It is good to see the return of one of Beecham's very finest interpretations, and on CD in a transfer that does remarkably well for a 35-year-old recording. The Faust Symphony was, not surprisingly perhaps very close to Sir Thomas's heart with his bewitching mixture of tenderness and diablerie. So Mephistopheles fizzes along famously, with a crack in the rhythm that was one of Sir Thomas's special secrets; and the elegance of Gretchen never lapses into the sentimental (I cannot resist mention of a lovely oboe solo from Terence MacDonagh). The very start, the long held note before the famous augmented triad sequence of 12 notes, seems to catch the players a bit unawares, but thereafter all is well. The first subject is hard driven, but in an authentically Faustian way, with a wonderful turn to the more reflective side of Faust's nature, and a brave display for the aspiring trumpet theme. A great performance, indeed.'