In some quarters Sir Adrian Boult was too easily – and unthinkingly
- pigeonholed as a specialist in English music towards the end
of his career, chiefly, perhaps, because that was what EMI –
and Lyrita – principally invited him to record. However, he
had a justifiable reputation as an interpreter of the Austro-German
classical repertoire and happily he set down some distinguished
recordings for EMI, not least a complete Brahms symphony cycle
and a fine Schubert Ninth.
This Brahms symphony performance, given at the Proms in 1976,
finds Boult in very fine form and he gets an excellent performance
from the BBC orchestra. What impressed me throughout was the
sheer vitality of Boult’s interpretation. That’s evident from
the very start, where he injects vital impetus into the first
movement introduction. The music can sound rhetorically tragic,
massive or grandiose in other hands. Boult avoids this trap
completely - listen to the timpani stokes, for example; they
are firm but there’s no pounding. When the main allegro
arrives Boult ensures that the music is invested with fine energy
– he takes the exposition repeat, by the way. In fact I can’t
readily recall so lithe an account of I other than by conductors
following ‘period’ practices, such as Mackerras and Gardiner.
This litheness is not just a question of pacing or rhythmic
articulation either; it extends to matters of texture and with
Boult you never feel that Brahms’s orchestration is dense.
The second movement is warmly lyrical yet Boult always seems
clear-eyed. The orchestral playing is good and one notices fine
solo contributions from the principal clarinet and oboe as well
as from the orchestra’s leader and the first horn in the closing
pages. Boult achieves a nice, airy feeling in the third movement,
which he relates back, it seems to me, to the composer’s Serenades
– if memory serves me correctly, somewhere in my collection
I have Boult recordings of those two Serenades.
The introduction to the finale is invested with just the right
degree of tension – there’s grandeur in the imposing horn call.
When the Big Tune appears Boult gives it sufficient breadth
but he also moves the theme along with good purpose. As the
movement unfolds there’s palpable urgency – one feels the electricity
of a live reading – and, indeed, I had the impression that things
get just a little too hectic for a moment around 7:40 but the
ensemble is soon fully back on track. The concluding pages are
impressive and exciting, earning huge cheers from the audience
– and one feels the reception is justified.
The performance of ‘Enigma’ isn’t quite as exciting. It’s a
fairly sober account, one might say, though it’s never dull
or plain. Rather, Boult lets the music speak for itself, which
is a wholly valid stance. One has the impression of level-headed
authority. Among things that particularly caught my attention
were the tremendously incisive and dynamic timpani playing in
Variation VII. The celebrated ‘Nimrod’ is most impressive; Boult’s
approach is patrician and dignified and the climax has genuine
and unforced grandeur. Variation XI has terrific energy. The
finale may surprise listeners for Boult begins it at quite a
steady tempo and he maintains close control throughout. However,
he still manages to give the music life and grandeur. Towards
the end the Royal Albert Hall organ, played by George Thalben-all,
adds its weight and sonority to the proceedings, ensuring that
the conclusion is indeed ‘nobilmente’
These are fine, wise performances, which act as welcome supplements
to Sir Adrian’s studio versions of these works. Even if you
have those recordings this CD is well worth your attention for
the frisson of a live occasion is definitely present. The recordings
have come up pretty well and there’s a characteristically good
note by Boult’s biographer, Michael Kennedy.
John Quinn
Masterwork Index: Enigma
Variations ~~ Brahms
Symphony 1
George Thalben Ball (organ)*
