A Delius festival without Beecham? Strange thought, but no composer's wagon should be hitched to one conductor's star, and it is interesting to discover from Delius's letters that he was by no means uncritical of some of Beecham's interpretations, while conceding how much he owed to his championship. So this is a collection of 'other' Delius conductors (which ought by rights also to include Wood and Boult, both of whom did many of his works). It makes an attractive disc—Sargent, for example, conducted the first performance of Songs of Farewell in 1932—and it has points of interest, such as the use of the fuller original orchestration of the ''Paradise Garden'' and rarities such as the Prelude to Margot la rouge. Though I prefer the Thomas Allen / Eric Fenby recording of Cynara on Unicorn- anchana ( DKPC 9008 / 09, 12 / 87—part of a two-disc set), the Shirley-Quirk / Groves performance is only marginally less moving.
It is good to be reminded of Sargent's way with a choir, though his way with an orchestra comes over less impressively, and of Barbirolli's way with strings in Late Swallows. The recordings are universally excellent, many of them having been made by the Bishop / Parker partnership in its heyday. It is good to have them on CD sounding better than ever.'