The Pilgrim on disc

Recordings of the opera There are only two recordings of the full opera, and Vaughan Williams devotees will want both. Sir Adrian Boult completed the premiere version in 1971 as part of his lateflowering RVW cycle for

EMI. It was fortunate that Cambridge’s John Noble was still in such radiant voice, for this performance is dominated by his ardent embodiment of the Pilgrim which had so impressed the composer in 1954. The rest of the cast works magnificently as a team, and Robert Lloyd as Apollyon is impressively amplified as RVW suggested. Boult’s long-term vision ensures a natural cohesion without sacrificing theatrical immediacy or vivid incident and was glowingly captured at Kingsway Hall (Warner Classics 7642122).

Richard Hickox’s 1997 version was made in collaboration with The Royal Opera House. Gerald Finley is the warmvoiced Pilgrim and the rest of Hickox’s cast create plenty of characterful interaction, though Gidon Saks’s Apollyon is not amplified. With otherwise sumptuous Chandos sound, the Covent Garden forces respond idiomatically to Hickox’s clear-sighted direction. Though there isn’t really much to choose between these two magnificent accounts, Boult creeps ahead by a few whiskers for his greater architectural grasp of the overall structure and its emotional impact (Chandos CHAN 9625).