Portsmouth Sinfonia - Popular Classics LP - Very Rare
£
25
$
33
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Description
This is the LP you've been looking for: the Porstmouth Sinfonia's butchery of many well-known classics. These include Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, condensed to a merciful six minutes, Rossini's William Tell Overture murdered in two minutes flat and Tchaikovsky's Sugar Plum Fairy gasping her last breath. You will regard it as either a terrible form of sacrilege or as a wonderfully refreshing and funny reworking of many old favourites. Grieg's Hall Of The Mountain King has never sounded so ferocious.
For anyone unfamiliar with this record, the Portsmouth Sinfonia consisted largely of music lovers (???) who were keen to play their instruments but totally incapable of achieving more than the very basic rudiments of performance. They were supplemented by a few players who could actually manage to play the notes in front of them, including the now well-known composer Gavin Bryars on cello. The hapless conductor was John Farley and the whole sorry mess was produced by Bria Eno (of Talking Heads fame).
This album is very hard come by nowadays. It was bought for me as a Christmas present in 1973, the year it was released and, thanks to my wife's sensitivity, was only played very rarely. Consequently it is still in very good condition with no scratches (not even from my wife). The sleeve is in reasonable condition, a little worn round the edges but very sound.
I'm selling this (and other LPs) only because I no longer have a turntable to play it on. I hope it goes to a good home where my wife hopes it will upset someone else's sensibilities!
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