Composer: Sir William Walton
Performer: Robert Cohen, Tasmin Little, Paul Neubauer, Bryn Terfel, Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Andrew Litton, David Hill
Number of Discs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Release: 2002
Size: 1.2 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Cello Concerto
01. Moderato
02. Allegro appassionato
03. Lento
Symphony No. 1 in B flat minor
04. 1. Allegro assai
05. 2. Presto, con malizia
06. 3. Andante
07. 4. Maestoso – Brioso ed ardentemente
CD 02
01. Scapino: A Comedy Overture
Violin Concerto
02. 1. Andante tranquillo
03. 2. Presto capriccioso alla napolitana
04. 3. Vivace
Symphony No. 2
05. 1. Allegro molto
06. 2. Lento assai
07. 3. Passacaglia: Theme, Variations, Fugato & Coda
CD 03
Façade Orchestral Suite No. 2
01. 1. Fanfare
02. 2. Scotch Rhapsody
Façade Orchestral Suite No. 1
03. 2. Valse
04. 4. Tango-Pasodoble
05. 3. Swiss Yodelling Song
Façade Orchestral Suite No. 2
06. 3. Country Dance
Façade Orchestral Suite No. 1
07. 1. Polka
Façade Orchestral Suite No. 2
08. 4. Noche Espagnole
09. 5. Popular Song
10. 6. Old Sir Faulk
Façade Orchestral Suite No. 1
11. 5. Tarantelle Sevillana
Viola Concerto
12. 1. Andante comodo
13. 2. Vivo con molto preciso
14. 3. Allegro moderato
Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
15. Tema
16. Variation I
17. Variation II
18. Variation III
19. Variation IV
20. Variation V
21. Variation VI
22. Variation VII
23. Variation VIII
24. Variation IX
25. Finale
CD 04
01. Crown Imperial: A Coronation March
Belshazzar’s Feast
02. 1. Thus spake Isaiah
03. 2. If I forget thee
04. 3. Babylon was a great city
05. 4. In Babylon Belshazzar the King
06. 5. Praise ye, the God of gold
07. 6. Thus in Babylon the mighty city
08. 7. And in that same hour
09. 8. Then sing aloud to God our strength
10. 9. The trumpeters and pipers
11. 10. Then sing aloud to God our strength
12. Coronation Te Deum
Suite from “Henry V” – Concert Suite from Film Score – Arr. Muir Mathieson (Excerpts)
13. Overture – The Globe Playhouse
Henry V – Suite
14. Passacaglia – The Death of Falstaff
15. Charge and Battle of Agincourt
16. Touch her soft lips, and part
Suite from “Henry V” – Concert Suite from Film Score – Arr. Muir Mathieson (Excerpts)
17. Agincourt Song
18. Orb and Sceptre
Decca’s four-disc Walton Edition offers consistently fine versions of all the composer’s most important orchestral works, some of them unsurpassed, in full, brilliant sound. Andrew Litton, the conductor of all but two minor items, is central to the success of the whole. Like his compatriot, André Previn, he’s idiomatic, with a natural feeling for the jazzy syncopations at the heart of so much of Walton’s music.
This issue brings together the three Litton discs previously issued, with important additions.
The third disc was issued separately, and contains outstanding versions, never previously released, of the Viola Concerto and HindemithVariations plus the two Façade Suites. Where most latterday interpreters of the Viola Concerto have taken a very expansive view of the lyrical first movement, Paul Neubauer comes nearer than anyone else to the original interpreters on disc, Frederick Riddle and William Primrose.
With Neubauer – his tone firm and precise, clean rather than fruity – the result is more persuasive than other modern versions, with no suspicion of expressive self-indulgence. The brisker passages are taken faster than is now usual; the impact is tauter and stronger without losing romantic warmth. He relaxes seductively for the hauntingly beautiful epilogue, using the widest dynamic range. Litton encourages wide contrasts in the orchestra, the big tuttis bringing an element of wildness in the brassy syncopations, the ensemble kept crisp and incisive. The Hindemith Variations also brings a taut and purposeful performance with contrasts in both dynamic and speed heightened to extremes.
Façade is predictably fun, though there’s some danger of the warm acoustic softening some of the sharpness of these witty parodies.
Two of the other discs remain the same as with their original release, with Tasmin Little’s heartfelt reading of the Violin Concerto coupled with Litton’s outstanding account of the Second Symphony, the finest digital version yet, as well as Scapino, while Robert Cohen’s thoughtful reading of the Cello Concerto is coupled with the richly recorded First Symphony.
Litton’s powerful account of Belshazzar’sFeast with Bryn Terfel brings fresh, cleanly focused choral sound in an atmospheric acoustic that clearly lets you appreciate the terracing between the different groupings of voices. That aptly comes with the coronation music – and the Henry V Suite, with David Hill, chorus-master in Belshazzar, ably standing in for Litton in the Coronation Te Deum and Orband Sceptre.