RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Sir William WALTON (1902 - 1983)
Symphony no. 1 (1932 - 1935) [43:10]
Violin Concerto (1938-9, revised 1943) [33:05]
Tasmin Little (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Edward Gardner
rec. Fairfield Halls, Croydon, 3-4 February 2014 (Sym); Watford
Colosseum, 18 September 2013 (concerto), DSD
CHANDOS CHSA 5136 SACD [76:30]
To complement the reviews by John Quinn and Brian Wilson I compare
the 2009 account by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra/William Boughton
(Nimbus
NI 6119) which has the same coupling as this CD.
What strikes me most about the first movement (tr. 1) of Edward
Gardner’s Walton 1 is its nervy, tensile, dancing energy,
lightly articulated at first but soon bursting forth in fiery fashion.
It’s almost as if the opening theme on the oboe is incidental
to the atmosphere conjured up around it in which Gardner has already
fully involved you. The second theme (1:44) comes rather morose
but determined from the first violins. The third theme (2:31), introduced
by violas and cellos, has the wrenching quality of anguish. Gardner’s
climactic statement of the opening theme is at first powerful and
fresh, then melting and haunting. The movement’s middle section,
beginning with bassoon solo (5:06) is strikingly intimate, with
the solo viola backing distinct, one of many benefits in clarity
of the SACD recording. The strings’ tempo fluctuations thereafter
are, however, perhaps a touch over self-conscious. Walton’s
1951 recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Naxos download 9.80168)
is more convincing here in its combination of deliberation and character.
Gardner’s woodwind contributions above the strings’
line are pained and dramatic, the following desolate woodwind solos
disturbing. Gardner’s concluding procession (10:21) is compelling
in its forward pulse while the timpani in the coda have terrific
bite.
Taking 15:28, Boughton is far more expansive than Gardner’s
13:41 for this movement which is even more animated than the 13:51
of Walton’s recording. This gives the music a more febrile
quality where Boughton is more circumspect and inclined to savour
its melodies. His second theme is of gentler brooding, his third
theme warmer, less dislocated than Gardner’s. His climactic
statement of the opening theme and climaxes generally are more formal,
more rhetorical than Gardner’s but do not have Gardner’s
dramatic conviction. Boughton is more poetically indulgent yet romantically
moving in the desolate woodwind solos. His concluding procession
is stately and sonorous.
The second movement Scherzo (tr. 2) is marked ‘Very fast,
with malice’. Taking 5:46, Gardner is certainly the former,
but arguably the sheer virtuosity of display required and obtained
takes away a little of the venom. So here I echo John Quinn’s
review. Taking 6:10, Walton is more waspish, taking 6:27 Boughton
almost relaxed in both pulse and sonority, more observed, distanced
yet less contrasted than Gardner. The first theme (0:10) from Gardner
is of a furtive rustling, the second (0:50) playful and inconsequential,
the third (1:02) vigorous, the fourth (2:24) a wild dance. Speed
rather becomes the essence, a whirring mirage battered by brutal
timpani strokes. Gardner gets across well the manic unpredictability
between calm and violence.
Gardner does play the ‘slow’ movement (tr. 3) as an
Andante ‘with melancholy’. Its first theme (0:11), on
the flute, has the quality of a lament as well as sheer beauty and
you’re aware of its pained, angular line. The second theme
(1:21), on clarinet, is more questioning. The third (2:33) features
writhing arabesques on turn on clarinet, flute and oboe, yet there’s
something of reverie about these until that mood is dispelled when
the strings remove their mutes at 3:48. The gaunt return of the
opening theme on strings is counterpoised by the yearning of the
first violins’ sighs. Gardner achieves this with the utmost
delicacy. The climax is generated by the violas and cellos’
emotive outpouring of a now intense second theme and Gardner brings
to it blazing, tragic significance. At a slower tempo, taking 11:26
against Gardiner’s 10:56, Boughton emphasizes the reflection
of the first theme, more pained in the second theme yet more airy
in the third. Boughton is as sensitive as Gardner to the movement’s
emotive highlights but, lacking Gardner’s forward sweep, they
do not have Gardner’s sense of their wide-ranging significance.
Gardner’s finale (tr. 4) bristles with confidence and is delivered
with plenty of fizz. Its first fugue (2:48) lightly articulated
yet still with an edge. That brief, calm episode introduced by the
oboe (3:54) is well matched by silkily musing strings. The second
fugue (6:19) is more purposeful and pacy with the emphasis rightly
on progression rather than argument. The closing massive festivities
are relished as a virtuoso gathering from soft beginning but the
surprising emotive poignancy of the individual perspective of the
distanced trumpet solo (9:50) is also tellingly realized. Boughton’s
finale, at 13:25 against Gardner’s 12:29, emphasizes massiveness
at the expense of energy. Its first fugue is spiky and determined,
its second fugue stiffer, yet its trumpet solo appealingly forlorn.
The Andante tranquillo of the first movement of the Violin Concerto
is presented as expressive languor by soloist Tasmin Little with
a sultry orchestral backcloth from Gardner. The second theme (tr.
5, 2:39) has a more purposive sweep in the violins but soon appears
more freely varied and airborne from the soloist. The development
(4:10) arrives rightly as a bracing shock of an orchestral tutti
but Little’s cadenza seamlessly presents the worlds of the
skittering, expressive and reflective. A luminous flute solo signals
the recapitulation and Little responds eloquently with pearly tone.
Boughton and his violinist, Kurt Nikkanen are at 11:49 a touch faster
than Little/Gardner’s 12:12 yet less arresting in terms of
experience and feeling. Walton’s orchestral palette is equally
distinctive, the soloist more introspective, which is fine, but
displaying less sheer variety in the cadenza.
Little/Gardner revel in the virtuosity of the Scherzo, its first
theme all sunny will-o’-the-wisp bravura, its second theme
(tr. 6, 1:07) deliciously coy and then self-deprecating. The balmy
Trio, with the soloist’s musing response, is another world.
Nikkanen is more mercurial in the Scherzo, Boughton more boisterous.
Their Trio is more dreamy but less warm than Gardner/Little and
Nikkanen is less assured than Little, albeit his recall of the Trio
theme after the Scherzo return is more distinctive.
Little/Gardner present the finale (tr. 7) neatly contrasting and
from 4:33 uniting the initial, business-like thrust of the march
manner opening with the lyrical fascination of the pastoral second
theme (0:58) to which Little brings the graceful display as of a
bird’s aerial manoeuvres for the sheer joy of it. The surprise
return of the first theme of the first movement, at first affirmative
and later compellingly affectionate, is showcased by Little as part
of the natural order of things. Nikkanen/Boughton give the march
material a more distinct, rugged character but their lyricism is
less freely expressive, Nikkanen less poetic than Little, and in
their hands the return of the first movement material is less winningly
accomplished. And with Little/Gardner the intricate instrumental
layering of both works is fittingly served by the clarity and spaciousness
of SACD.
Michael Greenhalgh
Previous reviews: John
Quinn ; Brian
Wilson
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