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A causa della sua programmazione di opere poco gradite al grande pubblico, perse molto denaro per una scarsa affluenza ai suoi cocerti.
Dal [[1899]] al [[1909]] ebbe delle divergenze con suo padre e gli fu così precluso l'accesso ai beni familiari. Soltanto nel 1909, riappacificatosi con il padre, potè tornare a godere dei beni di famiglia per poter finanziare la sua attività musicale.
<!-- Dal [[1899]] al [[1909]] he was estranged from his father, and his access to the Beecham family fortune was strictly limited. In 1899 Joseph secretly had his wife committed to an asylum; Thomas and his elder sister Emily took legal action to secure her release, and to gain her alimony payments of £4,500 a year.<ref>Reid, pp. 31-34</ref> For this, Joseph Beecham disinherited them. From 1907 Beecham had an annuity of £700 left to him in his grandfather's will, and his mother subsidised some of his loss-making concerts,<ref>Reid, p. 62</ref> but it was not until father and son were reconciled in 1909 that Beecham was able to draw on the family fortune to promote opera.<ref>Reid, p. 88</ref>
===Opera===
From [[1910]], reconciled with and subsidised by his father, Beecham realised his ambition to mount opera seasons at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]], and he also presented operas at [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]] and [[Her Majesty's Theatre|His Majesty's]]. In the Edwardian opera house, the star singers were regarded as all-important, and conductors were seen as ancillary.<ref name=Reid5>Reid, p. 98</ref> Between 1910 and [[1939]] Beecham did much to redress the balance of power.<ref name=Reid5/>
Dal [[1910]], Beecham realizzo il suo progetto di mettere in cartellone una stagione al [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]], presentando opere anche al ''Theatre Royal, Drury Lane'' e al ''Her Majesty's Theatre''. In quel tempo i cantanti d'opera erano considerati delle star e il direttore d'orchestra al loro servizio. Nel giro di dieci anni Beecham riuscì a riequilibrare il rapporto di forza fra i due soggetti. Continuò così la sua attivita di impresario e direttore nel campo dell'opera lirica, ma non era mai soddisfatto e pensò di fondare una sua orchestra.
[[Image:Her.majestys.theatre.london.arp.jpg|thumb|left|200px|His Majesty's (now Her Majesty's) Theatre]]Between mid-February and New Year's Eve, 1910, Beecham either conducted or was responsible as [[impresario]] for 190 performances at Covent Garden and His Majesty's. From 19 February to 19 March at Covent Garden he mounted 27 performances; from 12 May to 30 July at His Majesty's he presented 81 performances; and from 3 October to 31 December at Covent Garden he staged a further 82 performances. During these three seasons, which together lasted twenty-eight weeks, he mounted thirty-four operas, a high proportion of them either new to London or almost unknown there.<ref>Reid, p. 97</ref> His assistant conductors were [[Bruno Walter]] and Percy Pitt.<ref>Beecham, p. 88</ref> During Beecham's season at His Majesty's, the rival Grand Opera Syndicate put on a concurrent season of their own at Covent Garden. This brought the year's grand total to 273 performances, far more than the box-offices of London could support.<ref>Reid, p. 96</ref>
Beecham later admitted that in his early years he chose to present operas that were too obscure to attract the public.<ref>Reid, p.108</ref> In his 1910 seasons, of twenty-four operas staged, only four made money: [[Richard Strauss]]'s new operas ''[[Elektra]]'' and ''[[Salome]],'' receiving their first, and highly-publicised, performances in Britain, and ''[[The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' and ''[[Die Fledermaus]]''.<ref>Reid, p. 107</ref> Of the others, ''[[A Village Romeo and Juliet]]'' (Delius), ''[[Hansel and Gretel]], The Wreckers'' ([[Ethel Smyth]]), ''L'Enfant Prodigue'' and ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' ([[Debussy]]), ''[[Ivanhoe (opera)|Ivanhoe]]'' ([[Arthur Sullivan]]), ''Shamus O'Brien'' ([[Charles Stanford]]), ''Muguette'' (Edmond de Misa),'' [[Werther]]'' ([[Jules Massenet]]), ''[[Feuersnot]]'' (Richard Strauss), and ''A Summer Night'' (George Clutsam) outnumbered the more popular pieces: Wagner's ''[[The Flying Dutchman]]'' and ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'', Bizet's ''[[Carmen]],'' Verdi's ''[[Rigoletto]]'', and five [[Mozart]] works: ''[[Così fan Tutte]], [[Le Nozze di Figaro]], [[Der Schauspieldirektor|The Impresario]], [[Die Entführung aus dem Serail|Abduction from the Seraglio]],'' and ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 111-19</ref>
In [[1911]] and [[1912]] the Beecham Symphony Orchestra played in the pit for [[Sergei Diaghilev]]'s [[Ballets Russes]], both at Covent Garden and at the [[Krolloper]] in [[Berlin]], under the batons of Beecham and [[Pierre Monteux]], Diaghilev's chief conductor. Beecham was much admired for conducting the complicated new score of [[Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Petrushka]]'' at two days' notice and without rehearsal when Monteux was unavailable.<ref>Canarina, p. 39</ref> While in Berlin, Beecham conducted his orchestra in two concerts whose programmes were largely unfamiliar to the Berlin audience: two Delius pieces, ''[[Brigg Fair]]'' and the first ''Dance Rhapsody'', [[Vaughan Williams]]'s ''[[In the Fen Country]],'' [[Balfour Gardiner]]'s ''Shepherd Fennel's Dance,'' [[Percy Grainger]]'s ''Mock Morris'' (which especially delighted the Berliners), [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz's]] ''Carnaval Romain'' Overture, and Mozart's ''[[Haffner Symphony]]''. In his memoirs, Beecham modestly says that these concerts caused a "mild stir." According to a later biography, it was evident that Beecham and his players had scored a triumph: the orchestra was agreed by the Berlin press to be an elite body, one of the best in the world.<ref name=Reid6>Reid, p. 123</ref> Where, asked ''Die Signale,'' the principal Berlin musical weekly, did London find such magnificent young instrumentalists? The violins were credited with rich, noble tone, the woodwind with lustre, the brass, "which has not quite the dignity and amplitude of our best German brass", with uncommon delicacy of execution.<ref name=Reid6/>
===La London Philharmonic Orchestra===
[[Image:Bakst Nizhinsky.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Leon Bakst]], Nijinsky in L'après-midi d'un faune]]
Beecham's [[1913]] seasons included the British première of Strauss's ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' at Covent Garden, and a season at Drury Lane announced as Sir Joseph Beecham's Grand Season of Russian Opera and Ballet.<ref>Reid, p. 141. Joseph Beecham had been knighted in 1912 and continued to finance his son's works.</ref> There were three operas, all starring [[Feodor Chaliapin]], and all new to Britain: ''[[Boris Godunov]], [[Khovanshchina]]'' and ''Ivan the Terrible'' ([[Rimsky-Korsakov]]), and fifteen ballets, with leading dancers including [[Vaslav Nijinsky]] and [[Tamara Karsavina]].<ref name=Reid7>Reid, p. 142</ref> Also included were Debussy's ''[[Jeux]]'' and his controversially erotic ''[[Afternoon of a Faun (ballet)|L'après-midi d'un faune]],'' and the ballet repertory included the first performances in Britain of Stravinsky's '' [[Le Sacre du printemps]],'' six weeks after its first performance in Paris.<ref name=Reid7/> Beecham shared Monteux's private dislike of the piece, much preferring ''Petrushka''.<ref>Reid, p. 145</ref> Beecham did not conduct during this season; Monteux and others were in the pit, conducting the Beecham Symphony Orchestra. The following year Beecham and his father presented [[Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s ''[[The Maid of Pskov]]'' and [[Borodin]]'s ''[[Prince Igor]],'' with Chaliapin, and Stravinsky's ''[[The Nightingale]].''<ref name=GroveOnline/>
Nel 1931, Beecham fu contattato dal giovane direttore d'orchestra [[Malcolm Sargent]], per la costituzione di una orchestra sinfonica permanente, costituita da professionisti salariati, grazie al finanziamento del mecenate Courtauld. Nel 1932 avvenne l'accordo fra i due e venne costituita la London Philharmonic Orchestra. Essa era composta da 106 strumentisti, alcuni dei quali ancora studenti di conservatorio. L'orchestra fece il suo debutto alla ''Queen's Hall'' il [[7 ottobre]] [[1932]], sotto la direzione di Beecham. L'orchestra iniziò a svolgere un doppio incarico realizzando una decina di concerti l'anno di musica sinfonica alla ''Queen's Hall'' e suonando per la stagione lirica al Covent Garden.
During the [[First World War]] Beecham strove, often without a fee, to keep music alive in [[London]] and [[Manchester]] (where he formed grandiose plans for an [[opera house]])<ref>Reid, p. 161-62</ref> He conducted for, and gave financial support to, three institutions with which he was connected at various times: the Hallé Orchestra, the LSO and the [[Royal Philharmonic Society]]. In 1915 he formed the Beecham Opera Company, with mainly British singers, performing in London and the provinces, and Manchester especially owed to Beecham a significant widening of its operatic experience. In 1916 Beecham received a knighthood in the [[New Year Honours]] and succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death later that year.
Beecham decise di portare l'orchestra in tournée in Germania nel 1936, suscitando delle polemiche con chi riteneva la cosa un aiuto alla propaganda nazista di Hitler. Beecham rispose che era orgoglioso della sua orchestra e voleva dimostrarlo al mondo. Egli tenne il concerto inaugurale a Berlino alla presenza di [[Adolf Hitler]] e aderì alla richiesta tedesca di togliere dal programma la Sinfonia scozzese di [[Felix Mendelssohn]] in quanto il compositore, pur di fede cristiana, era ebreo di nascita.
After the war there were joint Covent Garden seasons with the Grand Opera Syndicate in [[1919]] and [[1920]], but these were, according to a biographer, pale confused echoes of pre-1914.<ref name=Reid8>Reid, p. 181</ref> These seasons included forty productions, of which Beecham conducted only nine: Puccini's ''[[La Bohème]]'' and ''[[Tosca]],'' [[Gounod]]'s ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'', [[Gluck]]'s ''Orféo'', Verdi's ''[[Un Ballo in Maschera]],'' Bizet's ''[[The Pearl Fishers|Les Pêcheurs de Pêrles]],'' Massenet's ''[[Manon]]'' and ''[[Thaïs]],'' and ''Naïl'' by Isidore de Lara.<ref name=Reid8/> By then Beecham's financial affairs were in a condition that demanded his temporary withdrawal from musical life to put them in order.
Nel 1940 Beecham lasciò l'inghilterra per l'Australia e quindi si trasferì negli Stati Uniti dove divenne direttore principale della ''Seattle Symphony Orchestra'' nel 1941. L'anno seguente venne nominato direttore senior della [[Metropolitan Opera]] di [[New York]] assieme al suo ex assistente [[Bruno Walter]]. Oltre a dirigere queste orchestre fu direttore osite di moltissime orchestre sinfoniche statunitensi.
===The Bedford Estate===
Influenced by an ambitious financier, James White, Sir Joseph Beecham had agreed to buy the Covent Garden estate from the Duke of Bedford and float a public company to manage the estate commercially, leaving Beecham senior with a substantial profit. Under the terms of his agreement of 6 July 1914, Sir Joseph contracted to buy the estate for £2,000,000. He paid a deposit of £200,000 and covenanted to pay the balance on 11 November. Within a month World War I broke out and new official restrictions on the use of capital prevented the completion of the contract. The estate and market continued to be managed by the Duke's staff but in October 1916 the situation was further complicated by the death of Joseph Beecham. Shortly afterwards a Chancery suit was instituted for the purpose of unravelling his affairs, and eventually it was agreed by all parties, and confirmed by a court order, that a private company, the Covent Garden Estate Company, should be formed, in which Joseph Beecham's two sons should be directors, and that they should complete the contract made between their father and the Duke. On 30 July 1918 the Duke and his trustees conveyed the estate to the Covent Garden Estate Company, subject to a mortgage of £1,250,000 — this being the unpaid balance of the purchase price then still due to the Duke.
Nel [[1944]], Beecham tornò in Gran Bretagna con la sua London Philharmonic ricevendo un'accoglienza entusiastica da parte del pubblico. Non altrettanto avvenne da parte degli strumentisti che in sua assenza furono costretti, per mancanza di fondi, ad assumere l'autogestione dell'orchestra venedo così remunerati soltanto per i giorni di lavoro. Pertanto l'orchestra decise di remunerare Beecham soltanto per le prestazioni di direttore per i concerti da lui diretti.
Beecham and his brother Henry had to sell enough of the estate to discharge this mortgage. For over three years Beecham was absent from the musical scene, working at the company's Covent Garden offices to sell property worth over a million pounds. By 1922 enough money had been raised to pay off the outstanding debt to the Duke of Bedford, and on 7 September the mortgage was redeemed. The following spring the Official Receiver's claims against Sir Thomas were also settled, and a public company was formed in May 1924 to exploit the unsold remainder of the estate, when the Covent Garden property and the pill making business at St Helens were united in one company, Beecham Estates and Pills Limited. The nominal capital was £1,850,000, of which Thomas Beecham had a substantial share.<ref>All facts in this section are from ''The Bedford Estate: The Sale of the Estate, Survey of London'', volume 36: Covent Garden (1970), pp. 48-52.</ref>
===The London Philharmonic===
After his temporary absence, Beecham first reappeared on the rostrum with the Hallé in Manchester in March 1923, then in London with the combined [[Royal Albert Hall]] Orchestra (the renamed New Symphony Orchestra) and London Symphony Orchestra with the contralto soloist [[Clara Butt]] in April 1923.<ref name=DNB>DNB</ref> The main work was [[Richard Strauss]]'s ''[[Ein Heldenleben]]''.<ref>Reid, p.187</ref> Without an orchestra of his own (the Beecham Symphony Orchestra was no longer in existence) Beecham established a relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra and negotiated with the BBC over the possibility of establishing a permanent radio orchestra.<ref name=Reid9>Reid, p.198</ref>
In 1931, Beecham was approached by the rising young conductor, [[Malcolm Sargent]], with a proposal to set up a permanent, salaried orchestra with a subsidy guaranteed by Sargent's patrons the Courtauld family.<ref name=Reid9/> Originally Sargent and Beecham envisaged a reshuffled version of the London Symphony Orchestra, but the LSO, a self-governing co-operative, baulked at weedings-out and replacements of underperforming players, and in 1932 Beecham lost patience and agreed with Sargent to set up a new orchestra from scratch.<ref>Reid, p.202</ref> The [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]], as it was named, consisted of 106 players, including a few young players straight from music college, many established players from provincial orchestras and some poached from the LSO. The players included, Paul Beard, George Stratton, Anthony Pini, Gerald Jackson, [[Léon Goossens]], [[Reginald Kell]], James Bradshaw and Marie Goossens.<ref>Reid, p.204</ref> [[Image:QueensHall1894.jpg.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Queen's Hall]]The orchestra made its debut at the Queen's Hall on [[7 October]] [[1932]], conducted by Beecham. After the first item, Berlioz's ''Carnaval Romain'' Overture, the audience went wild, some of them standing on their seats to clap and shout. During the next eight years, the LPO appeared nearly a hundred times at the Queen's Hall for the Royal Philharmonic Society alone, and played in the pit for Beecham's opera seasons at Covent Garden.
====Opera in the 1930s====
By the early 1930s Beecham had again secured a substantial control of the Covent Garden opera seasons.<ref>Jefferson, p. 171</ref> Wishing to concentrate on music-making rather than management, Beecham assumed the role of artistic director, and [[Geoffrey Toye]] was recruited as managing director. In 1933 ''Tristan und Isolde'', with [[Frida Leider]] and [[Lauritz Melchior]] was a success, and the season continued with the ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring cycle]]'' and nine other operas.<ref>Jefferson, p. 170</ref> The 1934 season featured [[Conchita Supervia]] in ''[[La Cenerentola]],'' and [[Lotte Lehmann]] and [[Alexander Kipnis]] in the ''Ring''.<ref>Jefferson, p. 173</ref> [[Clemens Krauss]] conducted the British première of Strauss's ''[[Arabella]].'' During 1933 and 1934 Beecham determinedly resisted attempts by [[John Christie]] to form a link between Christie's new [[Glyndebourne Festival]] and the Royal Opera House.<ref>Jefferson, p.172</ref> Beecham and Toye fell out over the latter's insistence on bringing in a popular film star, [[Grace Moore]], to sing Mimi in ''La Bohème''. The production was a box-office success, but an artistic failure.<ref>Jefferson, p. 175</ref> Beecham manoeuvred Toye out of the managing directorship in what [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]] described as an 'absolutely beastly' manner.<ref>Kennedy, p. 174</ref>
In the seasons of 1935 to 1939, Beecham, now in sole control, presented, among other operas, ''Tristan'' and the ''Ring'' conducted by [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]], ''Der Freischütz'' with [[Eva Turner]], [[Gustave Charpentier]]'s ''Louise'' conducted by Malcolm Sargent, ''Ring'' cycles with Melchior, [[Ludwig Weber]] and [[Kirsten Flagstad]], Salome conducted by [[Hans Knappertsbusch]], ''Turandot'' with Eva Turner and [[Giovanni Martinelli]] conducted by [[John Barbirolli]], ''Orpheus and Euridice'' with [[Maggie Teyte]] conducted by [[Fritz Reiner]], ''[[Parsifal]]'' conducted by [[Felix Weingartner]]<ref>Jefferson, pp. 178-90</ref> and ''Die Meistersinger'' conducted by Bruno Walter, [[Robert Heger]], Barbirolli and Beecham, with lead singers including [[Friedrich Schorr]], Lotte Lehmann and [[Elisabeth Schumann]].<ref>ROH programme note, 8 October 1993</ref>
Beecham himself conducted between a third and half of the performances each season, including Delius's ''[[Koanga]]'' starring Oda Slobodskaya, ''Die Zauberflöte'' with [[Richard Tauber]], and ''Aida'' with Turner and [[Beniamino Gigli]]. For the 1940 season the prospectus included Berlioz's complete ''[[The Trojans]]''. After [[World War II]] began, Beecham did not conduct again at Covent Garden until 1951, and by then it was no longer his fiefdom.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 178-90 and 197</ref>
====German tour====
Beecham took the London Philharmonic on a controversial tour of [[Germany]] in [[1936]]. When some complained that he was being used by [[Nazi]] propagandists, Beecham simply said he was proud of the orchestra and wanted to show it off. He complied with a Nazi request not to play the ''Scottish'' Symphony of [[Felix Mendelssohn]] who was a Christian by faith but a Jew by birth.<ref name=Reid216>Reid, p. 216</ref> One concert was recorded on the new [[Magnetophon]]. During November 1936 Beecham and the LPO performed in Berlin, [[Dresden]], [[Leipzig]], [[Munich]], [[Stuttgart]], [[Ludwigshafen]], [[Frankfurt]] and [[Cologne]]. Their programmes included five items by British composers: the ''[[Enigma Variations]]'' (Elgar), ''[[On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring]]'' and ''Summer Night on the River'' (Delius), ''The Wasps'' Overture (Vaughan Williams), and the ''Triumph of Neptune'' suite ([[Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners|Lord Berners]]). The rest of their repertoire was by [[Rossini]], [[Haydn]], [[Berlioz]], [[Handel]], [[Mozart]], [[Dvořák]] and [[Rimsky-Korsakov]].<ref name=Reid216/>
The Berlin concert was attended by [[Adolf Hitler]], and when he saw the dictator applauding, Beecham remarked, "The old [[bugger]] seems to like it!" Unknown to Beecham, his comment was picked up by radio microphones and heard throughout Europe.<ref>Sir Thomas Beecham Society website</ref> After meeting Hitler, Beecham remarked, "Now I know what's wrong with Germany." He refused to accept further invitations to give concerts in Germany,<ref>Reid, pp. 217-18</ref>though he conducted ''Orpheus and Euridice'' and ''[[Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail]]'' at the [[Berlin State Opera|Oper under den Linden]] the following February and recorded ''Die Zauberflöte'' in the Beethovensaal in Berlin in 1937 and 1938.<ref>Jefferson pp. 214-15</ref>
As his sixtieth birthday approached Beecham had planned a year's complete rest from music, intending to go abroad for sun-warmed leisure.<ref name=Reid218>Reid, p. 218</ref> The outbreak of World War II on [[3 September]] [[1939]] obliged him to shelve his plans, instead fighting to secure the future of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, whose financial guarantees had been withdrawn by their backers when war was declared.<ref name=Reid218/>
===The 1940s===
Beecham left Britain in the spring of [[1940]], later explaining, "I was informed there was an emergency, so I emerged." Beecham went to [[Australia]] and then to [[North America]]. He became music director of the [[Seattle Symphony Orchestra]] in 1941 <ref>Jefferson, p. 222</ref> In 1942 he joined the [[Metropolitan Opera]] as joint senior conductor with his former assistant Bruno Walter. He began with his own adaptation of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach's]] comic cantata, ''Phoebus and Pan'', and followed that with ''Le Coq d'Or''. His main repertoire was French: ''Carmen, Louise'' (with Grace Moore), ''Manon, Faust'', ''[[Mignon]],'' and ''The Tales of Hoffmann''.
In addition to the Seattle and Met orchestras, Beecham was guest conductor with eighteen American orchestras: [[Baltimore Symphony]], [[Cincinnati Symphony]], [[Cleveland Orchestra]], [[Columbia Symphony]], [[Dallas Symphony]], [[Houston Symphony]], Illinois Symphony, [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]], [[Minneapolis Symphony]], New York City Symphony, [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra|New York Philharmonic]], [[Philadelphia Orchestra]], [[Pittsburgh Symphony]], [[Rochester Philharmonic]], [[San Francisco Symphony]], [[St. Louis Symphony]], [[Symphony of the Air]], and Washington National Symphony.<ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 201</ref>
In [[1944]], Beecham returned to Britain. Musically his reunion with the London Philharmonic was triumphant, but the orchestra, which had formed itself into a self-governing co-operative in his absence, attempted to hire him on its own terms as its salaried artistic director.<ref>Reid, p. 230</ref> "I emphatically refuse," concluded Beecham, "to be wagged by any orchestra... I am going to found one more great orchestra to round off my career."<ref name=Reid231>Reid, p. 231</ref> [[Walter Legge]] had founded the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]] in 1945. Beecham had conducted its first concert, but was not disposed to accept a salaried position from Legge, his former assistant, any more than from his former players in the LPO. As had happened in 1909 and in 1932, Beecham's assistants went to work in the freelance pool and elsewhere.<ref name=Reid231/>
===The Royal Philharmonic===
True to his word, Beecham then founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, obtaining an agreement with the Royal Philharmonic Society that the new orchestra should replace the LPO at all the Society's concerts.<ref name=Reid231/> Beecham later agreed with the [[Glyndebourne Festival]] that the RPO should be the resident orchestra at Glyndebourne each summer. He secured the backing of moneyed supporters, including record companies in the U.S. as well as Britain, with whom lucrative recording contracts were negotiated.<ref name=Reid231/>
Original members of the RPO included Gerald Jackson, [[Reginald Kell]], [[Archie Camden]], Leonard Brain, [[Dennis Brain]] and James Bradshaw.<ref>Reid, p. 232</ref> The orchestra later became celebrated for its regular team of woodwind principals, often referred to as The Royal Family, consisting of [[Jack Brymer]] (clarinet), Gwydion Brooke (bassoon), Terence McDonagh (oboe), and Gerald Jackson (flute).<ref>Jenkins</ref> By 1950 the RPO was able to undertake a strenuous tour through the U.S., Canada and South Africa<ref name=DNB/><ref name=GroveOnline/>. During the North American tour, Beecham conducted forty-nine concerts in almost daily succession.<ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 200</ref>
Beecham was furious and hurt at being excluded from Covent Garden after the war.<ref name=Reid13>Reid, p. 236</ref> State-funded for the first time, the opera company operated quite differently from Beecham's pre-war regime. Instead of short, star-studded seasons, with a major symphony orchestra in the pit, [[David Webster (opera manager)|David Webster]], the new man in charge, was attempting to build up a permanent ensemble of home-grown performers performing, all the year round, in English translations. Extreme economy in productions and great attention to the box-office were essential, and Beecham was not felt to be suited to participate in such an undertaking.<ref>Haltrcht, p. 106</ref> This was illustrated in 1951 when Beecham was at length invited back to Covent Garden. Offered a chorus of eighty singers for ''Die Meistersinger'' he insisted on augmenting their number to 200. He also, contrary to Webster's policy, insisted on performing the piece in German.<ref name=Reid13/> In 1953 at [[Oxford]], Beecham presented the world première of Delius's first opera, ''Irmelin,'' and his last operatic performances in Britain were in 1955 at Bath, with [[Grétry]]'s ''Zémire et Azor''.<ref name=DNB/>
Between 1951 and 1960 Beecham conducted at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] no fewer than 92 times.<ref>Jefferson, p. 103</ref> Characteristic Beecham programmes of the RPO years included symphonies by [[Bizet]], [[Cesar Franck]], [[Haydn]], [[Schubert]] and [[Tchaikovsky]]; Strauss's ''[[Ein Heldenleben]]''; concertos by Mozart and Saint Saens; a Delius/Sibelius programme; and shorter pieces such as Borodin's ''Prince Igor'' Overture, Mussorgsky's ''Dance of the Persian Slaves'', [[Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s ''Antar'' Suite, and ''Scheherazade'', [[Chabrier]]'s ''Joyeuse Marche'', and [[Tchaikovsky]]'s Serenade for Strings and ''Francesca da Rimini''.<ref>''The Times'', 13 & 29 September, 18 and 25 October, 1, 15 and 29 November and 6 December 1958</ref> Though in his seventies Beecham did not stick uncompromisingly to his familiar repertoire. After Furtwängler's sudden death, Beecham in tribute conducted the two programmes his younger colleague had been due to present at the Festival Hall; these included Bach's [[Brandenburg Concerto]] No 3, [[Ravel]]'s [[Rapsodie espagnole]], Brahms's Symphony No 1, and [[Samuel Barber]]'s Second Essay for Orchestra, as well as pieces as much part of Beecham's repertoire as Furtwängler's: Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|Eroica Symphony]], Handel's D minor Concerto Grosso, and Strauss's [[Don Juan]] and [[Till Eulenspiegel]].<ref>''The Times'', 19 and 21 January 1955</ref>
===Last years===
In the summer of 1958 Beecham conducted a season at the [[Teatro Colón]], [[Buenos Aires]], consisting of Verdi's ''[[Otello]],'' Bizet's ''Carmen'', Beethoven's ''[[Fidelio]],'' Saint-Saens's ''[[Samson and Delilah (opera)|Samson and Delilah]]'' and Mozart's ''Zauberflöte''. These were his last operatic performances.<ref>Reid, p. 238-39</ref> His last illness prevented his operatic debut at Glyndebourne in a planned ''Zauberflöte'' and a final appearance at Covent Garden conducting Berlioz's ''The Trojans''.<ref>Reid, p. 243-44. [[Colin Davis]] took on the Glyndebourne dates and [[Rafael Kubelik]] conducted the Berlioz</ref>
Sixty-six years after his first visit to America, Beecham made his last, beginning in late 1959, conducting in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Washington. During this tour he also conducted in Canada. He flew back to London on 12 April 1960 and thereafter never left England.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 21 and 226-27</ref> Beecham's final concert was at [[Portsmouth]] on [[7 May]] [[1960]]. The programme, all characteristic choices, comprised the ''Zauberflöte'' Overture, Haydn's Symphony No 100 (the Military), Beecham's own Handel arrangement, ''Love in Bath'', Schubert's Symphony No 5, ''On the River'' by Delius, and the ''Bacchanale'' from ''Samson and Delilah''.<ref>Reid, p. 244</ref>
Thomas Beecham died of a coronary thrombosis at his London flat, aged 81.<ref>Reid, p. 245</ref> He was buried two days later in [[Brookwood]] cemetery, Surrey. Owing to changes at Brookwood his mortal remains were exhumed in 1991 and reburied in St Peter's churchyard at [[Limpsfield]], Surrey. His grave is situated approximately 10 metres from that of the composer [[Frederick Delius]]. Sir Thomas was succeeded in the baronetcy by his elder son, Adrian Welles Beecham.
==Personal life==
Beecham was married three times. In 1903 he married Utica Celestina Welles, daughter of Dr Charles S. Welles, of New York, and his wife Ella Celeste, née Miles. Beecham and his wife had two sons, Adrian, born in 1904 and Thomas, born in 1909.<ref>Reid, p. 62</ref> After the birth of the second child Beecham began to drift away from the marriage. Beecham was involved as co-respondent in a much-publicised divorce case in 1911, by which time he was no longer living with his wife and family.<ref>Reid, p. 112-20</ref> Utica ignored advice that she should divorce him and secure substantial alimony: she did not believe in divorce.<ref name=Reid16>Reid, p. 120</ref> She did not remarry after Beecham divorced her (in 1943), and she outlived her former husband by sixteen years, dying in 1977.<ref>[http://www.thepeerage.com/p13709.htm ThePeerage.com website, accessed 26 July 2007]</ref>
[[Image:TBandemerald1919.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Beecham with Lady Cunard as Britannia: a 1919 caricature]]In 1909 or early 1910 Beecham began an affair with Maud Alice (known as Emerald), Lady Cunard (d. 1948). Although they never lived together, it continued, despite other relationships on his part, until his remarriage in 1943.<ref name=DNB/> She was a tireless fund-raiser for his musical enterprises.<ref>Reid, p. 134-37</ref> Biographers are agreed that she was in love with him, but that his feelings for her were milder.<ref name=Reid16/><ref>Jefferson, p. 39</ref> In 1943 she was devastated to learn (not from him) that he intended to divorce Utica in order to be free to marry Betty Humby.<ref name=Reid220>Reid, p. 220</ref> During the 1920s and 1930s he also had an affair with Dora Strang (Labbette; 1898–1994), a soprano sometimes known as Lisa Perli, with whom he had a son.<ref name=DNB/>
In 1943 Beecham married Betty Thomas, ''neé'' Humby, professionally known as Betty Humby, a concert pianist twenty nine years his junior.<ref name=Reid220/> Beecham and his second wife were a devoted couple until her death in 1958.<ref>Reid, p. 238-39</ref> In 1959, two years before his death, he married his former secretary, Shirley Hudson, who had worked for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's administration since 1950.<ref>Reid, p. 241</ref>
==Repertoire==
===Handel, Haydn and Mozart===
The earliest composer whose music Beecham regularly performed was [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]. Beecham's versions of Handel ignored the 'professors, pedants, pedagogues.' <ref name=Jefferson236>Jefferson p. 236</ref> Beecham followed Mendelssohn and Mozart in editing Handel's scores to meet contemporary requirements.<ref name=Jefferson236/> At a time when Handel's operas were scarcely known, Beecham knew them so well that he was able to arrange three ballets, two other suites and a piano concerto from ''inter alia, [[Admeto]], [[Alcina]], [[Ariodante]], Clori Tirsi e Fileno, [[Lotario]], Il Parnasso in Festa, [[Il Pastor Fido]], [[Radamisto]], [[Rinaldo]], [[Rodrigo]], [[Serse]], [[Teseo]]'' and ''[[The Triumph of Time and Truth]]''.<ref>Liner notes to EMI CD CDM 7 63374 2 by Robin Golding and Sony CD SMK87780 by Graham Melville-Mason</ref>
With [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], too, Beecham was far from an authenticist, using the nineteenth century Peters editions and avoiding the use of [[harpsichord]] [[continuo]]; his [[legato]] style concentrating on phrasing and subtlety of nuance was far from the more sober approach in vogue in the present century. He recorded the twelve '[[London symphonies|London]]' symphonies, but in concerts generally stuck to numbers 93, 97, 99, 100 and 101 <ref>Jefferson, pp 235-236</ref>. Beecham played ''[[The Seasons (Haydn)|The Seasons]]'' regularly throughout his career, recording it for EMI in 1956, and in 1944 added ''[[The Creation (Haydn)|The Creation]]'' to his repertoire.<ref name=Jefferson236/>
For Beecham, [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] was "the central point of European music"<ref>Jefferson, p. 238</ref>, and the conductor treated the composer's scores with more deference than he gave most others. He edited the incomplete [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]] and made English translations of at least two of the great operas, and introduced Covent Garden audiences who had rarely if ever heard them to ''Così fan Tutte, The Impresario'' and ''The Seraglio'', and he regularly programmed ''Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni'' and ''Le Nozze di Figaro''. He considered the best of the piano concertos to be "the most beautiful compositions of their kind in the world" and played them many times with Betty Humby-Beecham and others.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 115 & 238</ref>
===German music===
Beecham was not known for his Bach ("too much counterpoint, and, what is worse, Protestant counterpoint")<ref>Cardus, p. 28</ref> but nonetheless chose Bach (arranged by Beecham) for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, and gave the Third Brandenburg Concerto in one of his memorial concerts for Furtwängler – described by ''The Times'' as "a travesty, albeit an invigorating one."<ref>''The Times'', 19 January 1955</ref>
Beecham's attitude to [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] was ambivalent. He conducted all the symphonies during his career; he made studio recordings of Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, and a live recording of the ''[[Missa Solemnis]]''<ref>Liner notes to EMI CD CDM 7 69811 2 by Lyndon Jenkins</ref><ref>''The Gramophone'', May 2001</ref>. On the other hand, he regularly made rude remarks about Beethoven's music.<ref>Atkins, p. 49</ref> He accompanied the [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)|Fourth Piano Concerto]] with pleasure (recording it with [[Arthur Rubinstein]] and the LPO), but avoided the ''[[Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|Emperor]]'' when possible.<ref name=Jefferson235>Jefferson, p. 235</ref>
In [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms's]] music, Beecham was selective. In his memoirs he made no mention of any Brahms performance after the year 1909<ref>Beecham, p. 81</ref> He never conducted the [[Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)|Fourth Symphony]], rarely conducted the [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|First]], programmed the [[Symphony No. 3 (Brahms)|Third]] occasionally and made a speciality of the [[Symphony No. 2 (Brahms)|Second]].<ref name=Jefferson235/>
Beecham was a great [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]]<ref>Melville-Mason, Graham, liner notes to Sony CD SMK89889, 2002</ref>, despite his frequent expostulation about the composer's length and repetitiousness: "We've been rehearsing for two hours – and we're still playing the same bloody tune!"<ref>Reid,p. 206</ref> Beecham conducted all the works in the regular Wagner canon with the exception of ''Parsifal'', which he presented at Covent Garden but never with himself in the pit.<ref>Jefferson, p.189</ref><ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 203</ref> The chief music critic of ''The Times'' observed: "Beecham's ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' was almost Italian in its lyricism; his ''Ring'' was less heroic than Bruno Walter's or Furtwängler's, but it sang from beginning to end."<ref>Frank Howes writing in Procter-Gregg, p. 77</ref>
[[Richard Strauss]] found a lifelong champion in Beecham, who introduced ''Elektra, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier'' and other operas to England and played ''Ein Heldenleben'' from 1910 until his last year: his final recording of it was released shortly after his death.<ref name=Jefferson235/><ref>''The Gramophone'', May 1961</ref> ''Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegel'', the ''Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' music and ''Don Juan'' also featured his repertory, but not ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' or ''Tod und Verklärung''.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 234-235</ref> Strauss had the first and last pages of the manuscript of ''Elektra'' framed and presented them to "my highly honoured friend...and distinguished conductor of my work."<ref>''The Times'', 22 April 1938</ref>
===French music===
Of 19th century composers, [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]] featured prominently in Beecham's repertoire throughout his career, and in an age when the composer's works were far from over-exposed Beecham presented most of them and recorded many. Along with [[Colin Davis|Sir Colin Davis]], Beecham has been described as one of the two "foremost modern interpreters" of this composer.<ref>Lebrecht</ref> Mention other French composers who were equally important for Beecham: Chabrier, Massenet, etc. here
===Italian music===
Of the more than two dozen operas in the [[Verdi]] canon, Beecham conducted eight during his long career: ''Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Aida, Don Carlos, Rigoletto, Un Ballo in Maschera, Otello'' and ''Falstaff''.<ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 203</ref> Of the last, Beecham wrote, "...this charming work...is wanting in tunes of a broad and impressive character and one or two of the type of 'O Mia Regina', 'Ritorna Vincitor' or 'Ora per sempre addio' might have helped the situation."<ref name=Beecham>Beecham, p. 178 (arias from ''Don Carlos'', ''Aida'' and ''Otello'', respectively)</ref>In Verdi Beecham responded to "the irresistible flood of tone."<ref name=Beecham/>
As early as 1904, Beecham met [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]], through the librettist Giuseppe Illica, who had written a libretto for Beecham during the period when the latter was attempting to become a composer.<ref>Jefferson, pp. 204-205</ref> At the time of their meeting Puccini and Illica were revising ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' after its disastrous première; Beecham never conducted that work, but conducted ''[[Tosca]]'', ''[[Turandot]]'' and ''La Bohème''. His [[1956]] recording of ''Bohème'', with [[Victoria de Los Angeles]] and [[Jussi Bjorling]] has seldom been out of the catalogues since its release.<ref>Jefferson pp. 200</ref> After making the recording he observed that ''Bohème'' was one of his three favourite operas; he did not name the other two.<ref>recording of Beecham speaking, included on Naxos transfer of ''Bohème'', catalogue number 8.111249-50</ref>
===British music: Delius===
Beecham's championship of [[Delius]] promoted the composer from relative obscurity.<ref>Reid, pp. 56-61</ref> The great authority on Delius, [[Eric Fenby]], referred to Beecham as "excelling all others in the music of Delius...[[Charles Groves|Groves]] and Sargent may have matched him in the great choruses of ''A Mass of Life'', but in all else Beecham was matchless, especially with the orchestra."<ref>Procter-Gregg, pp. 56-57</ref>. Beecham put on a Delius Festival in 1929 and presented his operas and concert works throughout his career.<ref>Procter-Gregg, pp. 56-59.</ref> Beecham also led the programme of the Delius Society to record the composer's works.
Beecham was generally antipathetic to, or at best lukewarm about, the other music of his native land and its most eminent and acclaimed composers, [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]], [[Ralph Vaughan Williams|Vaughan Williams]], [[William Walton|Walton]] and [[Benjamin Britten|Britten]].{{Fact|date=July 2007}}
===Sibelius===
The only other major 20th century composer apart from Delius to engage his sympathies was [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]], who recognised him as a fine conductor of his music (though it is perhaps necessary to bear in mind that Sibelius tended to be lavish with praise of anybody who conducted his music).<ref>[http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics2/sibelius.html Classical Notes, accessed 30 July 2007]</ref> When the composer was celebrating his ninetieth birthday he and Beecham listened to recordings of Sibelius's music, played at full volume, clearly relishing the sounds, while the Royal Philharmonic players fled the room.<ref>BBC recorded tribute to Beecham</ref>
==="Lollipops"===
Beecham frequently presented slight pieces, such as encores, in their best light, and this gave rise to the terminology "Beecham's lollipops". On the other hand, Beecham tended to dismiss some of the works usually considered masterpieces of classical music. For example, he once said that he would happily give up all of [[Bach]]'s ''[[Brandenburg Concertos]]'' for [[Massenet]]'s ''[[Manon]]''. [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1059215,00.html] An EMI CD entitled 'Lollipops' consists of Beecham and the RPO in seventeen short pieces, namely, Berlioz: ''Danse des sylphes (La Damnation de Faust); '' Berlioz: March from ''Les Troyens'' (Act 1); Berlioz: ''Menuet des follets (La Damnation de Faust);'' Chabrier: ''Joyeuse Marche''; Debussy: ''Cortege et Air de danse (L'Enfant prodigue); '' Delius: ''Summer Evening'' (ed. & arr. Beecham); Dvořák ''Legend'' in G minor Op.59 No.3; Gounod; ''Le Sommeil de Juliette''; Grieg: Symphonic Dance in A Op.64; Mozart: ''Haffner'' March; Mozart: ''Entr'acte'' (Act II) from ''Thamos, Konig in Agypten''; Mozart: Menuet from Divertimento in D; Saint-Saèns: ''Bacchanale (Samson et Dalila);'' Saint-Saëns: ''Danse des prêtresses de Dagon (Samson et Dalila);'' Sibelius: ''Valse triste (Kuolema);'' Tchaikovsky: Waltz from ''Eugene Onegin''; Vidal: Gavotte from ''Zino Zina''.<ref>EMI CD CDM 7 63412 2, published in 1991</ref>
==Recordings==
Beecham began making recordings on 27 July 1910, when the acoustical process forced orchestras to use only principal instruments, placed as close to the recording horn as possible. His first recordings, for His Master's Voice ([[HMV]]) were devoted to excerpts from [[Offenbach]]'s ''[[Tales of Hoffmann]]'' and [[Johann Strauss]]' ''[[Die Fledermaus]]''. In 1915, Beecham began recording for the [[Columbia Graphophone Company]].
Electrical recording (introduced in 1925-26) made it possible to record a full orchestra with much greater frequency range; Beecham quickly recorded in the new medium. Longer scores had to be broken into four-minute segments to fit on 12-inch 78-rpm discs, but Beecham was not averse to recording piecemeal; his well-known 1932 disc of Chabrier's ''España'' was recorded in two sessions three weeks apart.<ref>Notes to EMI CD CDM 7 63401 2</ref>
[[Columbia Records]] produced many of his recordings, using [[EMI]] crews in London. From 1926 to 1932, Beecham made nearly 150 78-rpm sides, including an English version of [[Gounod]]'s ''[[Faust]]'' and the first of three recordings of [[Handel]]'s ''[[Messiah]]''.
Beecham began recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1933, recording more than 300 78-rpm sides for Columbia, including music by Mozart, Rossini, Berlioz, Wagner, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and Delius.
Although Beecham signed a contract with [[RCA Victor]] on 5 December 1941, it was three years before he recorded with that company. Instead, Beecham made his first American recordings for Columbia, between 13 and 15 June 1942. There was a recording ban imposed by the American Federation of Musicians in the United States after those recordings were made, which continued until 1944. Although Columbia was among the first companies to settle with the musicians union, Beecham recorded primarily for RCA until he became unhappy with their refusal to adopt the new long-playing recordings introduced by Columbia in 1948. (RCA waited two years before releasing 33-1/3-rpm discs.) So, Beecham returned to Columbia and recorded again in New York City in December 1949. There were also recordings for Columbia with the Philadelphia Orchestra in February 1952.<ref>Sony Classics liner notes</ref>
Beecham lived long enough to make recordings in stereo, beginning in 1955, although he professed ignorance about the process. (Actually, Beecham participated in experimental stereophonic recordings in Britain in the early 1930s, including a remarkable performance of [[Mozart]]'s ''[[Symphony No. 41 (Mozart)|Jupiter]]'' Symphony.) His 1955 stereo recordings included a performance of [[Sibelius]]'s late symphonic poem, ''[[Tapiola]]'', later reissued as the very first [[Seraphim Records]] LP disc. Most of his later recordings were made by EMI and released on [[HMV]] in the [[United Kingdom]] and on [[Angel]] or [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] in the U.S. Two complete operas were recorded in stereo, ''The Seraglio'' and ''Carmen''.
Among his last recordings was a much-discussed [[RCA Victor]] recording of [[Eugene Goosens]]'s arrangement for a full modern orchestra of [[Handel]]'s ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]''. His very last recordings were made in December [[1959]], some of which were released after his death.
==Observations, anecdotes and quotations==
Beecham's relations with fellow British conductors were not always cordial. [[Henry Wood (conductor)|Sir Henry Wood]] regarded him as an upstart and was envious of his success;<ref>Jacobs, p. 330-32</ref> the scrupulous [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]] found him "repulsive" as a man and a musician;<ref>Kennedy, p. 154</ref> and [[John Barbirolli|Sir John Barbirolli]] mistrusted him.<ref>Jefferson, p. 183</ref> [[Malcolm Sargent|Sir Malcolm Sargent]] worked with him in founding the London Philharmonic, and was a friend and ally, but was nevertheless the subject of many witty but unkind digs from Beecham – who, for example, described [[Herbert von Karajan]] as "a kind of musical Malcolm Sargent". Beecham's relations with foreign conductors were often excellent. He did not get on with [[Arturo Toscanini]]<ref>Jefferson, p. 105</ref>, but he liked and encouraged [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]]<ref>Jefferson, p. 179</ref>, admired [[Pierre Monteux]],<ref>Canarina, p. 291</ref> fostered [[Rudolf Kempe]] as his successor with the RPO, and was admired by [[Fritz Reiner]]<ref>Reid, p. 192</ref> and Herbert von Karajan<ref>Osborne, p. 248</ref>
{{Wikiquote}}
[[Image:beechamstoriescover.jpg|thumb|left|125px|Cover of Atkins & Newman's book of Beecham Stories]]Beecham was, and remains, much quoted. A book was published in 1978 consisting entirely of his mots and anecdotes about him.<ref>Atkins</ref> Some Beecham stories are apocryphal ([[Neville Cardus]] admitted to inventing some himself).<ref>Cardus, p. 26</ref> Some are variously attributed to Beecham or one or more other people, including [[Arnold Bax]] and [[Winston Churchill]].
Beecham non gradì la proposta e fondò la [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] ottenendo dalla ''Royal Philharmonic Society'' che la nuova orchestra sostituisse la London Philharmonic nella loro stagione di concerti. Successivamente si accordò anche con il ''Glyndebourne Opera Festival'' per far si che la Royal divenisse orchestra residente della manifestazione.
Despite his lordly drawl, Beecham remained a Lancastrian at heart. "In ''my'' county, where ''I'' come from, we're all a bit vulgar, you know, but there is a certain heartiness – a sort of bonhomie about our vulgarity – which tides you over a lot of rough spots in the path. But in ''Yorkshire'', in a spot of bother, they're so damn-set-in-their-ways that there's no doing anything with them!" <ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 152</ref> Beecham sometimes got carried away by the music he was conducting, especially in concerts. During the 8 December 1954 concert performance of [[Sibelius]]'s [[Symphony No. 2 (Sibelius)|Second Symphony]] with the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] in the [[Royal Festival Hall]], Beecham repeatedly shouted during some of the more dramatic moments in this work.<ref>This recording has been reissued on BBC Legends BBCL 415-4, which also includes a live recording of Dvořák's ''Symphony No. 8 in G,'' taped at the Festival Hall on 25 October 1959.</ref>
Nel frattempo Beecham venne estromesso dalla gestione del ''Covent Garden'' dopo la fine della guerra. Questa decisione fece montare su tutte le furie Beecham che pensò di costituire una nuova compagnia teatrale.
During an interview by Roy Plomley on the [[BBC]] programme, ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', broadcast on 23 December 1957 on the BBC Home Service, Beecham's chosen records were:
*Duet: ''Sono andati'' (Puccini, ''La Bohème'') Victoria de los Angeles, Jussi Bjorling, RCA Victor Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, HMV ALP 1410
*Hornpipe from ''The Great Elopement'' (Handel, arr Beecham) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, HMV DB 9672
*''Bildnisarie'' (Mozart, ''Die Zauberflöte'', Act I) [[Richard Tauber]]; Parlophone Odeon PMB 1011
*Pastiches Musicaux (Betove, part of "A la manière de Wagner," and part of "A la manière de Rossini"); Parlophone R 1947
*Adele's Laughing Song (J Strauss, ''Die Fledermaus'') [[Florence Foster Jenkins]]; HMV 7EB 6022
*Symphony No 1 in C Major, 2nd movement (Balakirev) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham; Columbia 33CX 1450
*''I Love a Lassie'' (Lauder) Sir [[Harry Lauder]]; HMV DLP 1089
*''A Mass of Life'' (opening) (Delius) London Philharmonic Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham; Columbia 33CX 1078<ref>Procter-Gregg, p. 206</ref>
===In rehearsal===
Many of Beecham's rehearsals were taped by EMI engineers and some of these have been released on both LPs and compact discs. EMI and the [[BBC]] prepared several albums featuring excerpts from Beecham's rehearsals, recordings, and concerts, as well as interviews with Beecham and musicians who had known him.<ref>Released on LP by both EMI and the BBC; compiled on EMI CDM 7 64465 2, currently unavailable</ref> At one such rehearsal, when a tuba player fluffed a note, Beecham called out "Thank you, and now would you pull the chain?"<ref>Atkins, p. 35</ref> <!--Another vulgar quote attributed to Beecham concerns a lady cellist, who was scolded by Beecham with "Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is scratch it!"{{Fact|date=July 2007}} Well, this is so frequently attributed to Beecham, that I think you could say that it is attributed to him.
Beecham continuò così la sua opera di direttore della Royal Philharmonic svolgendo poi una intensa attività di direttore ospite in giro per il mondo.
At an April 1958 rehearsal in Paris for the recording of several [[Haydn]] symphonies, everything came to a standstill when a thunderstorm hit the city and could be heard in the Salle Wagram where the recording was taking place. Beecham started talking to the orchestra and recalled he had conducted a performance, years earlier, of the incidental music to ''[[The Tempest]]'' by Sibelius, during which there was an incredible storm. "They recorded it," Beecham said. Then the recording producer announced, over the intercom, "We pay extra money for thunderstorms." The "stormy" performance of Sibelius' music, with the London Philharmonic from the Leeds festival, has been issued on CD.<ref>Various discs have been released of Beecham rehearsals; the most recent compilation was on EMI CDM 7 64465 2, which is currently unavailable</ref>
===Gli ultimi anni===
Another example occurred while making his famous 1956 recording of [[Puccini]]'s ''[[La Boheme]]'', starring [[Jussi Björling]], [[Victoria de los Angeles]], and [[Robert Merrill]], when Beecham asked Björling and Merrill do a second take of a duet they had together, even though the first take had been approved. When Beecham was asked why, he answered, "Because I simply love to hear those boys sing it!"<ref>Jim Svejda's ''Record Shelf Guide to the Classical Repertoire''</ref>
Nel 1958 Beecham diresse una stagione al [[Teatro Colón]] di [[Buenos Aires]]. Questa fu l'ultima sua direzione nel campo dell'opera. Infatti, una malattia gli impedì di dirigere a ''Glyndebourne''.
==Honours and commemorations==
Deleted image removed: [[Image:TBstamp.jpg|right|thumb|125px|1980 commemorative stamp]] Beecham was [[knighted]] in 1916 and succeeded to the [[baronetcy]] on the death of his father later that year. In 1938 the [[President of France]] bestowed upon him the decoration of the [[Legion of Honour]] (Légion d'honneur). He was a Commendatore of the Order of the Crown of Italy. He was made a [[Companion of Honour]] in 1957, and was an honorary Doctor of Music of the universities of Oxford, London, Manchester and Montreal.<ref>Jefferson, p. 101</ref>
Sedici anni dopo il suo debutto negli Stati Uniti, tornò nel 1959 con un tour che toccò le più importanti metropoli statunitensi. Tornò in patria nel 1960 e da quel momento non lasciò mai più la Gran Bretagna. Il suo ultimo concerto venne dato a [[Portsmouth]] il [[7 maggio]] [[1960]].
''Beecham'' by [[Caryl Brahms]] and [[Ned Sherrin]] is a play celebrating Sir Thomas. Written in 1979 it starred [[Timothy West]] in the title role, and drew on a large number of Beecham stories for its material. It was later adapted for television, with members of the Hallé Orchestra taking part in the action and playing pieces associated with Beecham.<ref>[http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/370535 ''Timothy West as Beecham'', BBC TV film, 1979, British Film Institute Film and TV database, accessed 26 July 2007]</ref>
Thomas Beecham morì per una trombosi alle coronarie nel suo appartamento di Londra all'età di 81 anni.
In 1980 the Royal Mail put the image of Beecham on its 13½p postage stamp in a series portraying British conductors, the other three featuring Wood, Sargent and Barbirolli. The [[Sir Thomas Beecham Society]] preserves Beecham's legacy through its website and release of historic recordings.
===Discografia parziale===
==Works==
===Published books===
* ''A Mingled Chime'', (an autobiography)
* ''John Fletcher'' (1956), Oxford, Clarendon Press. (The [[Romanes Lecture]] for [[1956]]).
* ''Frederick Delius'' (1959), London, Hutchinson & Co. Revised 1975, with ''Introduction'' by [[Felix Aprahamian]] and ''Discography'' by Malcolm Walker (Severn House).
===Selected discography===
*[[Mily Balakirev|Balakirev]]
**Symphony No 1 – [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] (RPO)
**Oberon Overture – LPO
Bach: Phoebus and Pan; Balfe: The Bohemian Girl; Beethoven: Fidelio; Benjamin: The Devil Take Her; Berlioz: Faust. The Trojans; Bizet: Carmen, The Pearl Fishers, The Fair Maid of Perth; Borodin: Prince Igor; Charpentier: Louise; Cherubini: The Water Carrier; D'Albert: Tiefland; Dargomizhsky: Roussalka; Debussy: L'enfant Prodigue, Pelléas et Mélisande; De Lara Naïl; Delius: Koanga, Irmelin, A Village Romeo and Juliet; Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor; Flotow: Martha; Gluck: Orfeo; Goossens: Don Juan De Maflara; Gounod: Faust, Romeo and Juliet; Grétry: Le Tableau Parlant, Zémire et Azor; Holbrooke: Dylan; Lecocq: La File De Madame Angot; Leoncavallo: Pagliacci.; Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana; Massenet: Manon, Thals, Werther, ; Moussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Khovanschina; Mozart: Figaro, The Impresario, The Seraglio, Don Giovanni, Così Fan; Tutte, Die Zauberflöte; Offenbach: Tales Of Hoffmann; Puccini: Bohème, Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot, Manon Lescaut, ; Rimsky-Korsakov: Ivan The Terrible, Sadko, Le Coq D'Or; Rossini: The Barber of Seville ; Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila; Smetana: The Bartered Bride; Smyth: The Wreckers, The Boatswain's Mate; Stanford: Shamus O'brien; Strauss, J: Die Fledermaus; Strauss, R: Elektra, Salome, Rosenkavalier, Ariadne, Feuersnot; Thomas: Mignon, ; Vaughan-Williams: Hugh The Drover; Verdi: Il Trovatore, LaTraviata, Aida, Don Carlos, Rigoletto, Un Ballo in Maschera, Otello, Falstaff; Wagner: The Flying Dutchman, Tannhaüser, Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, Die Meistersinger, Das Rheingold, Die Valkyrie, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung; Weber: Freischütz; Wolf-Ferrari: Gioielli Della Madonna. Reference: Procter-Gregg, pp. 201-203
==Notes==
{{Reflist|4}}
==References==
*{{cite book | last=Aldous | first=Richard | coauthors= | title=Tunes of glory: the life of Malcolm Sargent | ___location=London | publisher=Hutchinson | year=2001| isbn=0091801311 }}
*{{cite book | last=Atkins | first=Harold | coauthors=Archie Newman | title=Beecham Stories | ___location=London | publisher=Robson Books | year=1978| isbn=0-86051-044-1 }}
*{{cite book | last=Beecham | first=Thomas | coauthors= | title=A Mingled Chime | ___location=London| publisher=Hutchinson | year=1944 }}
*{{cite book | last=Canarina | first=John | coauthors= | title=Pierre Monteux, Maître | ___location=Pompton Plains and Cambridge | publisher=Amadeus Press | year=2003| isbn=1-57467-082-4 }}
*{{cite book | last=Cardus | first=Neville| coauthors= | title=Sir Thomas Beecham| ___location=London | publisher=Collins | year=1961 }}
*Crichton, Ronald, and John Lucas: ''Thomas Beecham'', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy http://www.grovemusic.com Accessed 26 July 2007 (Requires subscription)
*{{cite book | last=Culshaw | first=John| coauthors= | title=Putting the Record Straight | ___location=London | publisher= Secker & Warburg | year=1981 | isbn=0-436-11802-5 }}
*{{cite book | last=Jacobs | first=Arthur | coauthors= | title=Henry J Wood | ___location=London | publisher=Methuen | year=1994 | isbn=0-413-69340-6 }}
*{{cite book | last=Jefferson | first=Alan | coauthors= | title=Sir Thomas Beecham – A Centenary Tribute | ___location=London | publisher=Macdonald and Jane's | year=1979| isbn=0-354-04305-x }}
* Jefferson, Alan, ''Beecham, Sir Thomas, second baronet (1879–1961),'' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 http://www.oxforddnb.com Accessed 26 July 2007. (Requires subscription)
*{{cite book | last=Jenkins | first=Lyndon | coauthors= | title=Liner notes to EMI CD 5-67231-2 }}
*{{cite book | last=Kennedy | first=Michael | coauthors= | title=Adrian Boult | ___location=London | publisher=Papermac | year=1989 | isbn=0-333-48752-4 }}
*{{cite book | last=Lebrecht| first=Norman| coauthors= | title=Hector Berlioz – the Unloved Genius}}[http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/031210-NL-Berlioz.html] accessed 16 August 2007
*{{cite book | last=March | first=Ivan (ed) | coauthors= | title=The Great Records | ___location=Blackpool | publisher=Long Playing Record Library | year=1967 }}
*{{cite book | last=Osborne | first=Richard | coauthors= | title=Herbert von Karajan – A Life in Music | ___location=London | publisher=Chatto and Windus | year=1998 | isbn=1-85619-763-8 }}
*{{cite book | last=Procter-Gregg | first=Humphry (ed) | coauthors= | title=Beecham Remembered | ___location=London | publisher=Duckworth | year=1976 | isbn=0-7156-1117-8 }}
*{{cite book | last=Reid | first=Charles | coauthors= | title=Thomas Beecham – An Independent Biography | ___location=London | publisher=Victor Gollancz | year=1961 | }}
*{{cite book | last=Salter | first=Lionel | coauthors= | title=Liner notes to EMI CD CDM-7-63396-2 }}
==ExternalCollegamenti linksesterni==
*{{allmusic|41:8214}}
*{{findagrave|22016}}
*[http://www.sonybmgmasterworks.com/artists/sirthomasbeecham/ Thomas Beecham discography] at [[Sony BMG Masterworks]]
*[http://www.sonybmgmasterworks.com/artists/sirthomasbeecham/ Discografia di Thomas Beecham etichetta [[Sony BMG Masterworks]]
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{{succession box | title=[[Beecham Baronets|Baronet]]<br>'''(of Ewanville) | years='''1916-1961 | before=[[Sir Joseph Beecham, 1st Baronet|Joseph Beecham]] | after= Adrian Welles Beecham }}
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{{portale|biografie|musica classica}}
{{Hallé principal conductors}}
{{LSO principal conductors}}
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{{Seattle Symphony conductors}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beecham, Thomas}}
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1961 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English conductors]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Légion d'honneur recipients]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour]]
[[Category:Impresarios]]
[[Category:Old Rossallians]]
[[Category:People from Huyton]]
[[Category:People from St Helens]]
[[Category:Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
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