Sir Thomas Beecham’s sensuous, glowing, yet highly ebullient 1951 performance of Antar is unsurpassed, and with his thrilling account of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony together provide the highlights here. Fortunately both recordings offer very good sound, with alluring strings and rich woodwind colouring. Curiously, only the first movement of the Tchaikovsky Fourth was recorded in stereo – in Kingsway Hall in 1958. It sounds spectacular; but the other three movements, made a year earlier in Paris in the resonant Salle Wagram, are vivid, too. Beecham’s reading is full of affectionate and individual touches (especially the first movement’s delicate second subject and the disarmingly lovely close of the Andantino). But he never holds back the onward flow, and the finale – without going over the top – generates plenty of dash and exuberance.

For the opening William Tell Overture, the earliest three out of 17(!) 78-rpm side-takes were chosen – for their extra spontaneity; yet the string ensemble in the final gallop is flawless. The playing in the Dvorák Legend is not quite as fine, and the horns are not immaculate in Der Freischütz. But this is a live performance, recorded in the Queens Hall in 1935 alongside Appalachia. Not surprisingly this displays all Beecham’s magic in Delius, with some fine pianissimo choral singing, and an exciting finale which triumphs over the two-dimensional sound.

The Wagner excerpt (with text and translation included) is notable mainly for Walter Widdop’s memorable Loge, and the excerpts from the Mozart Divertimento are characteristically elegant. Two of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, delightfully orchestrated by Norman Del Mar, make a charming interlude between the symphonies, and Sir Thomas’s own arrangement of the lovely Sarabande from Handel’s Amaryllis Suite is a fitting lollipop. Altogether excellent value, worth getting for Antar alone.