Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[Karl Henning]

Hooray, Grant Park Festival just published its schedule, we're getting VW #4 this year:

http://www.grantparkmusicfestival.com/2018season/prokofievwilliams

Très cool!

[Oates]

Albion are due to release the first recording of Beyond My Dream: Music for Greek Plays in 2018

See link https://rvwsociety.com/Beyond-My-Dream/

Has anyone heard this yet? I must say I'm tempted by its description as "more than an hour of unknown but lovely music, from the early maturity of Vaughan Williams, now recorded for the first time."

[vandermolen]

Has anyone heard this yet? I must say I'm tempted by its description as "more than an hour of unknown but lovely music, from the early maturity of Vaughan Williams, now recorded for the first time."

Not yet but the samples sound good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ralph-Vaughan-Williams-Sinfonia-ALBCD033/dp/B077MT9GYH/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1517196610&sr=1-1&keywords=vaughan+williams+beyond+my+dream

[vandermolen]

Has anyone heard this yet? I must say I'm tempted by its description as "more than an hour of unknown but lovely music, from the early maturity of Vaughan Williams, now recorded for the first time."

I agree with the description having just listened to the CD right through. What surprised me was how characteristic the music was of later VW scores. Parts reminded me of 'Riders to the Sea' and 'Pilgrim's Progress'. There's quite a lot of spoken accompaniment but that was not a problem for me and really added to my interest. In all a rather beautiful and moving CD. I'm very pleased to have bought it thanks to Oates's enquiry.

[Oates]

Just ordered this myself - the completist in me would might have won out eventually in any case, but it does sound like a top drawer RVW effort.

[vandermolen]

Just ordered this myself - the completist in me would might have won out eventually in any case, but it does sound like a top drawer RVW effort.

I'm sure that you won't be disappointed - in some respects, I think, it is one of the most interesting and unusual of those Albion releases. Let us know what you make of it. I want to hear it again myself over the weekend.

[Christo]

I'm sure that you won't be disappointed - in some respects, I think, it is one of the most interesting and unusual of those Albion releases. Let us know what you make of it. I want to hear it again myself over the weekend.

Agreed. Gave it a first spin this week - it's available on Spotify since a couple of days - and am positively surprised.

[aukhawk]

I've always considered Boult to be my ideal for VW's 5th Symphony, but I recently stumbled by chance upon the recording by Carlos Kalmar with the Oregon SO, dating from 2012.  Surprisingly the timings for all 4 movements between Boult/EMI and this recording are very similar indeed, however that said the overall approaches could hardly be more contrasted and I do, against all my instincts, really like the newer recording.

Boult of course is fully buttoned-down and the music unrolls without any untoward fuss or incident, all climaxes supressed and dynamics smoothed in the interests of maintaining the stiff upper lip.
The engineering was highly regarded in its day but does sound a bit bloodless by current tastes.
Under Kalmar by contrast the music really wears its heart on its sleeve with every moment wrung out for all its worth.  The Romanza in Kalmar's hands is quite exhausting.
The engineering is exceptionally fine, one of the best orchestral recordings I've heard, and the orchestra seem on good form with the various soloists never putting a foot wrong.
The 5th is coupled with Britten's Four Sea Interludes, and Elgar's Cockaigne.
The same team have also recorded VW's 4th, I haven't listened to this but it's coupled with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and that is again IMHO a strong front runner in its field (though competing with Britten's own recording which is hard to beat).

[asin]B009FA3T5O[/asin]

[Karl Henning]

I've always considered Boult to be my ideal for VW's 5th Symphony, but I recently stumbled by chance upon the recording by Carlos Kalmar with the Oregon SO, dating from 2012.  Surprisingly the timings for all 4 movements between Boult/EMI and this recording are very similar indeed, however that said the overall approaches could hardly be more contrasted and I do, against all my instincts, really like the newer recording.

Boult of course is fully buttoned-down and the music unrolls without any untoward fuss or incident, all climaxes supressed and dynamics smoothed in the interests of maintaining the stiff upper lip.
The engineering was highly regarded in its day but does sound a bit bloodless by current tastes.
Under Kalmar by contrast the music really wears its heart on its sleeve with every moment wrung out for all its worth.  The Romanza in Kalmar's hands is quite exhausting.
The engineering is exceptionally fine, one of the best orchestral recordings I've heard, and the orchestra seem on good form with the various soloists never putting a foot wrong.
The 5th is coupled with Britten's Four Sea Interludes, and Elgar's Cockaigne.
The same team have also recorded VW's 4th, I haven't listened to this but it's coupled with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and that is again IMHO a strong front runner in its field (though competing with Britten's own recoding which is hard to beat).

[asin]B009FA3T5O[/asin]

Very interesting, thanks.

[Baron Scarpia]

[asin]B009FA3T5O[/asin]

Elegant cover art, in which they have reduced clutter by eliminating superfluous information, such as what music was actually recorded.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

The same team have also recorded VW's 4th,

I heard Kalmar do the 5th at Grant Park a few years ago, and I expect to hear him do the 4th this summer. I recall the 5th as sounding fairly Boult-ish in the first 3 movements, but having a lot more energy in the finale, which I liked.

[aukhawk]

I've not commented on the 4th because it's not music I enjoy, but this is the album.  The Sinfonia da Requiem as I say is very fine partly due to the very close, detailed and involving recording technique, which I would expect to also benefit the 4th.  This issue also includes fragments by Ives and Adams.

[asin]B005MQJLGQ[/asin]

[kyjo]

I've always considered Boult to be my ideal for VW's 5th Symphony, but I recently stumbled by chance upon the recording by Carlos Kalmar with the Oregon SO, dating from 2012.  Surprisingly the timings for all 4 movements between Boult/EMI and this recording are very similar indeed, however that said the overall approaches could hardly be more contrasted and I do, against all my instincts, really like the newer recording.

Boult of course is fully buttoned-down and the music unrolls without any untoward fuss or incident, all climaxes supressed and dynamics smoothed in the interests of maintaining the stiff upper lip.
The engineering was highly regarded in its day but does sound a bit bloodless by current tastes.
Under Kalmar by contrast the music really wears its heart on its sleeve with every moment wrung out for all its worth.  The Romanza in Kalmar's hands is quite exhausting.
The engineering is exceptionally fine, one of the best orchestral recordings I've heard, and the orchestra seem on good form with the various soloists never putting a foot wrong.
The 5th is coupled with Britten's Four Sea Interludes, and Elgar's Cockaigne.
The same team have also recorded VW's 4th, I haven't listened to this but it's coupled with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and that is again IMHO a strong front runner in its field (though competing with Britten's own recording which is hard to beat).

[asin]B009FA3T5O[/asin]

Thanks for bringing this release to my attention - it had slipped under my radar. It's always great to hear non-British conductors and orchestras in Vaughan Williams (and other British composers), since they often bring a more fiery and extroverted approach to the music than their British counterparts.

[Baron Scarpia]

I have to remind myself of how many recordings I already have of this material...

[aukhawk]

That's why I didn't itemise the Ives fragment above - after all, how many recordings of The Unanswered Question does one person need?  (Don't answer that)

Thanks for bringing this release to my attention - it had slipped under my radar. It's always great to hear non-British conductors and orchestras in Vaughan Williams (and other British composers), since they often bring a more fiery and extroverted approach to the music than their British counterparts.

Indeed.  This is why I do like the Robert Spano / Atlanta SO rendering of the Sea Symphony.  He trims 10 minutes off the total duration of Mark Elder (to take a Brit conductor at random) - and, although I'm usually a 'slower is better' person, this one works for me.  Don't get me wrong though in this thread - in general I'd go for English conductors and orchestras for English music every time - likewise for any 'nationalist' composer such as Dvorak or Sibelius.  I actually was in the audience for a Boult/LPO performance of the 5th Symphony, at around the time his EMI recording was made, and it's an occasion I'll never forget.

[asin]B00006AAV7[/asin]

[Biffo]

I've always considered Boult to be my ideal for VW's 5th Symphony, but I recently stumbled by chance upon the recording by Carlos Kalmar with the Oregon SO, dating from 2012.  Surprisingly the timings for all 4 movements between Boult/EMI and this recording are very similar indeed, however that said the overall approaches could hardly be more contrasted and I do, against all my instincts, really like the newer recording.

Boult of course is fully buttoned-down and the music unrolls without any untoward fuss or incident, all climaxes supressed and dynamics smoothed in the interests of maintaining the stiff upper lip.
The engineering was highly regarded in its day but does sound a bit bloodless by current tastes.
Under Kalmar by contrast the music really wears its heart on its sleeve with every moment wrung out for all its worth.  The Romanza in Kalmar's hands is quite exhausting.
The engineering is exceptionally fine, one of the best orchestral recordings I've heard, and the orchestra seem on good form with the various soloists never putting a foot wrong.
The 5th is coupled with Britten's Four Sea Interludes, and Elgar's Cockaigne.
The same team have also recorded VW's 4th, I haven't listened to this but it's coupled with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and that is again IMHO a strong front runner in its field (though competing with Britten's own recording which is hard to beat).

[asin]B009FA3T5O[/asin]

It is a good thing when non-British conductors and orchestras record RVW but I can't share the enthusiasm for Kalmar in the 5th. There is an attractive bite to the brass in the second movement but I find the rest prosaic. I will stick with Boult or Barbirolli (though both need remastering) or Previn. For more modern sound there is the excellent Spano with the bonus of a more attractive, to me, fill-up. I have sufficient recordings of the Britten Sea Interludes but can never get enough of the Tallis Fantasia.

Spano is my favourite for the Sea Symphony though the fairly recent Elder/Halle recording runs it close. For some really interesting, non-British RVW Rozhdestvenky and The State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture - mind-boggling in places.

I will have to give Kalmar in the 4th Symphony a try later.

[vandermolen]

Forthcoming release:
[asin]B078X9KRCN[/asin]
I like the coupling of symphonies 5 and 6, which is surprisingly unusual. As far as I'm aware only Slatkin and Marriner have issued this combination of works.

[Karl Henning]

I've not commented on the 4th because it's not music I enjoy, but this is the album.  The Sinfonia da Requiem as I say is very fine partly due to the very close, detailed and involving recording technique, which I would expect to also benefit the 4th.  This issue also includes fragments by Ives and Adams.

Nay, those are shorter works, not fragments (The Unanswered Question and The Wound-Dresser).

I once thought I liked the Adams, but I wonder quite seriously if just what I thought well of was, the Whitman text.

[Christo]

I like the coupling of symphonies 5 and 6, which is surprisingly unusual. As far as I'm aware only Slatkin and Marriner have issued this combination of works.

The Thomson set has the same coupling (for me, it works better than the original release of the Sixth - with the bass tuba tattering the silence a few seconds after the 'al niente' of the symphony's final movement. 

[Karl Henning]

The Thomson set has the same coupling (for me, it works better than the original release of the Sixth - with the bass tuba tattering the silence a few seconds after the 'al niente' of the symphony's final movement. 

Dead on!  The Sixth must close out the program.