Elgar: Enigma Variations
John Barbirolli, Halle Orchestra
EMI
Andrew Litton, Royal Philharmonic
Virgin Classics
When all is said and done, I keep going back to Barbirolli’s 1956 recording with the Halle Orchestra (not his later one with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra), a sweeping interpretation that makes the tender and humorous moments seem as one with the highly charged variations. Neither the orchestra itself nor the sound quality are the best, but the conductor had his forces utterly on fire when they made this recording, and Barbirolli does use an organ in the finale.
While Litton certainly captures Elgar’s full pomp and circumstance, he replaces any ponderousness with a marvelously bright, light, uplifted touch that captures the full panoply of characters from delightful to serious to humorous and skittish, linking all the parts into a really satisfying whole (also with organ in the finale). Litton covers the spectrum from really lovely to really exciting, even though engineers keep the orchestra (especially the strings) at quite a distance, reducing one’s involvement. Still, the performance is the next best thing to Barbirolli’s.
WebTips: Barbirolli’s recording is currently available only in EMI’s “Great Conductors of the 20th Century” series on a rather expensive 2-CD album, the rest of which I can’t vouch for. Any other Barbirolli recording currently available is a different recording.
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
16 Soloists; Matthew Best, English Chamber Orchestra
Hyperion
Vernon Handley, London Philharmonic
Chandos
This work is performed with forces varying from 16 vocal soloists down to four with chorus, or with none at all. “Soft stillness and the night,” the text by Shakespeare says. And Matthew Best is soft indeed: Soft orchestra, a sweetly tender violin solo, and 16 softly blended soloists (he uses the original version). Orchestral details creep in on gentle waves, like commentary on the text. Here’s sheer sweetness.
Handley chooses a purely orchestral version with violin and viola solos followed by various woodwind solos and even some brief solos from the brass in this sumptuous, ravishingly liquid performance in which waves of sound wash over you. It’ll make you wonder whether the composer was inspired by Wagner or by Ravel (with whom he studied), or was it Debussy?
WebTips: This recommendation is for Handley’s recording on Chandos, not the one on EMI.
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Riccardo Chailly, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam
Decca
The first time I ever heard this album it was like hearing the music for the first time. Years later, it still is. So often Brahms’ details are buried in a swamp of strings. Here, even though the strings are rich, they’re finely articulated. And because the balances are so exquisite, you can hear far more than just melody and some vague harmonies; you hear inner details rich with texture and color. It’s as if cataracts were removed from the ears, and you can at last hear colors brilliantly. Above all, Chailly understands form; the music flows with shape, making each movement a seamless experience. The last movement absolutely bounces with rhythm!
WebTips: Although this performance is available on a 2-CD album with all four of Brahms’ symphonies, buy the single CD instead because it also has In the Summer Wind, a rare completely tonal work by Anton Webern. It’s in the same key as the symphony, and I recommend listening to it immediately after the Brahms rather than before (it comes first on the album) because it has the effect of bathing the formal Brahms with sheer atmosphere and taking you on a sumptuous 13-minute walk from Brahms across the bridge to the world of Mahler. If you search for this album through Amazon.com, don’t enter the album information on Google but go directly to Amazon to find the single CD.
