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Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Oration - Concerto elegiaco for cello and orchestra H180
(1930) [31:07] Phantasm for piano and orchestra H182 (1931) [27:19]
Julian Lloyd Webber
(cello); Peter Wallfisch (piano)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite
rec. Southwark, October 1976 (Oration) and Kingsway Hall,
November 1975 (Phantasm) LYRITA
SRCD.244 [58:32]
To begin I can do no better
than to quote what Rob Barnett said in his review of this
recording: "This is a disc for Bridge connoisseurs". Those
who are collecting Richard Hickox's set of the complete Bridge
orchestral music on Chandos may feel that they do not need
a second recording of these two Bridge masterworks. Those
who have been long-term admirers of the composer will probably
already have these recordings in some form. I will try to
provide a few reasons why this particular version is important.
Bridge's Phantasm has
been ably recorded by Howard Shelley in the Chandos set,
but it must be said that the performance by Peter Wallfisch
on Lyrita is perhaps the most distinguished of his career.
The work is based on two related ideas that are taken though
four complex movements and is spectral throughout and frequently
terrifying. This is where Wallfisch excels - he brings these
aspects out in a mixture of increasing and decreasing intensities
that ably serves Bridge. In this he is brilliantly assisted
by Nicholas Braithwaite, creator of so many fine Lyrita recordings
(see
my review of his performance of the Rawsthorne Symphony
No. 2). The recording dates from 1977 and was an excellent
one for the time, although it had a tendency to be a little
murky. That problem has been cleared up in the digital re-mastering
and the sound is now almost like new, except for certain
woodwind passages in the third section.
Julian Lloyd Webber was
at a different place in his career when he made this recording
of Oration, but he provides the seriousness that this piece
requires and occasionally his playing is extremely searching
and incisive. Oration comprises eight sections, mostly varying
between moderato and allegro, leading to a searing lento,
followed by a slightly hopeful andante. It is unique in its
particular brand of sadness. We expect sadness from an anti-war
work, but Bridge's sadness contains a weariness that make
it stand out from a work such as Bliss's more heroic Morning
Heroes, almost as if it's too much effort not to be sad.
Lloyd Webber is best in the connected fourth and fifth sections
- an ironic march leading to a progressively more enervated
cadenza. Again Braithwaite and the LPO provide splendid support,
although their contribution is not quite as crucial as in
the Phantasm.
Overall, I prefer Lyrita's
Phantasm to the Chandos version, in spite of the recording
issues, while I think Raphael Wallfisch's Oration on Chandos
and Lloyd Webber's are about equal in terms of depth. The
recording of the latter by Alban Gerhardt I have not heard.
Overall, the Wallfisch family does well, although only one
Lloyd Webber was present. As said above, not a recording
for everyone interested in these Bridge masterworks, but
one many will want to have.
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