Thomas Beecham needs little description here. Conductor, arranger, impresario and raconteur - hated by some, adored by others, but undoubtedly doing a huge amount for music here in the UK.

Strauss II - Die Fledermaus - Overture (abridged)
Beecham’s Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Beecham

His Master’s Voice C431
Matrix 381ac (4360f-II, 0627)
Recorded London 28th July 1910
This issue available from September 1915

The overture is heavily cut. The recording contains bars 1-11, with bar 12 changed to unison B rather than E, to lead to b200-208, then b225-420. In the run out area of the record, an attempt has been made to scratch out the number 4360f II. This is because 4360f was also assigned to an unpublished Evan Williams recording, This Beecham recording, when the duplication was realised, was renumbered 4360f-II, and later (May 1911) as 381ac.

This recording was coupled on C431 with:
Elgar - Salut d’amour
La Scala Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno

Berlioz - A Roman Carnival - Overture (abridged)
Berlioz - Damnation of Faust - March
The Beecham Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Beecham

Columbia L1105
Matrices 6907-1, 6924-1
Recorded 1916
Available from December 1916 to May 1928

The overture is substantially abridged, shorn of its introduction. The recording contains bars 78-157 and 255-440 (the end of the work), and is very dimly recorded at the beginning. The March from Faust is given complete.