Mackerras here proves
himself a fine Elgarian and far more
than competent.
He is expert in pacing
and balance. This can be sensed from
the confident steady gait of the opening
of the First Symphony through
to the fly-away fantasy of the Allegro
molto and the return to auburn
sunset in the attentively shaped Adagio.
The recording is splendid with a very
nice rasp on the brass – witness the
trombone almost drawing blood off
the listener’s earlobes in the finale.
The magnificently bellowing horns
recall at 9:09 Harty’s With the
Wild Geese.
Mackerras also delivers
a sprightly and characterful Cockaigne
with plenty of drive and idiosyncratic
tone. Again the brass are rambunctious
(6:34).
Mackerras sails into
the start of the Second Symphony
with torrential power which keeps
coming. This ends up producing a giddy
feeling as if a clock mechanism has
gone haywire. The Larghetto provides
stillness but its climax lacks the
slashing emotional power of the Solti
or Colin Davis’s recording on LSO
Live. The finale develops an admirable
stomp and is exciting without a doubt
but does not at its climax at 8:04
onwards the greater deliberation takes
away some of the rush felt in the
hands of Svetlanov, Barbirolli, Solti
and even Boult.
I had just been listening
to George Weldon and Gladys Ripley
in Sea Pictures. Ripley
was an alto while Della Jones is a
mezzo. Even so Jones sounds groaningly
deep and she fulminates impressively
in The Swimmer. She manages
to fend off the plummy oh-so-British
delivery but even so she is not as
clear in her enunciation as Ripley
nor does she seem to engage as closely
with the words. The orchestral part
is glorious and Mackerras points up
the delicate writing with mastery.
Raymond Tuttle’s
background notes are helpful.
The words of Sea
Pictures are not included.
In terms of exegesis
I would not place this above the Solti
recordings – also on Decca. The fully
digital sound is naturally superior
to early 1970s Decca analogue even
from the fine team they had in those
long gone days. However these Mackerras
readings satisfy with insight and
excitement.
Rob Barnett
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Charles
Mackerras (CD2) 
