Gerald FINZI (1901-1956)
Dies Natalis Op. 8 (1939) [42:15]
Intimations of Immortality Op. 29 (1949) [24:20]
John Mark Ainsley (tenor)
Corydon Singers and Orchestra/Matthew Best
rec. 8-10 February 1996, All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London
Originally issued on Hyperion CDA66876
Texts included
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55432 [66:47]
The coupling of Finzi’s largest-scale score Intimations
of Immortality with his other work based on the theme of childhood innocence
Dies natalis is such an obvious one that it is surprising that no
release except this one has ever combined the two.
For many years indeed, while Dies natalis was one of Finzi’s
most popular and recorded scores, Intimations laboured under something
of a cloud which went right back to the critical disdain with which it was
treated in some quarters at the time of its first performance. It was not
until 1975 that it first appeared on disc, in a Lyrita LP conducted by Vernon
Handley that has subsequently found its way onto CD and was rapturously received
by Rob Barnett in his review
for this site. Although it was an analogue recording it convincingly resolved
some real problems that Finzi created in his scoring of the work, which perhaps
deserve some more detailed exploration.
Although Finzi had been working on his setting of Wordsworth’s ode for
many years, the final preparation for the first performance seems to have
been something of a rushed job. This might explain the rather literal recurrence
of the Holst-like dance of joy towards the end of the work, where a more considered
approach (or possible later revision) might have cut back on the excited xylophone
passages which don’t really evoke the image of a shepherd boy. It would
also serve to explain the rather curious nature of the part Finzi wrote for
the tenor soloist. Although he clearly expected a lyric tenor to deliver many
of the lines, at other points he surrounds the solo voice with choral and
orchestral textures which make it very difficult indeed for the tenor to make
himself heard – as I can testify from a live performance in Hereford
Cathedral which I attended in the early 1980s. In order to obtain a satisfactory
balance for recording, therefore, it is almost essential to favour the soloist
to a certain extent in the placement of the microphone. In the Lyrita recording
Ian Partridge — not a large-voiced singer — comes through with
just about the ideal measure of clarity. When Richard Hickox came to record
the work some years later, Philip Langridge’s somewhat larger voice
was placed further back in the mix with two rather undesirable results (review).
Firstly, the delicate passages such as “The rainbow comes and goes”
tended to recede into the choral texture in a manner that blurred the melodic
line. Secondly, the necessity for Langridge to force his voice is all too
evident at times, resulting in unsteadiness that sometimes approaches unpleasantness.
Both these recordings were made in large concert halls, which is clearly appropriate
to the overall sound required. Lyrita seem to have appreciated the problems
this causes more than EMI for Hickox.
Here John Mark Ainsley has clearly been assisted to a greater or lesser degree
by the microphones, and the results are more satisfactory than with Langridge
on EMI. The orchestral sound is more closely integrated than with Handley
on Lyrita, with the xylophone for example less obtrusively forward in the
balance. The results, recorded in a smaller location, do not altogether escape
from a sense of artificiality. The sound is that of a church performance closely
observed, not at all unpleasant but somehow lacking the naturally expansive
acoustic that one might desire. Matthew Best and his Corydon forces have an
enviable reputation for their performances of English choral music. These
include an absolutely superb recording of Vaughan Williams' neglected
Lord, thou hast been our refuge which is one of my all-time favourites.
The present recording just misses that sense of superlative excellence which
one finds elsewhere.
Ainsley, despite the assistance from the microphones, lacks the clarity of
diction that one finds with Partridge. Hyperion commendably supply the complete
text of the Wordsworth ode (including the verses that Finzi did not set, highlighted
in italics in the booklet) but one does find that one really needs them in
order to follow the words in a way that was not so essential in the Lyrita
recording. The same lack of clarity is also evident in the performance of
Dies natalis. Here the touchstone must be that by Wilfred Brown made
in the 1960s and conducted by the composer’s son Christopher where not
only was every word crystal-clear but where the sense of ecstasy in the Rapture
was unequalled. Ainsley is decidedly superior to the unsteady Philip Langridge
(EMI Classics) and Martyn Hill (Virgin Classics) who sang the role for Richard
Hickox’s two later recordings. His delivery of lines such as “the
corn was orient and immortal wheat” has just the right sense of withdrawn
mystery that the words demand.
In the final analysis I do not think it is simply the fact that I initially
encountered these two thrilling works in the old performances featuring Ian
Partridge and Wilfred Brown that gives me a preference for those original
recordings. This is despite their evidently ageing analogue sound and other
defects. At the same time the coupling of these two works is so self-evidently
right that nobody who acquires this reissue need feel at all that they are
settling for second-best. The recording quality is considerably superior to
that found on the old Lyrita and EMI issues. Anybody who does not know either
of these scores is in for a real treat, and the Hyperion Helios booklet gives
all the information that was to be found in the original full price Hyperion
release. Reviewers on this site have also recommended the Naxos
release of the Intimations of Immortality as even better, but the
couple of For St Cecilia is less appropriate unless purchasers already
have Dies natalis in their collection.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Finzi Discography & Review Listing
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