2PD12 Boult's Planets
Sir Adrian Boult conducts the wartime BBC Symphony
Orchestra in Holst's Planet Suite [Listen]
. Released with earlier recordings of Crown Imperial
(Walton) [Listen]
and Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Vaughan
Williams) [Listen]
| "The performance has
an indefinable rightness about it, a supreme
authority that makes it difficult to imagine the
score being interpreted any other way. Has
Mars ever resounded with more terrifying
ferocity since? I very much doubt it. In
Venus the playing of the BBC SO has a
translucent beauty, while the impish
Mercury really sparkles. Jupiter
has marvelous exuberance and sparkle, its big
tune lent enormous dignity and humanity.
Saturn, too, is paced to perfection, and
Uranus goes about his mischievous antics
with terrific swagger. In Neptune one
notes again the exquisite poise of the orchestral
response ." Gramophone Dec.
1996. |
John Quinn writes of the Planets
forClassical
Music on the Web:
Beulah's transfer is a good one. There is some
surface hiss from the 78s but it never distracts.
To a large degree this is due to the quality of the
performance. Though wartime call-ups had deprived
the BBCSO of many of the players who had graced its
ranks in the 1930s this performance shows that it
remained a fine orchestra. The playing is very fine
throughout. As for Boult, his interpretation simply
seems 'right'. Under his baton the music is allowed
to breathe and speak for itself (the "big tune" in
'Jupiter' is given with simple eloquence and is all
the better for it.)
John Quinn comments on the Tallis
Fantasia:
What does come through very clearly is the quality
of the BBCSO's strings. The tone is full and rich
and the players respond eloquently to Boult's
unfussy direction. The contrasts between the three
groups of players are well observed by performers
and engineers alike. It is fascinating to compare
this performance with Boult's last recording of the
piece which he made in 1975 with the LPO, also for
HMV. In the earlier recording accents are more
sharply observed and there seems a greater degree
of urgency (the 1975 account is the longer by over
two minutes). Both, however, are supremely
authoritative.
John Quinn concludes:
A splendid and important issue. Top-drawer
performances captured in sound which is really
quite excellent for the period. The well-researched
notes are ideal for an 'historic' issue for they
place the performances in their historical context.
This is an essential purchase for admirers of Sir
Adrian and for lovers of English music. The
recordings capture him in his prime performing
music for which he had an especial affinity. They
also give us a vivid illustration of the
magnificent orchestra which he created from
scratch.
Enthusiastically recommended.
Andrew Achebnbach in
"Buidling the ideal RVW library" (Gramophone
August 2008) writes of Vaughan Williams
Tallis Fantasia:
"Over the years I've
increasingly come to regard Boult's
altogether more thrusting and spelllbindingly
intense wartime HMV account with the BBC SO
as the interpretative touchstone."
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