A whole raft of
Geoffrey Simon’s Philharmonia discs have been restored to
the catalogue by Cala in SACD format. He made some recordings
of French repertoire with the LPO as well. And of course he
also made recordings in Australia amongst which this Melbourne
outing was one of the most splendidly attractive.
Its central point
of interest, even amongst such things as the two Hill-Songs
and Danish Folk-Music Suite, remains the scintillating
drama of The Warriors. It’s only eighteen minutes in
length but manages to pack in a visceral punch aided by the
three pianos and the battery of percussion and the off-stage
trumpets. Evoking mythical heroes and heroines Grainger veers
from bacchanal to languorously erotic. The “orgy of war-like
dances, processions and merry-makings” is vivid and vertiginous;
the “amorous interludes” exploit his gift for evocative string
layers, the whole piece pulsating to the rhythms of martial
and terpsichorean abandon. The Melbourne Symphony and Simon
have its measure to a wonderful degree – corporate virtuosity
and flair are here in abundance. We go from jazzily brazen
brass to intimations of Gershwin - I thought of the Gershwin
of An American in Paris. And we also veer from moments
of almost dainty reflection to Baxian half tint (try the very
Baxian oboe at 10.20), to a bold Elgarian climax and those
rich unison brass calls. In short this is a score throbbing
with invention and licence. The sensuous violin solo, the
kaleidoscopic textures, and the loquacious audacity mark this
out as a benchmark Grainger recording.
The Hill-Songs
are strongly characterised and differentiated and are
in their fullest orchestral versions here. No.1 is rich with
whole tones and moments of Delian inspiration. No.2 makes
a fine contrast being faster and full of brio. The Danish
Folk-Music Suite contains four sections; The Power
of Love, Lord Peter’s Stable-Boy, The Nightingale
and The Two Sisters, and finally the long Jutish
Medley. The first of these is one of Grainger’s most
beautiful lyric creations whilst the second has a fresh air
feel with the solo piano once again very much to the fore
in the aural perspective. The third movement was dedicated
to Grainger’s close friend the cellist Herman Sandby, which
accounts for the long and expressive cello solo. Grainger’s
control of the eloquent string lines is a constant delight.
The smaller items
are hardly makeweights. The Irish Tune from County Derry
is Danny Boy naturally and its harmonically coiling
twists keep one on edge. Beautiful Fresh Flower is
heard in Peter Sculthorpe’s orchestration – complete with
harp shimmer and a reflective and benign tam-tam at the end.
Colleen Dhas is a folk setting of great warmth – one
of his first such.
An auspicious
return for this disc then. The SACD format hasn’t given quite
so much of a sense of immediacy as did a recent Respighi-Simon
disc but the original recording of the Grainger was fine in
any case. Classic Grainger for your collection.
Jonathan
Woolf
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Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra/Geoffrey Simon
[66:46]
