Search - Granville Bantock, Adrian Leaper, Czecho-Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra (Kosice) :: Bantock: Hebridean Symphony

Welcome CD but a few niggles.... alas

K. Farrington | Missegre, France | 11/24/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD introduced the 'Old English Suite' and 'Russian Suite' to my collection, for I already had a superb recording on Chandos of the major work on the CD, the 'Hebridean' Symphony. I thought that it was worth investing in to get hold of 30 minutes worth of previously unchartered Bantock, another of those English composers who have been unjustly neglected by the concert going and recording establishment. When I was at the University of Sussex, a guy who worked in the university shop, a real character, always said that the acid test for determining whether the Naxos (or any other budget label) was worth it was to ask yourself this question afterwards:' If I had gone to a concert of a local orchestra who played this work at the standard of the CD would I have enjoyed it and clapped?' Generally the answer is yes and you have the CD in perpetuity afterwards as well! So for under six bucks and thirty minutes of 'new' Bantock you cannot gripe too much!I have already reviewed another CD in which I argued that Bantock seems today to many almost a preposterous figure in our frenzy of post-colonial apologist mantras for the excesses of High Victorian aesthetics. Thus his version of multiculturalism with his forays into Persian Literature andf Russian 'nega'. However, what cannot be taken away from Bantock is his musicianship in his practical orchestration that nonetheless is sparkling and comparable with the very best in late romantic writing. Thus his ensembles always smack of the provincial musician putting on performances in less than glamourous settings but giving the audience sheer delight in his music that must have brought an enormous amount of pleasure to people who lived lives of prosaic grayness in the industrial heartland of Britain. This CD has a certain amount of problems despite its welcome addition to the catalogue. The first work, 'The Old English Suite' is one of those neoclassical vignettes that sit beside Warlock's 'Capriol Suite' and Moeran's 'Serenade' which look back at those heady days of Boyce and company with nostalgia and affection. The trilling violins and the ground bass are there but sadly this orchestra does not put the detail into the phrasing which results in a less than satisfactory sound. It may have been that the original was even worse played but you can get away with this in a live performance but not with repeated hearing on a CD where the discerning listener can concentrate on a particular phrase and identify the problems in synchronisation in the strings. The Russian Suite is happily played, more on the home turf of the Slav ensemble but the Hebridean Symphony lacks the dynamics and sheer bite of the full priced version, despite the fact that it is well played. The excitement of the horn calls and the scintillating strings and the heroic trumpet ostinato is well managed but the whole thing just lacks the conviction of the Vernon Handley version. Thus it must lose one star although the comment must be made that it is nonetheless welcome as a rare bird onto the catalogue!"