The penultimate CD in the latest BBC Legends release consists of two fourth symphonies from the early twentieth century. They were performed in the Royal Albert Hall by the BBC Symphony Orchestra led by Malcolm Sargent. The first of these, Ralph Vaughan William’s fourth symphony in F minor, first performed on April 10, 1935, was recorded on August 16, 1963. The second was Jean Sibelius’ Opus 63, recorded on September 2, 1965. This is a much earlier composition, given its debut on April 3, 1911. Taken together, these could have made for a concert program unto itself; but it would probably be too grim for most audiences. For those that recall my observations about Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 65 (eighth) symphony in C minor (the fourteenth album in the collection), this is another “Force be with you” recording!
I have to say that, however pessimistic the rhetoric may be, both of these symphonies offer much to engage the attention of the serious listener. I am pretty sure that I have only heard the Sibelius in concert, and that was a San Francisco Symphony performance conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. I later found a DVD of him conducting the same composition with the Boston Symphony Orchestra when he was much younger. Clearly, this is music that he has relished (since “enjoyed” does not seem appropriate) over the course of his entire career.
On the other hand I have been somewhat disappointed that Vaughan Williams does not receive much attention here in San Francisco. This reminds me of the old joke about the monorail being “an idea of the future that time has passed.” There is richly extensive diversity in the Vaughan Williams catalog, and I continue to treasure the box set of Adrian Boult conducting all nine symphonies for EMI. (These were recorded in sessions with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra.) More recently, readers may recall that I have been following the Vaughan Williams Live series released by SOMM Recordings, the fourth volume of which is currently scheduled for release at the beginning of next month.
The recordings for this BBC Legends collection are now over half a century old, and their release on this CD does a great service to music that does not deserve to be forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment