"The question of Bax…is a question of bothering
– bothering to look at and study the scores. He must, in the nature
of things, eventually find his ideal interpreter."
At the time Christopher Whelen wrote that statement
in 1970, it must have appeared that Bax had few if any supporters.
Most of Bax’s ardent champions were either dead or near death.
Few of the up-and-coming British conductors were showing much
enthusiasm toward Bax except perhaps Norman Del Mar, Maurice Handford
and Vernon Handley. Handley and Del Mar each had a recording of
a Bax symphony to his credit by 1970 but when in 1971 Lyrita decided
to continue its Bax symphony cycle, they chose a conductor with
almost no history of performing Bax’s music. Raymond Leppard conducted
the final two recordings in that cycle and his Baxian credentials
were a little more established. Handford and Del Mar did
record a few Bax symphonies for BBC Radio 3 during the late 1960s
and early 1970s but their efforts on Bax’s behalf were soon superseded
by those of Vernon Handley. During the 1970s and 1980s, Handley
emerged as Bax’s most committed champion and he recorded an impressive
number of Bax’s orchestral works for BBC Radio 3. He also managed
the occasional concert performance but invitations to record Bax’s
music commercially never came.
It’s well known that when Chandos decided to
embark on a Bax series in the 1980s, they chose house conductor
Bryden Thomson rather than Vernon Handley, who at that time was
closely associated with EMI. Thomson was not that familiar with
Bax’s music when he started his cycle but he succeeded brilliantly
in his first few recordings with the Ulster Orchestra. When he
began recording the symphonies with the London Philharmonic, his
performances became more mannered and heavy and the sound of the
recordings more reverberant and harsh. His Chandos recordings
of the symphonies have beautiful moments but aren’t very successful
as a whole and I personally find them very difficult to listen
to with the exception of the Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies.
Handley came very close to recording a complete
Bax set for EMI Eminence. His recordings of Elgar, Delius and
Vaughan Williams had won many accolades and as a reward for his
sterling work, EMI invited him to record Bax. Unfortunately, a
shake-up in the management at EMI nixed those plans and the set
never occurred. Around that same time, Handley was approached
by Naxos to record a Bax cycle but he had to decline due to his
commitment to record the symphonies for EMI. By the time the EMI
deal fell through, Naxos had already offered the project to David
Lloyd-Jones who went on to record a complete cycle that only just
concluded with the release last month (October 2003) of the Seventh
Symphony. Following the sluggish Thomson set, the Lloyd-Jones
recordings came as a breath of very fresh air. Lloyd-Jones’s leaner
and more urgent approach to Bax challenged many critics’ assumptions
that Bax’s symphonies are rhapsodic and structurally unsound.
In fact, the Lloyd-Jones recordings brought about a reappraisal
of Bax that cannot be overestimated. While some have criticized
the Naxos recordings for the sterile sound or even Lloyd-Jones’s
performances for lacking interpretive flair, it should also be
kept in mind that these recordings have done more to introduce
Bax to a wider audience and in effect, make the new Handley set
possible.
The Vernon Handley set came about thanks primarily
to the General Manager of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Brian
Pidgeon. Handley had been invited to record Bax’s Third Symphony
and Tintagel with the BBC Philharmonic and those recordings were
to be released as a companion disc to the October 2003 BBC Music
Magazine issue honoring the 50th anniversary of Bax’s death. Pidgeon
attended the recordings sessions and was so impressed with Handley’s
performances that he proposed to the BBC that Handley be invited
to record the entire set for broadcast on Radio 3. At the same
time he approached Chandos with an invitation to release the recordings
and remarkably, both the BBC and Chandos gave the go ahead to
the project. I suspect the success of the Naxos series encouraged
them to proceed. Both Chandos and BBC wanted to broadcast and
release the recordings in time for last month’s anniversary so
a very short recording schedule was planned. Handley recorded
the remaining six symphonies and the Rogue’s Comedy Overture in
less than nine months time. The First and Sixth Symphonies were
recorded in September following a highly acclaimed public performance
by Handley and the BBC Philharmonic of both symphonies. The Manchester
BBC team as well as Chandos rushed the completed recordings into
production and the set was released in mid October 2003. So finally,
we have our Vernon Handley Bax set. Has the wait been worth it?
I can honestly say: even more than I imagined.
What sets these recordings apart from those of
Thomson, Lloyd-Jones and the partial Lyrita
set is that here we have a master conductor, at the absolute height
of his powers interpreting music that he loves passionately. While
Thomson, Fredman, Leppard and Lloyd-Jones are all very fine conductors
and certainly did their best by Bax, they were not in any way
specialists in his music before making their recordings and their
performances by-and-large lack the authority that is so characteristic
of these new recordings. Hearing Handley in this music has been
a revelation in the way that he is able to express so much affection
for the music while at the same time maintaining a very tight
and steady control of the tempo. I have no hesitation in recommending
the new Handley performances over all the competition in all but
one of the symphonies and there the competition is rather close.
Apart from the performances themselves, these new recordings absolutely
trounce the competition in terms of the extraordinary quality
of the sound (a weakness in the Thomson set) and the orchestral
playing (a weakness in the Lloyd-Jones set…those RSNO strings
just can’t match the lush sound produced by their colleagues in
the BBC Phil). BBC sound engineer Stephen Rinker has done an amazing
job capturing all the detail of the playing in a very open and
warm acoustic. The immediacy of the sound truly is startling.
Not since the classical Lyrita recordings of the 70s has Bax been
so well served sonically.
What follows is my own subjective assessment
of how these new Handley recordings compare with earlier recordings
of each of the symphonies:
Symphony No. 1 - Here Handley absolutely annihilates
the competition. This new recording is one the great glories of
the set and I suspect it will go a long way in rehabilitating
the reputation of this symphony, even among ardent Baxians. The
problem has always been in the rather bombastic final movement
that in some performances doesn’t follow naturally after the overwhelming
ferocity and tragedy of the first two movements. Handley’s performance
of the last movement has a good deal more weight and majesty about
it as well as a sparkling energy that comes from Handley’s scrupulous
attention to dynamics. For once it doesn’t come across as an afterthought
but rather as a triumphal conclusion to a battle hard fought.
Thomson is also very good in this movement but his fondness for
frequent ritenutos distorts the first movement all out of shape.
Fredman’s premiere recording on Lyrita is extremely well recorded
and played but seems just a little too clean and efficient for
this extremely dramatic music. I’m very fond of the Lloyd-Jones
interpretation on Naxos but here his engineers really let him
down and the recording is just too aggressive and bright to be
enjoyed on a regular basis. And while Lloyd-Jones certainly matches
Handley in terms of visceral power, he doesn’t allow for the same
sort of expressive playing that Handley and the BBC Phil manage.
Theirs is the more personal and involving performance and in sound
that is absolutely state-of-the-art.
Symphony No.2 – My standard reference recording
for this great masterwork has always been Myer Fredman’s Lyrita
recording from the early 1970s. For one thing, it is brilliantly
recorded and for the most part, brilliantly played by the London
Philharmonic. Things do get a little sticky in the lead up to
the big climax in the second movement but considering the time
restraints this recording was made under, it is a very successful
production. Bryden Thomson’s interpretation is typically expansive
and he emphasizes the dark undercurrents of the score but does
so at the expense of any forward momentum. His performance literally
plods along in the final movement and some of the playing by the
London Philharmonic is very untidy. His epilogue is certainly
the bleakest on record and I have to commend the performance for
some very individual touches but overall it is just too heavy
and flat. David Lloyd-Jones’s interpretation is a very fine one
but his RSNO simply can’t create the huge sonorous sound that
is required for this symphony and much of the blame there is the
very dry recording. The new Handley easily surpasses both the
Thomson and Lloyd-Jones accounts and actually the old Fredman
too although I wouldn’t want to be without it. Handley’s performance
is the most tempestuous, expressive and concentrated but I do
miss a little of the grave power Fredman achieves in the final
movement as a result of taking it just a tad slower. However,
Fredman’s performance of the epilogue isn’t nearly as ominous
as Handley’s (who is more measured here) and overall I would say
Handley’s is now the definitive account.
Symphony No. 3 – Here the competition is a little
tougher but even so Handley sweeps the board. His new recording
is a revelation and easily the best since the Barbirolli and if
I had to chose between them, I’d chose the new Handley for its
obviously superior sound and orchestral playing and for an even
more dramatic performance. The Third Symphony isn’t the easiest
symphony to pull off, evidently. Edward Downes secures fine playing
from the London Symphony Orchestra in his 1969 RCA recording but
the performance never catches fire. I can’t even listen to the
Thomson recording because it is just too slow and the symphony
sounds disjointed in his hands. The Lloyd-Jones is an improvement
but it strikes me as just a bit under characterized. That certainly
can’t be said of the old Barbirolli but Handley’s new recording
is every bit as affectionate and warm while at the same time being
tauter and more brilliant. Admittedly, it has taken me a little
while to get used to the very fast opening tempo of the first
movement. The great interweave of the theme among the woodwinds
is very stark and really moves quickly. By the time we reach the
Allegro Moderato, the music is really moving along quickly, but
not frantically – and that is an important point. What I like
most about this performance is that there is always a sense of
power in reserve and when Handley has to calls upon that power
such as in the coda to the first movement, the impact is overwhelming.
The glorious second movement is very expressively phrased but
I would have liked a more pronounced harp during the magical piu
Lento section of this movement – but in every other way, the performance
and recording couldn’t be improved upon. The third movement opens
with terrific force and the entire movement is very urgently and
steadily paced. The great epilogue is the best on record, no question.
It is grave and otherworldly rather than sweet and sentimental
– and really quite chilling as a result. This recording is truly
a tremendous achievement.
Symphony No. 4 – The most problematic of Bax’s
symphonies???? That has certainly been its reputation but I believe
that assertion is unjust. It is a joyful, brilliant, exhilarating
and at times very moving symphony that requires the very best
playing and most sensitive conducting of the entire set to come
off properly. Certainly, the first movement can sound very rhapsodic
if it isn’t paced with the right amount of control. My chief complaint
about the otherwise brilliant Thomson recording is that he seems
to start and stop a lot in that movement and it all sounds disjointed.
I quite like the Lloyd-Jones on Naxos as he’s very disciplined
and he really keeps things moving but in comparison with the new
Handley, he’s a little poker faced and a lot less expressive.
The new Handley is unquestionably the greatest recording of this
fine symphony although I do wish he hadn’t taken the coda to the
final movement quite so fast. It is thrilling but perhaps it doesn’t
have the overwhelming grandeur that his semi-amateur Guildford
Philharmonic forces were able to summon in his earlier 1964 recording.
Of course, that recording can’t compete with Handley’s remake
in terms of playing or sound but it is a remarkable interpretation
and I’m not sure Handley has improved upon it, at least in the
last movement. Still, the new Handley is stunning and I can’t
imagine it being improved upon any time soon.
Symphony No. 5 – Very surprisingly, this fascinating
but still rather difficult symphony has consistently brought out
the very best from all its interpreters. This is the one Bax symphony
that has never received a bad performance, in my opinion. Raymond
Leppard’s premiere recording on Lyrita is outstanding. It is very
naturally and sensitively paced as well as brilliantly played
and recorded and Leppard has always been the most successful in
avoiding any strain or bombast in the epilogue of the last movement.
Bryden Thomson on Chandos isn’t nearly as successful in the epilogue.
His pulse is way too slow there but that is the only blemish on
an otherwise brilliant performance, easily the best from his entire
set. Certainly, his is the most expressive and personal performance
up until now. The Fifth Symphony also brings out the best in Lloyd-Jones
although here again, the playing and recording do let him down,
particularly in the middle movement, which sounds very scrappy
at some points. As fine as all these recordings are, they pale
in comparison to the new Handley, perhaps the highlight of his
set. Again, Handley’s urgent but very expressive phrasing pays
huge dividends, particularly in the first movement, which sounds
much more cogent and exciting than usual. His performance of the
second movement is darker and more brooding while the last movement
is also the fastest on record but again, not frantic and he does
allow the tempo to slow down enough so that the glorious chorales
do sound majestic. Handley is as successful as Leppard in navigating
his way from the last chorale into the epilogue and his performances
ends on an even more triumphant note. This is an astonishing performance
that should convince everyone that the Fifth Symphony is as great
a symphony as Bax ever wrote.
Symphony No. 6 – Arguably Bax’s masterpiece and
not only Handley’s favorite Bax symphony but also among his favorite
of all pieces of music. You would suspect then that his performance
would be something very special and indeed it is. I predict this
performance will become the standard reference for many people
but I have to admit that I am still very partial to Norman Del
Mar’s classic Lyrita recording from the late 1960s, despite its
spot-lit sound. It may be the case of a very personal performance
imprinting itself so vividly into my imagination that no other
performance quite sounds right. Certainly the old Thomson doesn’t
challenge it primarily because the reverberant recording is so
bad but also because his pacing in the middle movement and the
scherzo and the huge climax of the last movement is so lethargic
that the symphony loses most of its power. I find his performance
very underwhelming. I prefer Douglas Bostock’s interpretation
but his Munich players are overwhelmed by the demands of this
symphony and they’re recorded in a very dry acoustic. David Lloyd-Jones’
recording on Naxos is extremely fine and actually quite similar
to the new Handley although Lloyd-Jones is a little faster in
the first movement. His may even be the most exciting of all in
the huge climax and here he is assisted with better than average
Naxos sound and an RSNO that sounds absolutely inspired. True,
they still have a small string sound but the wind playing is exceptional.
I love Handley’s slightly slower tempo for the first movement
because he makes it sound so dark and barbaric. His pacing for
the second movement is certainly fast but not much more so than
Lloyd-Jones. He also benefits from John Bradbury’s extraordinary
clarinet solo in the opening of the third movement. Admittedly,
I’m not yet comfortable with the slight acceleration in tempo
he takes after figure 34 where the direction is Poco and then
Molto largamente (for a broadening effect) as it seems to undercut
the intense majesty of the music in that section but that’s a
very minor quibble. Handley’s way with the epilogue is extraordinary.
It’s not as slow or serene as some others but again he manages
to create an otherworldly atmosphere that is deeply profound.
I have no hesitation in recommending the new Handley as the definitive
available choice due to the superiority of the playing and recording
as well as Handley’s many insights into the score but for me it
will still have to come behind Del Mar. For me, Del Mar remains
the best at being able to combine the relentless energy and logic
of Handley and Lloyd-Jones with a kind of haunting magic and beauty
that is unique to his account. This is very subjective of course,
but it is the Del Mar that moves me the most deeply and convinces
me that this symphony is among the greatest masterworks of music.
Unfortunately, the Del Mar is not available unless you are lucky
enough to have it on LP. Until it finds its way onto CD, the new
Handley will serve as my reference but the Lloyd-Jones is just
about as good.
Symphony No. 7 – My sentimental favorite of all
Bax symphonies (as it was the first I ever heard) and judging
from Handley’s performance, I suspect he has a special place in
his heart for it as well because his performance is so affectionate
and sensitive. It has all the magic and beauty that this great
symphony requires and easily surpasses all the competition. That
said, Thomson is very good in this symphony too and I love his
way with the opening movement. He’s a little too slow in the second
movement and perhaps a bit too dry eyed in the glorious epilogue
but I still enjoy hearing the Thomson from time to time. I love
the old Leppard recording on Lyrita but Handley’s is even more
imaginative and engaging in the outer movements. The great glory
of the Leppard recording has always been the lento middle movement
and I’m not sure Handley surpasses him but he certainly matches
him at tempos a little faster and a coda that is just as moving.
I was terribly disappointed with the new Lloyd-Jones on Naxos.
Something went terribly wrong with the recording as it’s just
awful and even the performance sounds coarse - a particularly
inappropriate sound for this beautiful symphony. Handley again
becomes my new reference in this work.
Tintagel and Rogue’s Comedy Overture – The only
other conductor to ever have recorded the Rogue’s Comedy Overture
is Handley himself – for Lyrita but never released. I can’t imagine
a more engaging or coherent performance than this new recording.
It’s a very likable piece and one that shows off the brilliance
of the BBC Philharmonic players. This is Handley’s first recording
of Tintagel and here the competition is very stiff. The top contenders
are obviously Goossens in a very fast and passionate interpretation
that is soon to be re-released on Symposium, the Decca Boult from
the mid 1950s (a far superior performance to his rather leaden
Lyrita account but not nearly as well recorded), the EMI Barbirolli
from the mid 1960s and the very fine Thomson with the Ulster Orchestra
on Chandos. Handley’s performance is actually unlike any of them
in that he is broader and more atmospheric and his is unquestionably
the most beautiful performance of Tintagel I’ve ever heard and
I would rank it along side the Barbirolli as my favorite. Both
interpretations complement each other because both approaches
are so different but in their ways equally effective.
In addition to the music, we also get an hour-long
interview with the great Maestro himself as well as a written
interview with him in the liner notes. Bax has never had a more
articulate or knowledgeable champion and it is a pleasure to hear
and read his comments. I am very grateful to the BBC and Chandos
for making the audio interview available. It will remain an important
historical document on the dedication and understanding of a master
musician on behalf of a great composer. Handley is indeed the
conductor that Whelen was hoping would come about and rescue Bax
from obscurity. That it took nearly 30 years for these recordings
to come about only indicates how long it can sometimes take to
revive a reputation. I’m just grateful that Handley has at last
been invited to record these symphonies that he loves so much.
I have no hesitation to compare this set of recordings in terms
of importance or musical greatness with the definitive editions
of Beecham’s Delius, Barbirolli’s Elgar, Boult’s Vaughan Williams,
Kempe’s Strauss, Karajan’s Bruckner, Bernstein’s Mahler, Martinon’s
Ravel, etc – these Bax performances are truly that great. Now,
will someone please invite Handley to record November Woods, Garden
of Fand and the Winter Legends!
Richard Adams
see also review by Rob Barnett
Graham Parlett
The
Arnold bax Web-site
BBC Philharmonic/Vernon
Handley