Sir Thomas Beecham / London Philharmonic Orchestra / La Calinda from Koanga (Delius) / Recorded: February 11, 1938 -- The first performance of Koanga was at Elberfeld on March 30, 1904, and was the first of Delius' operas to be performed. It was also the most labor-intensive with regard to the libretto, which was continually being revised. The opera was posthumously published in 1935. Sir Thomas Beecham directed a revival of Koanga on 23 September 1935 at Covent Garden. A later revival was in 1972 for the Camden Festival at Sadler's Wells, London, conducted by Sir Charles Groves. Douglas Craig and Andrew Page had worked extensively on revisions to a performing edition, which was used for the first complete commercial recording conducted by Groves. Robert Threlfall has examined revisions to the text of Koanga in its various editions. More recent revisions to the libretto have been by Olwen Wymark. The single most famous musical passage from the opera contains the melody known as La Calinda, which is the only part of the score that has remained famous in the concert hall. Eric Fenby, Delius' amanuensis, has spoken of the opera as follows: "Koanga is one of those singular works that attract attention in Delius's development but which stand apart from the rest of his music. Usually, once a work was written, Delius's interest in it would wane. It would then be renewed and be relived temporarily every time he heard it again. For Koanga, however, he showed concern as though it <b>...</b>
Sir
Thomas
Beecham
LPO
Delius
Koanga
78RPM
curzonroad
