Nostalgia is inevitable in the music world. Inevitably, there are those who yearn to experience the music of an era that they aren't old enough to have witnessed first-hand. That is why, in the 21st century, one sees so many people in their teens and twenties at 1970s/1980s-minded metal shows; young headbangers who weren't even born when David Lee Roth was still singing lead for Van Halen or when Mötley Crüe started headlining soccer arenas want a taste of what metal concerts were like back in the day…
Finally Dutch conductor Eduard van Beinum is receiving attention he so richly deserves with many of his superb performances appearing on CD. Philips has issued most of his commercial recordings for that label, available mostly in Holland. Dutton Laboratories, LYS and Japanese Decca also have issued a number of recordings (with many yet unissued—see our Features article on Van Beinum). Now we have this set of live concert performances dating from 1935 through 1958. The earliest are from 78 rpm acetates some of which were not in very good condition. Some, not all, have surface disturbances even the most precise digital processing cannot eliminate. However, for the collector this is relatively insignificant considering these remarkable performances.