Lalo, Bizet & Franck: Symphonies

The bicentenary of Édouard Lalo is approaching, on January 27th. Though his compositions for violin and orchestra somehow outshone the rest of his work, Lalo’s underrated catalogue is very rich. He notably wrote a superb symphony full of beautiful themes, which Sir Thomas Beecham enjoyed very much, promoted intensely, and performed regularly on stage. His 1959 rendition of this piece, otherwise very rare on record, is the reference version. It is here coupled with other major French Romantic symphonies.