Bury Recorded Music

Betty Seddon of the Swinton Music Society paid her annual visit presenting 1879-1961, Pianist,Conductor or Pianist?. This transpired to be Sir Thomas Beecham who at various stages of his life was unsure of which path to take. He was mainly known as a conductor with a very sharp wit of which Betty quoted several examples. Concentrating on the conducting we heard the following items,the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Handel's Soloman, the second movement of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, the third movement Sunset-Near the Plantation from the Florida Suite by Delius (who was a close friend of Beecham), the first movement of Scubert's Symphony no3, the finale of Symphony no 2 by Sibelius, part of the last act of Puccini's La Boheme starting at Ah Mimi Tu piu non torni then the finale from Sono andante to the end, then Pantomime from Gretry's Zemire et Azer Suite.To bring the programme to a close Betty opted for part of Handel's Messiah ending with a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.As per usual a splendid programme enhanced with quotations throughout,a typical Betty programme for which she recieved a generous round of applause from a delighted audience. Our next meeting on the 20thApril Barbara Walker will make her debut with Fascinating Ladies.