Friday, December 12, 2014

Beecham Conducts Handel and a Bit About Copyright





I'm listening to this CD as I write this, but my laptop has no idea what it is. My guess is a CD of recordings made between 1929 and 1940 hath slipped the surly bonds of copyright (and a lot of recordings from Europe have become public domain).

I first heard this on CBC, I think. The piece was "The Gods Go A-Begging", attributed to Handel, and I was totally unfamiliar with it. Turns out it's a medley of various Handel works stitched together by Beecham for a ballet performance. Due to the age of these performances, the recording quality leaves something to be desired, and this is certainly not how Handel is performed today, but it's these "flaws" that I enjoy so much. It sounds like the soundtrack to an old black & white film about kings, queens and palace intrigue.   


The photo above is from Christopher DeLaurenti's website, and it's a deconstruction of his CD "Favorite Intermissions" (due to unauthorized use of copyrighted material ?  Like maybe the graphic design that looks suspiciously like a real classical record label). Same with the CD content itself; it's the only classical "bootleg" I own. Why? Because it was recorded surreptitiously during --- you guessed it --- intermissions, as the orchestra tuned up and quickly practiced bits from the piece about to be performed (after the intermission). It's fascinating! Amongst the tuning up bits, you can hear a violinist run through part of a line from Beethoven as the trombone player practices another bit. I know it sounds like it'd be noise, but it's more like hearing fractured splinters of Beethoven, or Stravinsky, or Holst. Probably the most unique -- yet simplest CD I've heard.

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