01. - 27. Sleeping Beauty. Ballet in Prologue and 3 Acts, op.66 [118 mins.]
Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by George Weldon
EMI (Warner Classics) Classics for Pleasure 3932382 (recorded 1956, issued as two LPs in 1958; this CD issue 2007)
(digital download - cover and inlay scans, no booklet)
Recording venue: unknown
Recording engineer: Douglas Larter or Christopher Parker.
Producers: Brian Culverhouse and Walter Jellineck
I guess that The Nutcracker would be more appropriate for this season but nevertheless here's an excellent Sleeping Beauty. This was probably the first stereo recording of the complete Sleeping Beauty ballet. I have written complete but it is actually substantially cut to fit onto the original two LPs. However, most of the cuts are carefully managed and only four numbers are omitted completely.
The fine British conductor, George Weldon (1908 to his early death in 1963) was a stalwart of the concert hall (at the Halle for most of his career) and ballet pit (Sadler's Wells) and this recording was very well regarded when first issued. But there now seems to be very few of his many recordings in circulation.
The sound is very good for 1956 although not quite the best that Douglas Larter was then delivering - so I rather doubt the attribution to him as recording engineer that I have read.