I’ve been looking in
the wrong places for recordings of the
first two Bax symphonies. Regular visitors
to the Musicweb site will have seen
that I have been exploring the Bryden
Thomson recordings of all the symphonies,
deleted by Chandos as CDs in favour
of the newer Vernon Handley versions,
but available as reasonably priced downloads.
In the main I have been impressed by
these Thomson recordings, even in comparison
with the Handley versions and those
of David Lloyd-Jones on Naxos, but the
first two symphonies have struck me
as the least impressive of the series.
Thomson’s tendency to linger and look
at the landscape is at its most pronounced
here.
In reviewing Bryden
Thomson’s version of the First, I found
that David Lloyd-Jones’s Naxos account
was tauter and hung together better
than Thomson’s but that his coupling,
Tintagel, was surely already
in the collection of any serious fan
of Bax’s music. Myer Fredman’s Lyrita
account has the same tautness and rightness
but with a much more generous coupling,
the equally neglected Seventh Symphony.
Knowing that I was
looking for an ideal version of the
Second Symphony in particular – significantly,
I’ve ‘sat’ on this after completing
reviews of all the others – our classical
editor, Rob Barnett pointed me towards
these Lyrita reissues. I am pleased
that he did so: I prefer Myer Fredman’s
version of the First to Bryden Thomson’s
and am inclined to agree with Rob that
Fredman’s Second is superior to everything
else that I have heard.
From the echoes of
Holst at the opening to the seamless
transition into the coda of the Finale,
Fredman’s Second hangs together as well
as his account of the First. It’s as
least as successful as the Lloyd-Jones
version on Naxos at presenting a symphonic
account of this work and, with a fine
version of the Fifth Symphony as the
coupling, more generous than either
the Thomson or the Naxos.
It would be pointless
to gild the lily by going over the same
ground as my colleagues who have already
reviewed these CDs – see CC’s review
of nos. 1 and 7 and RB’s review
of nos. 2 and 5. They convinced me to
try these versions and there is nothing
of substance in their reviews that I
do not concur with. This version of
the Second, in particular, comes as
an answer to my prayers and replaces
the Lloyd-Jones with which I have been
perfectly happy for some time. There
are aspects of Bax’s music here which
I have not heard in any other version.
The download versions
from emusic sound perfectly acceptable,
though some tracks of the First fall
short of even the nominal bit-rate of
192kbps – as low as 182 for the second
movement. The Second comes in superior
320kbps format and all but the young
and keen-eared are likely to be happy.
If you have any doubts, go for the CDs.
The downloads from
emusic come without cover illustration
or notes, unlike the Chandos downloads
of the Thomson versions. You can download
the notes from Chandos or Naxos, but
you may well prefer to forego the hassle
and purchase the CDs, especially when
they are available at so reasonable
a price on a sale-or-return basis..
As well as versions of the First and
Second Symphonies which I now rate the
best available, you will find yourself
in possession of equally fine accounts
of the fine Fifth Symphony and the unfairly
neglected Seventh.
If you thought Bax
rambling and unfocused – and found that
Thomson’s recordings confirmed you in
that belief – go for these generously-coupled
Lyrita CDs. We have many reasons to
be very grateful that the fortunes of
Lyrita and Nimbus have been revived
and these recordings are not least among
them.
Brian Wilson
see also:
SRCD.232 review
by Colin
Clarke
SRCD233 review
by Rob
Barnett (RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Feb 2008) and
Ian
Lace
London Philharmonic Orchestra/*Myer Fredman,
**Raymond Leppard. 
