Sir John Barbirolli died 44 years ago today....

[Nimrod]

and don't you think, almost two generations on, his musicianship stills burns as brightly as ever? And we are now blessed with more live recordings which illustrate why he appealed to so many listeners.

''You should look to the future with respect to the past'' JB

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I remember it well. I was sitting in the kitchen with my mother, eating lunch, when I heard it on the news. Such a shock at the time, though I was unaware of how ill he was. I obtained a ticket for the memorial performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius in Manchester, but was unable to attend.
JB recognised the talents of a very young Simon Wright (conductor and brother of Roger) and employed his as an accompanist for the Hallé Choir, which he also did for the rehearsals of the DoG concert.

I always think it's a pity that so many of JB's most inspired recorded performances were on the Pye Nixa label, which had poor sound quality even for its time.

Personally I feel most grateful that I lived so close to Manchester and was able to attend so many JB performances.

[Conchis]

Was only listening to his recording of Appalachia last week. Surely the last thing he did in the studio?

[Tevot]

In my youth I listened often to his recording of Mahler 5 and The Ruckert Lieder.

It certainly brings back memories

[gradus]

I had thought that his recording of Ein Heldenleben with the LSO was his last released recording. The original lp has an unusual sleevenote that compare his performance with those of Mengelberg (when was he last discussed here) and Beecham whose last issued recording was also Ein Heldenleben - 'Mengelberg shares Sir John's view that, 'All good Don Juans take their time.' Sir Thomas hurls the Don Juan quotation across the canvass with haughty disdain .......' Whilst the Beecham record is still discussed and rated highly, one seldom hears anything about Barbirolli's disc, is it still available?
JB inspired real affection in his audiences just as Beecham did.
Weren't we lucky!

[amateur51]

Seeing that Boult has had two richly justified major boxed sets devoted to his recordings recently it's about time EMIWarner issued a big Barbirolli box or two with some rare gems to entice his long-standing fans to shell out

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Whilst the Beecham record is still discussed and rated highly, one seldom hears anything about Barbirolli's disc, is it still available?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-No-6-Strauss-Heldenleben/dp/B000HWZANS/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1406650649&sr=1-2&keywords=barbirolli%2C+heldenleben

... a pity it isn't alternatively coupled with his Metamorphosen.

Seeing that Boult has had two richly justified major boxed sets devoted to his recordings recently it's about time EMIWarner issued a big Barbirolli box or two with some rare gems to entice his long-standing fans to shell out

[johnb]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symph...2C+heldenleben
... a pity it isn't alternatively coupled with his Metamorphosen.

It seems there is also a BBC Legends recording of Barbirolli conducting the LSO in Heldenleben at the RFH two days before the studio recording was made. As with Barbirolli's live Mahler 6, this RFH performance is quicker than the EMI recording (in this case by 4 minutes).

There is a review of it here: http://www.classicalcdreview.com/helbar.htm and two very positive and one negative review on Amazon.

I am very tempted - the Amazon price is a bit high but Qobuz are offering CD quality downloads for 9.99 Euros.

[AjAjAjH]

'Glorious John' saw him conduct just once: Meistersinger Overture.
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Tchaik Pathetique.
Strauss Waltzes from 'Dr Rosenkavelier'.

His BBC Legends Bruckner 8 is the one I listen to time and time again.
I learned Mahler 6 from his Berlin PO recording.

RIP Sir John.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sir John's final studio recording was the Delius LP, but the last work he recorded in concert was Elgar's 1st Symphony - an exciting performance that illustrates how lively he still was in the concert hall even as his life drew to a close.