I can't imagine what it must have been like when these first began to come out in the mid-1980s. Standards of orchestral performance, and familiarity with this repertoire, had grown exponentially since the mono recordings of Sir Adrian Boult in the 1950s. Technically speaking, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the EMI recording crew were light years ahead of that first cycle.
I'm not one to pit one era against another. Each has its strengths. The recordings made by Boult for Decca had the composer in the concert hall, collaborating with the interpretation - they are indispensable and of the era of the music itself.
But this cycle must have been a revelation for its listeners. The intonation, articulation, command of the musical material, and recording is at such a high level in comparison to the older editions that it must have seemed at times like a first hearing of certain aspects of the pieces.
Recorded in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, on 27-29 July, 1988, A Sea Symphony (No 1) has a crispness and clarity that was at least close to unprecedented in earlier recordings of the piece. The orchestra was clearly comfortable with everything, responding with virtuosity to every request (a quality that becomes a hallmark of this Vaughan Williams cycle. The orchestra really is a star over the course of these works).
Soprano Joan Rodgers and baritone William Shimell are excellent. the liner notes for the 2002 reissue (which is the set I own) by Andrew Achenbach say that no less than Michael Kennedy called Rodgers's performance "by far the most dramatic account of the soprano part I have heard" in his review for Grammophone magazine. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir has the power and skill to match the orchestra and soloists. This is a very solid performance and will not be a disappointment to those who love the piece. It has a freshness and lightness of touch, despite its power, that seems to suspend time a bit - it does not seem just short of 70 minutes long. But the real thrust of this particular review is for the next symphony.
This recording of A London Symphony (No 2), made on 3 and 4 March, 1992, might be my favorite. Perhaps it took a couple of generations of orchestras playing these pieces, but it seems this recording is a real arrival point for stylistic concerns. The strings don't play as though they are interpreting Brahms or Beethoven - instead they approach Vaughan Williams as the descendent of Purcell - there's a transparency, a lightness of texture even in the grandest moments, that gives this music an English freshness. The woodwinds are perfectly balanced, all soloists play with feeling, precision, and what seems effortless intonation (though it never is - players have to work an entire career to gain and maintain this type of mastery and relationship with their fellow players). The interplay of clarinet, flute, oboe, English horn, is some of the finest you'll hear, which brings me to a major complaint I have regarding nearly every classical recording ever released:
Would it kill the record companies to take one page of the liner notes and name the musicians? After all, they're the actual men and women who made the sounds recorded - not the conductor or the recording engineers. Is there anyone as ignored as the average symphony orchestra musician? Half the time, some musicologist will write a bunch of nonsense for pages and pages (okay, sometimes it's not nonsense, but you get the idea), and even he'll get his name in the booklet - but the principal clarinet, flute, trumpet, or even concertmaster (not to mention everyone else) is anonymous. It's time to move the orchestra out of the age of medieval serfdom! We want to know who made these incredible sounds! If anyone knows the roster for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic at the time of these recordings, please feel free to post them in the comments. Let's start a movement for the musicians themselves! It's time their contributions were recognized!
Having said this, the brass and percussion hit the brilliant climaxes as well as any others on record. Handley's interpretation is mature without ever becoming stodgy, allowing the music to ripen perfectly (such as in the second movement, which some are tempted to take too slowly, others too quickly). The dialogue between the sections of the orchestra suggests an ensemble who know each other and the music extremely well. I can't get over the beauty of the clarinet playing in the second movement, along with the viola, cello, flute, oboe. It's just one of the finest recordings of this piece ever made.
The contrasts in the Scherzo are brilliantly handled. The violins play the initial light thematic material with meaning and direction - not taking any measures off. Once again the clarinets are excellent, and the contrasting brass (from mellow reflective French Horn passages to biting, insistent interruptions) are turned quickly. Such music making can only be done with great attentiveness and willingness. Nothing is ever rushed to "get to the next bit" but nothing lacks direction and forward motion to the proper musical goal. It's deeply satisfying.
All of these observations for the first three movements hold for the fourth movement epilogue. The pacing is perfect, the life is always there, the momentum of the phrases. Bravo Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and bravo Vernon Handley. They've really done justice to a masterpiece here.
A word on the sound: I have heard various criticisms of the sound engineering on this cycle. I'm surprised by this - my discs are excellent - none of the problems others have expressed. In fact, they might be the best (clearest and widest range of volume) of all the sets I own. Perhaps some critics were unfortunate as to which pressing they received? I don't know. All I can say is that I'm grateful I got the set I have, which is top notch.
On to Handley's recordings of the Pastoral Symphony and Symphony in F minor (No 4):
I have neglected these recordings for nearly twenty years, thinking I preferred Boult and Slatkin to the offerings here. While I still love the Boult and Slatkin, I won't make that mistake again. Once again, the wind players shine in the Pastoral Symphony - really some of the finest in any recordings of RVW - and the interpretation is beautifully paced, yet dynamic. Pay close attention to the articulation in the third movement and you'll be rewarded. The sound might be the best of any recording of the Pastoral I've reviewed yet - the dynamic contrasts are bold and perfectly timed. While it won't replace my love for Boult's EMI version, this rendition won't go out of the rotation again.
As for the fourth, what can I say? Of all performances, I should never have let this one slip by the wayside. It might be the best I've ever heard of the piece. I've talked in earlier reviews about the decision to emphasize violence, beauty, or the monumental quality of this work. Well, Vernon Handley and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic seem to consider that a set of false choices, and opt for all three at once! It's dynamic, crisp, huge sounding, beautiful and fierce, simultaneously. The rhythmic interplay is second to none and rivals the later recording by Slatkin and the Philharmonia for RCA, which has long been my favorite - but maybe not now. This version is really excellent and among the very best performances of any RVW on disc.
Thrown in as an extra, to lead off this disc, is the English Folks Song Suite (originally for wind band), in Gordon Jacobs's arrangement for orchestra. It's delightful and sets the stage well for the two symphonies that follow.
The next disc in my set pairs the Symphony in D major (No 5) with Flos Campi and the oboe concerto. I'll review the oboe concerto at another time, but here suffice it to say that the choice of Flos with No 5 was brilliant. Though it's an enigmatic piece loaded with symbolism almost under the guise of a viola concerto, it's approached by Handley almost like a missing symphony between 4 and 5. This approach really works. It breaches the gap aesthetically and connects the two piece somehow, preparing listeners for the religious symbolism of what Michael Kennedy called the "Symphony of the Celestial City", so deeply is No 5 imbued with music from RVW's then unfinished opera, The Pilgrim's Progress.
Caveat: There are very few recordings of 5 that impress me. I absolutely love Bernard Haitink's rendition of it, and generally find others lacking in his power and majesty. One other version that deeply impressed me was Gennady Rozhdestvensky's live recording with the USSR State Symphony. All that aside, this is a very good version of the piece. You really can't go wrong with it - and once again the sound and dynamic contrasts are among the very best.
By the time we've reached the Symphony in E minor (No 6) in this cycle, we're expecting the same thing all the other symphonies have delivered: a fantastic performance by a perfectly balanced orchestra dominating any and every difficulty of these pieces, interpreted with an unerring hand. That's a lot to live up to, but they deliver once again. The violence is there, the beauty is there - the broad theme from the first movement played with that Purcellian quality in the strings that I have mentioned before in this review. The dread of the second movement yields to the ferocity of the third, more convincingly than Boult. It would be superior to Boult's Decca recording in nearly every way, except for the last movement. There is nothing wrong with Handley's interpretation or the RLPO's execution of the music - it is simply missing the added magic that Boult drew out of the orchestra with the composer present. An unrepeatable moment to be sure, and nothing to blame Handley for not having! Once again, though, you cannot go wrong with this version.
I really wanted to like this recording of Sinfonia Antartica (No 7). The orchestra had already proven, and proves once again, that it could give Handley everything he asks for - but they can't tell him to ask for the right things. I'm not a rigid authoritarian when it comes to following the score - I don't insist upon the letter of the law when the spirit moves - but when the interpretation violates both, we have a problem. And such a problem exists, very obviously, in some of the tempi chosen for this, which tend to be glacially slow.
The real trouble begins in the scherzo. The movement is headed by a quote from Psalm 104 - "There go the ships, and there is that Leviathan, whom thou hast made to take his pastime therein." It's a Psalm of praise to God for all things. To drive this symbolism home, RVW chooses his "Glory to God" theme from Hodie as the opening horn call for the movement. The tempo is marked moderato with the dotted quarter note = 58. Handley takes it, literally, at half tempo. The "Glory to God" sounds like it's in slow motion, and the music simply dies. When we get to the penguin music, it sounds ridiculously heavy. Giant monster penguins with mighty teeth, perhaps. The symphony never really recovers. So much of it just sounds so slow, it becomes a feat of endurance, not unlike the dying crew of Scott at the South Pole.
I'd be lying if I denied the effectiveness of some of Handley's ideas - the finale has some truly great moments. And the orchestra sounds great, sonically - as consistent as ever throughout the set. But when both meaning and the composer's instructions are ignored, it makes for a disappointing experience. There are plenty of better versions of this symphony, and it is one of the only disappointments of this set.
Handley returns to form for the 8th symphony. I don't know how popular it is these days to refer to this Symphony in D minor as the "little 8th", as it once was, but I never thought it wise to approach the piece from this angle. Though shorter in duration, and not as massive, it has moments of real grandeur and expansiveness that can be wrongly overlooked if seen as some sort of little excursion. Handley doesn't overlook these moments, nor is this treated like a little excursion. The first movement, which is one of RVW's most enigmatic, is handled with subtlety and power. I'm not sure why, but the opening celesta part is often late, even on some studio recordings. It's a minor detail, but the first thing I listen for in a recording of the 8th - does the celesta come in on time, and is the performance deliberately pedantic to enable it? Well, the celesta comes in on time here, and the performance is not pedantic. It seems a hallmark of the Handley/RLPO cycle that assumed technical coping mechanisms for delivering these symphonies aren't needed.
I prefer the second movement to be more sardonic and biting than it is here. To me, this is one of those points of similarity with two of RVW's great Russian contemporaries: Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Especially in his later years, he was capable of the type of cynical and almost grotesque writing they so often excelled at - and I think this wind band scherzo alla marcia is an example. It's one of the reasons I really like the performance by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra under Gennady Rozhdestvensky - they really get what is going on here. Handley opts for a more regal, staid approach, which is perfectly acceptable and well played by the winds of the RLPO.
The string cavatina of the third movement is another thing altogether. What a fine performance this is - not tossed off as "one more pastoral moment for VW", but at times straining, aching counterpoint in the strings. There is certain hint at leave taking in this symphony, of a saying goodbye at last, which I think is very poignantly felt in this movement.
The finale is fantastic - with all of the added percussion - perfectly balanced, you really enter the soundscape with this excellent recording. Massive but fleet of foot, catching every detail and seeming to break the bonds of "this mortal coil."
The 9th opens hauntingly. Pay close attention to the harp in the beginning - the pulse and the atmosphere so subtley written and executed. After the first introductory climax, the clarinet section interlude unfolds beautifully into the string and brass counterpoint. The RLPO go from intimate to massive in sound very quickly, but it's hardly detectable because so organic. The tempi are perfect.
I'll be the first to admit I usually find this piece more disturbing than comforting. It does seem the final leave taking of the great composer, but not like the Pilgrim reaching the glorious end of his journey. The darkness and gloom can seem overwhelming. Handley & Co don't ignore any of this. But somehow, their entire approach - perfectly balanced winds, brass, percussion, and strings - with an emphasis, even when massive, on transparency and lightness of string sound that harkens back in English history, makes the emotion more bearable. I want to emphasize that my use of the word "lightness" for the string sound does not mean "weak." It is light but strong, like good armor or weaponry. There is a clarity here amidst the gloom, that makes us willing to follow RVW through the dark night on Salisbury plain to the Cathedral spire and the stars.
This approach informs the whole piece - and because of this, the second movement Andante Sostenuto isn't a slog - it has all the depth of sound needed, but is always moving forward towards its inevitable destination. At the time it was recorded, I don't think there was a better performance of the 9th. The sense of timeless floating is achieved throughout in the lyrical sections. I can't get over the contrasts from the most intimate, almost chamber music like passages transitioning instantly to some of the most massive, confrontational 20th century music written. The RLPO raised the bar for everyone in this set.
The saxophones go from haunting to sardonic and hectoring in the scherzo. None of the lines are lost, and everything delivered clearly, with meaning. The outbursts of percussion, during the saxophone chorale passages of the scherzo are so good - how balance was maintained with such diverse forces, and such dense writing -it's almost miraculous. The transition to the fourth movement really gives us a feeling of Tranquillo as indicated in the score. I've always found the final movement demands emotional and psychological patience. The RLPO doesn't just push through it, though - instead, with the clarity and patience of their own utterance, we're brought through mountains and valleys of sound, all the way to the dazzling conclusion with harps, cymbals, trumpets, and saxophones.
In my review of Sir Adrian Boult's first, foundational RVW cycle, I mention that every collection should have at least two cycles: that first one and another. I can wholeheartedly recommend the EMI cycle by Vernon Handley and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic as the second cycle. It raised the bar for all orchestras afterwards, and has almost unparalleled consistency of greatness. The interpretations are almost all uniformly brilliant.
Once again, let's praise the RLPO soloists. The clarinet, flute, oboe, violin - everyone. The whole orchestra should be listed in the liner notes. They are the ones who made these glorious sounds, after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment