BERLIOZ: “Harold in Italy”; Overtures. William Primrose,...

BERLIOZ: “Harold in Italy”; Overtures. William Primrose, viola. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. Sony Masterworks Portrait MPK 47679. The faded sounds of this 1951 recording of “Harold in Italy” cannot do the score justice; its piquant harmonies and imaginative details get lost in the murkiness. Primrose turns in a solid, admirable reading, Beecham an uneven one, complete with some spirited swashbuckling here, missed opportunities elsewhere, and a questionably jaunty finale. All is forgiven, however, in Beecham’s incandescent accounts of the “King Lear” and “Roman Carnival” overtures, performances that steer through the quirky, rugged courses of this music with the dash, power and agility of a well-tuned sports car. These 1954 recordings capture the sound with more immediacy.