I eventually opted for the Beecham, which is a pretty fair substitute

Yes, I felt much the safe when I heard the chorus. When I was teaching, I made sure I played bother versions to classes, and they generally preferred the choral version, even though they were more familiar with the purely orchestral version.

I was also a bit snooty about Studio Two, but it was much more tasteful than Decca Phase 4.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I was also a bit snooty about Studio Two, but it was much more tasteful than Decca Phase 4.

I think I can say I still own none of those ()Phase 4s, despite opportunities these days to pick them up in charity shops for pennies! Studio 2 did eventually seduce me, e.g. with Fremaux's Saint-Saens Organ Symphony and a Massenet orch. disc