This coupling is not wholly inappropriate, though
I dare say that some stern listeners would have preferred a meatier
companion for the Elgar than these two pieces by Vaughan Williams. That
said, one doesn’t often hear the
Aristophanic Suite
in full; if you’re lucky, you’ll just get the overture buzzing
away.
The Elgar gets a more than respectable reading. Michael Stern’s
take is quite relaxed as one can probably tell from the outset - from
C.A.E. in fact - that the music will be presented spaciously
in places, grandly in others. Stern marks the music’s punctuation
points well here, and he encourages a warm sonority although the string
welling lacked weight and sweep. What can’t be gainsaid is the
recording quality, a real Prof. Johnson 24 bit Special. I’ve had
the pleasure to have encountered other examples of his engineering legerdemain
and it should be bottled. The recording has terrific clarity and spatial
depth but also refinement, with plenty of detail registering. Note especially
the percussion and the organ pedal note at the end, but the less showy
moments, such as the wind choir passages, register beautifully as well.
The Kansas City principals are on show in this work and I assume it’s
viola principal Christine Grossman who has her moment during
Isabel
whilst the first cellist, Mark Gibbs, is on hand during
B.G.N.
which receives rather a cool reading; for me it’s often the most
beautiful moment in the work,
Nimrod notwithstanding. Talking
of
Nimrod, Stern takes it easy at a tempo that would have made
Vernon Handley apoplectic. I rather like hearing it this way even though
it makes the music susceptible to an awkward transition at the end.
The finale, however, is strongly and solidly done. In this work I must
always fight to get Pierre Monteux’s recording out of my mind;
his tempi and balancing have long been hardwired into me. Yet I was
able to appreciate Stern’s approach even though it’s consistently
more laid-back than many.
The
Wasps is a lovely work. With recording quality as good as
this, there’s no danger of missing the music’s strands,
whether they are the harp, solo violin and horns in the overture, the
deftly balanced
March, with excellent dynamics, or the sturdy
Entr’acte with folk-like B section. That said, the overture
somewhat lacks the effusive extroversion and rhythmic incision of André
Previn’s classic LSO reading.
Greensleeves makes a delightful
VW pendant.
This enjoyable series of performances, with their
de luxe recording
quality, reflects well on the whole production. You won’t look
here for a first choice
Enigma, but you will find thoroughly
idiomatic and engaging musicianship.
Jonathan Woolf
See also review by John
Quinn
Masterwork Index: Enigma
variations
Vaughan Williams review index
