June round-up
Havergal Brian – In Memoriam; Gothic Symphony features the
New Philharmonia Orchestra under Charles Groves, and the
1976 BBC recording comes across with a warmth which matches the Romantic language of the early In Memoriam, although its 20-minute span does sprawl. That’s less of an issue in the first three movements of the Gothic Symphony (all that was played in the concert) where the playing isn’t always quite as confident or accurate, and the more intricate orchestral detail in some passages is lost. It’s sometimes the fault of the composer, rather than the acoustic of the Royal Albert Hall, and quieter sections are more successful. (Heritage HTGCD 172 ★★★)
One of Brian’s great champions was Robert Simpson, and the premieres of Simpson’s own Symphonies Nos 5 & 6 also come from the BBC archives. Both benefit from the acoustic of the Royal Festival Hall, and the 1973 performance of the Fifth, with a young Andrew Davis conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on top form, is a tour de force. Despite a few intrusive coughs, both the energy and the concentration of the music shine out. The London Philharmonic Orchestra under Groves aren’t quite in the same league in the Sixth, especially in the high scurrying string writing, but the overall Nielsen-like sweep of the music is well conveyed. (Lyrita SRCD 389 ★★★★)
Leningrad Harp & Concertos celebrates Tatiana Tower in studio recordings from her years as harpist with the Leningrad Philharmonic (1968-89). She’s heard solo in two idiomatically written fantasias on themes from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Queen of Spades, the latter by Valery Kitka, whose Frescoes of St Sophia of Kiev, not so much a concerto as a series of character pieces, shows off the range of Tower’s tone and technique. These are even more in evidence in Ginastera’s Concerto, uniting Tower with her colleagues of the Leningrad Philharmonic, where lyricism rubs shoulders with acerbic attack; and in the intimate charm of Debussy’s Danses, with the Taneyev
Quartet. (Northern Flowers
NFPMA 99140 ★★★★)
Emma Boynet is a forgotten name from the French piano school of the early 20th century, but The complete solo 78-rpm recordings & Fauré LPS reveals an artist with a crystalline touch and a sure feeling for balance and rubato. There is a tendency to take fast pieces very fast, which gives a sense of rushing, especially in rondos by Weber and Haydn, and she is most convincing in slower French music. This makes the second disc of the pair the more valuable, with poise in Fauré’s Nocturnes and Barcarolles, a lovely account of the C sharp minor Improvisation and better sound from the LPS. (APR 6033 ★★★)
The main attraction in this 1970 concert performance in Vienna of Beethoven’s Leonore is its distinguished cast, with Gwyneth Jones in the title role, James King as Florestan – especially affecting in his great aria in the final Act
– and Theo Adam making a dark and sinister Pizarro. In practice, the male singers come off best, and Adam’s Act I duet with Gerd Nienstedt’s Rocco is a dramatic high point. Jones conveys passion, especially in her aria ‘Komm, Hoffnung’ (from Act II in this 1805 version) although her wide vibrato is often distracting. The ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra plays efficiently for Carl Melles, but rarely rises to distinction. (Orfeo C200052 ★★★)