William Primrose trained
as a violinist but an encounter with
Lionel Tertis convinced him to transfer
to the viola. This connection with Tertis
is rather ironic as Primrose and Tertis
disagreed over viola playing styles.
Tertis favoured a deep tenor tone and
a wide vibrato; he had had his own extremely
large viola made up to his own specifications.
Primrose favoured a lighter, more alto
tone and used quite a fast vibrato;
Primrose played on a succession of distinguished
historic instruments. But if Tertis’s
rich-toned performances were responsible
for the resurgence of interest in the
viola as a solo instrument during the
20th century, Primrose developed
into one of the first modern viola virtuosos.
He was able to play virtually anything
at sight and demonstrated a high degree
of virtuosity. He was responsible for
inspiring solo viola pieces from such
distinguished composers as Benjamin
Britten, Bartók, Rubbra, Fricker
and Milhaud. This disc, in Naxos’s Great
Performers series, assembles three of
his recordings of concertante works.
It is difficult, nowadays,
to imagine anyone thinking that Casadesus’s
Concerto could be by Handel, but when
Primrose made the recording (the second
of his two) it was thought to be by
Handel. It is a charming piece, with
much Bach-like figuration and Primrose
plays it with great skill and obvious
affection. He displays fine articulation
and rhythmic flair.
William Walton had
already made a recording of his Viola
Concerto with Frederick Riddle. Riddle
and Walton produced a fine performance
which is notable for the inwardness
and reflectiveness of the solo part.
Riddle brought passion to the work whereas
Primrose brings technical brilliance
and virtuosity.
The viola concerto
remains Walton’s finest concerto despite,
or perhaps because of, the technical
challenges of the work. Viola tone can
lack the sheer brilliance necessary
to dominate the orchestra in a full-scale
concerto. Mozart solved the problem
in his Sinfonia Concertante by tuning
the viola strings up a tone higher than
usual. Walton uses skilful orchestration
combined with a tendency to write for
the viola in its higher registers. It
is here that Primrose’s skill comes
into play, though some may find his
account a little cool. Walton was never
a great technician as a conductor and
the accompaniment is at times a little
untidy.
During Primrose’s lifetime
composers such a Vaughan Williams had
solved the problem of the viola as a
concerto instrument by not writing one;
RVW wrote two orchestral works with
a solo viola part but neither is a concerto.
Berlioz took a similar view when writing
his concerto for Paganini. The resulting
work is a concerto by no stretch of
the imagination, but Berlioz brilliantly
associates the plangent, meditative
tones of the instrument with the dreamy
Childe Harold of Byron’s poem.
Koussevitsky’s 1944
account of Harold in Italy with
the Boston Symphony Orchestra remains
a remarkable achievement. Koussevitzky
encourages his orchestra to produce
a warm, red-blooded account and each
movement is highly characterised. Primrose
seems to respond to this and his playing
is rich and warm, something that this
slightly cool player did not always
achieve.
I am not sure how many
people will be attracted by the name
of William Primrose, but this disc couples
together a pair of outstanding performances;
though these may be performances which
people already have on other discs.
Mark Obert-Thorn’s transfers are exemplary
as usual.
Robert Hugill
see also reviews
by Jonathan
Woolf and Christopher
Howell
William Primrose (viola) 
