Decca's homage to Walton in his centenary year takes
the form of this four-disc set which gathers together the various recordings
made by Andrew Litton and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra through
the 1990s. The original issues were rightly acclaimed, so this reissue
can be warmly welcomed as an outstanding contribution to the centenary
year.
Andrew Litton consistently proves he has an affinity
with this music. On CD1 his performance of the First Symphony brings
the necessary rhythmic directness to the music, and is particularly
exciting. Here as elsewhere the excellent Decca recording aids the cause
to the full, while the playing of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
is virtuoso, to say the least. There is great symphonic tension, one
of the strengths of this magnificent work, while the slow movement is
eloquent and deeply felt. Moreover the finale makes the kind of shattering
impact that Walton intended. He was always irritated by the critical
opinion that the finale was the weakest movement, calling it 'in many
respects the best of the four'. So he would have been pleased with what
Litton achieves here.
The Symphony is coupled with the Cello Concerto, in
which Robert Cohen is the eloquent soloist. When in 1955 the great cellist
Gregor Piatigorsky commissioned a concerto, Walton's response was characteristic:
'I'm a composer. I'll write anything for anybody if he pays me. Naturally
I write much better if I'm paid in dollars.' The formula is similar
to those deployed in the other concertos, with a slow and reflective
opening movement, and the cello's extended first theme is among Walton's
finest inventions. To Piatigorsky he wrote: 'So happy you should think
the whole work wonderful. It is to my mind the best of my three concertos
- but don't say so to Heifetz.' Cohen's thoughtful approach serves the
music well, and his tone is always pleasing, not least in the final
movement's cadenza. It is a feature of this performance that the slower
music has a special tenderness, for example the transition into the
finale is most affecting.
CD2 contains the Scapino Overture, the Violin
Concerto and the Symphony No. 2. The Violin Concerto (1939) was the
first major composition after the First Symphony, whose success had
spurred Jascha Heifetz to commission it. Walton feared that it was 'extremely
intimate, with not much show and bravura', but in the end it was enthusiastically
received, its volatile mixture of brilliance and tenderness proving
an ideal combination. Tasmin Little is an artist who has worked with
this orchestra and conductor on many occasions, and their close collaboration
pays dividends. As we might expect of a concerto written for Heifetz,
the virtuoso technical demands are fearsome, but they are triumphantly
met.
The Scapino Overture, composed during 1940 for
the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's fiftieth anniversary, is at the same
time lively and elegant, with an exuberant Italianate mood inspired
by a commedia dell' arte figure, a servant in the mould of Till Eulenspiegel
and Leporello. The nature of Walton's overture is best indicated by
reference to the word derived from Scapino's name: escapade. These characteristics
are understood by Litton, whose rendition abounds in darting mischief.
The Symphony No. 2 was commissioned in 1957 to celebrate
the city of Liverpool's 750th anniversary, but was only completed three
years later, receiving its first performance at the Edinburgh Festival.
Inevitably, it has remained in the shadow of its predecessor; but its
character is quite different and comparisons are unhelpful. The scale
is deliberately more restricted, the subtleties more concentrated -
only gradually are the music's secrets revealed, and with them its passionate
emotions. It does, however, require one of the largest orchestras Walton
ever employed (bigger than in the Symphony No. 1), and Litton takes
every opportunity to show the score's subtleties and strengths. His
powerful rendition of the passacaglia finale is most compelling.
CD3 includes the instrumental suites drawn from Façade,
and two works connected with another giant of 20th music, Paul Hindemith.
After the headstrong Lionel Tertis had rejected the Viola Concerto,
the premiere was rescued by Hindemith, who was a talented violist as
well as a major composer. Walton never forgot this, and when he was
asked to compose an orchestral work for the Royal Philharmonic Society's
150th Anniversary in 1963, he wrote a set of variations on a theme taken
from Hindemith's Cello Concerto.
The Variations on a Theme of Hindemith is one
of the best pieces Walton composed during the later stages of his career
(he had just turned sixty at the time). The orchestral writing is assured,
so too the balance of material imaginatively drawn from the source.
It is a veritable orchestral showpiece, which only the best orchestras
dare perform. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which like Britain's
other regional orchestras is an international orchestra which happens
to be based in the regions, confirms its stature. The playing is assured,
though Andrew Litton's performance might have been a little more unbuttoned
had the players known the music more intimately. The recorded sound
is very good, since Southampton Guildhall has an excellent acoustic
for recordings.
Paul Neubauer is an agile soloist in the Viola Concerto,
which is among Walton's handful of greatest achievements. The recorded
balance with the orchestra feels absolutely right, and he is not over-lit,
as string soloists can often be when recordings are made. The performance
has a real sense of ebb and flow, of tension and relaxation, and only
in terms of the soloist's richness of tone does the performance give
ground to the competition, such as Nigel Kennedy's pairing with the
Violin Concerto (EMI). This issue is most noticeable in the slower music,
of course.
Andrew Litton has made his own selection from the two
instrumental suites Walton took from Façade. His preference
is to combine these short movements in his own order, which is clearly
explained in the listings. The suites bring plenty of solo opportunities,
and the Bournemouth players relish them. But whether the music is really
worth hearing in this arrangement is open to debate (I hope other people
enjoy it more than I do); certainly it seems a pale shadow of the original,
in which the witty delivery of the two narrators adds another dimension.
Take them away and the music seems short of personality and wit, like
a sandwich without the filling. In the context of the whole set, it
seems a pity that Litton chose to record this music rather than finer
pieces such as the Capriccio Burlesco and the Partita.
CD4 has a splendid performance of Belshazzar's Feast,
well recorded in the ample acoustic of Winchester Cathedral. Thankfully
the acoustic is less ample as delivered by the Decca engineers than
it is 'in the flesh'. Bryn Terfel is predictably fine as the baritone
soloist, but the real stars of the show are the members of the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra, here augmented by extra brass players. The various
choral forces respond keenly to Litton's direction to make the most
of this highly dramatic work.
Muir Mathieson's Suite from the Henry V film
music is heard in an evocative and atmospheric performance, though there
is no lack of excitement when the battle music comes along. The two
coronation marches can feature more orchestral detail than the Winchester
acoustic allows, but they are both given effective performances. Orb
and Sceptre is conducted by David Hill, who has enjoyed a close
relationship with the orchestra over many years, and the disc is completed
by his richly dramatic performance of the Coronation Te Deum.
Decca provides detailed access points for all these
works, including each individual variation in the 'Hindemith' piece,
for example. And the booklet notes are full and very well organised,
including the full texts of the vocal pieces.
Terry Barfoot
Robert Cohen (cello), Tasmin
Little (violin), Paul Neubauer (viola)