As the BBC Symphony
Orchestra’s first, and long-standing
conductor, Boult might be considered
the BBC legend but so far this
series has dedicated only two discs
to him (the present issue dates from
about four years ago). At least the
first disc gave us his Schubert "Unfinished",
which he had recorded only in the 1930s,
and works by Bizet, Ravel and Sibelius
that he never recorded at all. This
one is based around the Schubert "Great
C major", which he recorded three
times. Now that the last recording,
from 1972, is out on CD at last, the
question is, does the present issue
have anything to offer.
Regarding Boult’s interpretation,
which is an essential one, I have written
at length in my review
of the EMI issue and will not repeat
myself here. On the present CD Boult’s
former orchestra plays very well, the
recording is pretty successful for a
live occasion in a hall with problematic
acoustics, the audience’s expectorations
are about the norm for this sort of
thing and wild applause breaks out while
the final chord is still playing. Under
studio conditions in the excellent venue
of the Kingsway Hall the LPO is a shade
more polished, but I would trade that
off if the live performance had an extra
degree of incandescence; not that the
EMI version is studio-bound – far from
it. I seem to remember hearing a relay
from the Proms in the 1970s that did
have just that bit extra - or am
I just imagining it, does anyone remember?
- but the 1969 one here impresses most
of all by its consistency with the 1972
recording. In other words, if the studio
recording had never been made, we would
accept this live one gratefully, but
the studio recording was made
…
If you already have
the much-issued Brahms Academic Festival
Overture and Alto Rhapsody with Janet
Baker which complete the EMI issue,
then the addition of two new pieces
to the Boult discography might sway
you to the BBC Legends disc. You can
hear that the RPO was still working
to get the notes of the Cherubini under
their fingers - not that they trip up,
but you get the idea they might at any
moment. Boult doesn’t make life easy
for them with a (rightly) swift tempo.
The only other time I’ve heard this
piece it went rather slower and sounded
very staid; I don’t remember the conductor.
Boult also obtains some notable dynamic
shading. The Cornelius is an interesting
alternation of jokey vivacity and swooning
romanticism. Flexibility is of the essence
and Boult gets it just right. The 1963
RPO recording is very good, the 1954
one is close and airless – neither better
or worse than the recordings Boult was
making for Nixa at about this time.
It’s nice to hear (if we doubted it)
that Sir Adrian’s knack of taking a
little-known piece and giving it a real
interpretation, not just a run-through,
was not confined to British composers.
I do hope more Boult
issues will follow from BBC Legends,
and that they will concentrate on music
that the conductor did not record commercially,
unless the compilers of the series really
feel they have access to a performance
that is markedly superior to the studio
one.
And one last point.
Boult recorded quite extensively during
the 1950s and early 1960s for labels
such as Nixa, Concert Hall, Vanguard,
Everest, Westminster and World Record
Club. Could those holding the rights
to these recordings not be a little
more generous about letting us hear
them?
Christopher Howell
see also
review by Chris Fifield
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1), BBC Symphony
Orchestra (2, 3)/Sir Adrian Boult 
