According to author Raymond Holden’s monumental Barbirolli: A Chronicle of a Career, Barbirolli led Debussy’s La Mer in concert on 175 occasions, with numerous orchestras, among the earliest being a 17 January 1929 concert with the Royal Philharmonic Society. At age 29, he was the youngest conductor the Society had ever engaged. Moreover, La Mer had not been heard in London for 10 years. Deeming 3 rehearsals insufficient, Barbirolli requested an additional 3 hours for La Mer alone, offering to pay for the extra time himself (what amounted to his entire fee). It proved money well spent as the concert was a notable success, and critic Eric Blom wrote in The Manchester Guardian:
“His performance of La Mer was a magnificent piece of work. He gave this wonderful score just that sombre glow which is subtly calculated something between reticence and ostentation.”
Among other things Barbirolli shows that reticence or understatement has no place in La Mer. He and the Hallé Orchestra, on incandescent form, whip up a performance of elemental power, richly colored, and – most importantly – with an unstoppable ardor that is breathtaking. La Mer was a work he knew intimately, and here he demonstrates what it – and his Manchester players – could do. A remarkable achievement.
For this Desert Island Disc, the LP collector is actually at an advantage over his/her CD rival. On vinyl, this performance can be had, in various incarnations, quite cheaply. Whether from Discogs, eBay, Amazon, et al., used copies are not hard to find. On CD, both the EMI/Phoenixa issue shown above and “The Great EMI Recordings” box are both out-of-print. Only the Barbirolli Society CD set is readily found at various online retailers. Rest assured, the La Mer found there is the very same performance as that found on the LP releases listed above. As an mp3 or FLAC, it does not seem to be available, at least not as an authorized download in the West. I would recommend the Barbirolli Society issue it includes other French repertoire recordings and will help fund future such releases.
A survey of other recordings, both “live” and in the studio, of Barbirolli in La Mer
CD: The Barbirolli Society SJB 1042-436 (2-CD set); never on LP
Aside from the Hallé, among the other orchestras Barbirolli led in this work were the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Scottish National Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Vienna Philharmonic. The world’s radio archives, not least in England, not doubt contain other “live” recordings of Barbirolli in this work. By a slight margin, this is the quickest of Barbirolli’s 4 extant versions and the sound is of fine broadcast quality. The orchestra is quite impressive, no doubt inspired by their charismatic guest conductor.
Barbirolli’s second studio recording also has strong claims on the collector. It is broader, and darker, than his Hallé reading.
Little-known, long out-of-print Italian CD issue. It is said that this was a disappointing performance for Barbirolli, who found the VPO’s style somewhat at odds with the composer’s idiom and sound world. Conductor Ernest Ansermet had similar misgivings about the VPO in certain repertoire, telling author Robert Chesterman in Conversations with Conductors: “I was never able to obtain a perfect performance of the Firebird Suite – the Suite of 1919 – with the Vienna Philharmonic, because they had not the quality of sound and the exactitude of rhythm that is required for this music.” In any case, the audience responds well enough(!); their applause is imbued with great enthusiasm, though perhaps that was for ‘Glorious John’.
(see cover art and album information in the Spring 2022 issue – available to subscribers in their account – starting on page 172)
Further Reading – John Barbirolli
Barbirolli – Conductor Laureate by Michael Kennedy
published by The Barbirolli Society, Staffordshire, England 2003
396 pages, with numerous photos, index, and a limited discography
At the moment, the definitive biography of Barbirolli, first published in 1971.
Cover art by Brian Denington (b. 1944)
Barbirolli – A Chronicle of a Career by Raymond Holden
published by The Barbirolli Society, Staffordshire, England, 2003
640 pages, with photos and CD-ROM
The complete concert registry, with dates, venues & soloists all recorded – truly a documentary tour de force.
Cover art by Brian Denington (b. 1944)
Sir John Barbirolli – A Career on Record by David Lloyd Jones
published by The Barbirolli Society, Staffordshire, England, 2011
126 pages, with photos and CD-ROM
A discussion of his recordings, chronologically ordered and generally grouped by label. CD- ROM contains the complete discography, fully annotated.
Available from The Barbirolli Society: http://www.barbirollisociety.co.uk
100 Years of the Hallé
by C.B. Rees
published by MacGibbon & Kee, London, 1957 175 pages, with forward by Barbirolli and photos
John Barbirolli by Charles Rigby
published by John Sherratt and Son, Altrincham, England, 1948
191 pages, with photos
This was the first biography of Barbirolli and is valuable for its coverage of his tenure with the NYPO, as well as catching the conductor on tour.
Desert Island Discs – Barbirolli conducts Debussy’s La Mer – Pye GSCG 14010 Bibliography & Acknowledgments
- Barbirolli: Conductor Laureate by Michael Kennedy – publ by The Barbirolli Society, Staffordshire, 2003
- Barbirolli: A Chronicle of a Career by Raymond Holden – publ by The Barbirolli Society, Staffordshire, 2003
- Sir John Barbirolli: A Career on Record by David Ll. Jones – publ by The Barbirolli Society, Staffordshire, 2011
- Dictators of the Baton by David Ewen – publ by Alliance Book Corporation, Chicago, 1943
- Conversations with Conductors by Robert Chesterman – publ by Robson Books Ltd., London, 1976
Special Thanks to:
Jane Parr
Neighborhood Engagement and Delivery Officer Archives & Local History
Manchester Central Library
St. Peter’s Square
Manchester, M2 5PD
web: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries
twitter: http://twitter.com/mcrarchives
Eleanor Roberts
Deputy Director of Development/Archivist
Hallé Concerts Society
The Bridgewater Hall | Manchester | M1 5HA
http://www.halle.co.uk
Stuart Robertson
Assistant Archivist
Hallé Concerts Society
The Bridgewater Hall | Manchester | M1 5HA
http://www.halle.co.uk
(see cover art and album information in the Spring 2022 issue – available to subscribers in their account – starting on page 172)