A welcome reissue of classic analogue recordings from EMI’s formidable
RVW back catalogue. Long unavailable, these are for the most part
admirable performances and several can stand comparison with the
best of their competitors.
The Finn Paavo
Berglund has the lion’s share of the work here, either with
his own Bournemouth Symphony or with the RPO. Berglund will
be remembered by collectors for his productive relationship
on and off the record with the Bournemouth orchestra; although
probably best known for his Sibelius recordings his repertoire
also encompassed Shostakovich, Walton, Bliss, Britten and
Nielsen. His VW Fourth from 1979 with the RPO is exhilarating,
perhaps taking a lead from the composer’s own 1937 recording
with its dynamically fast speeds. The excellent Abbey Road
sound allows for clarity of articulation for the faster string
passages together with crushing weight in the big climaxes.
Berglund obtains passionate string playing in the first movement
- although Slatkin’s Philharmonia is, if anything, more involved
still - and an anxious, uneasy coda. With a cool, measured
second movement and an energetic scherzo building to an ebullient
account of the finale this is a classic performance in which
the music’s inherent humorous aspects are emphasised more
than usual.
Berglund’s 1974
Sixth with the Bournemouth Symphony was recorded in
the weightier acoustic of Kingsway Hall. This lends extra
gravity to a performance which seems to favour power over
agility, particularly in the opening Allegro. Pairing
this symphony on disc with its F minor counterpart emphasises
the similarities in style between the two works. There is
also a contrast here between Berglund’s powerful, energetic
account of the earlier work and his rather hefty approach
to the Sixth. Despite this he builds tension well throughout
the opening movement and the return of the second theme in
its lyrical transformation is memorably done. Berglund steers
a relentless course through the repeated triplet figuration
of the second movement, and the climax when it comes is pretty
shattering. Much of the tension generated is dispersed in
the hell-for-leather account of the scherzo, taken at quite
a lick. The final Epilogue is, in the last analysis, disappointing;
the recording does not allow a true pianissimo and there is
a lack of tension in the playing, for all the care that Berglund
takes to clarify the strands. Berglund also conducts a fine
performance of the Oboe Concerto, which was the original LP
pairing for the Sixth Symphony. John Williams steers an able
course between the work’s pastoral meanderings and more lyrical
passages.
Berglund’s predecessor
in Bournemouth was the Romanian Constantin Silvestri, whose
classic accounts of The Wasps Overture and Tallis
Fantasia open the first disc. With the rich acoustic of
Winchester Cathedral adding its own contribution to the quality
of the performances, these are memorable accounts. However,
they have been issued on CD before - The Tallis Fantasia
most recently on the RVW anniversary box from EMI - so it
would have been interesting to hear, for instance, Berglund’s
account of The Lark Ascending with the RPO and Barry
Griffiths, which was the original LP coupling for the Fourth.
Finally, Sir Alexander
Gibson’s early digital Fifth, although boasting excellent
sound, fails to convey the work’s essential rapture. There
is a lack of mystery in the opening Preludio, and the
modulation to E major for the second subject, which can have
a glorious sense of release, is here rather matter-of-fact.
The performance improves as it progresses, however, and Gibson
handles the hobgoblins and foul fiends of the scherzo well
enough. The Romanza is well done, although a greater
sense of forward momentum would not have gone amiss. Although
the string playing is luminous, the brass and woodwind chords
towards the climax of the movement are untidy. The final Passacaglia
sets out a rather meandering course; it needs to sound far
more purposeful than here. Given the work’s Bunyan-derived
inspiration, this Pilgrim would have turned back at the first
hurdle! Gibson draws together the strands effectively at the
conclusion and the closing string passages are beautifully
done.
On the whole then,
a worthwhile collection, containing something of a mixed bag
of performances; Berglund’s Fourth and Silvestri’s Tallis
are on the highest level, and if the performances of the Fifth
and Sixth Symphonies do not always reach this plane it’s good
to have them restored to the catalogue.
Ewan McCormick
see also Review
by Rob Barnett
Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra/Constantin Silvestri (Wasps; Tallis)
