I was brought up on the Halle's Viennese concerts, and it provides a welcome exercise in nostalgia to listen to Barbirolli's 1957 recordings of a half-dozen of the most popular overtures Suppe overtures. Barbirolli gives full value to the various instrumental solos, not least the important ones for cello, for which he doubtless had a considerable personal feel. More particularly, he generally favours fast speeds and conjures up a very considerable degree of excitement, with the prominence given to the percussion, helping to leave an overriding impression of brashness. By comparison, Boult's two 1955 performances sound almost laughably straitlaced, if perhaps more securely played and more cleanly recorded. To get the full excitement of Suppe's overtures, one really needs the benefit of modern recorded sound, against which the sound here is inevitably primitive.
This is essentially one for Barbirolli and Boult collectors, therefore, and the uncommitted searcher for a Suppe collection should head for Dutoit (Decca (CD) 414 408-2DH, 2/86) or Marriner (EMI (CD) CDC7 54056-2, 10/90).'