Search - Ralph Vaughan Williams, Bernard Haitink, London Philharmonic Orchestra :: Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9

Undistinguished

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 02/16/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Two Gramophone magazine critics presented this CD as their best classical music CD of 2002, heaping praise on an issue that had already been given much in that category. This led me to consider this recording a few years later when I sought this combination of symphonies.



Given all that, it is difficult to describe the dissatisfaction and alienation I feel after hearing this recording. I wonder what these critics hear in this music I don't? Compared to the outstanding recordings of this (and all other symphonies by Vaughan Williams) by Boult, Previn and especially Handley, Haitink's work is hardly more than routine.



There is no single quality on display in this CD that equals the recordings by Vernon Handley, which continue to set the standard in this repertoire. First, Handley's interpretations are better, more suited to the emotional world of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a better presentation of the scores. And while Handley's orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, does not have the swagger or big name of Haitink's Royal Philharmonic, it outplays the more well-known English group.



And the recording quality of Handley's symphonies is a mile ahead of the milky, diffuse and homogenized sound of the Haitink issue. For me, that's three strikes and out on this one.



When Bernard Haitink was making his name during the 1960s and 1970s with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, I thought he had potential to become a top name in this industry. His name is still big but, in my opinion, his work has declined with age. After issuing forgettable collections of the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky symphonies in Holland, Haitink went on to make equally forgettable Brahms symphonies in Boston. His Shostakovich cycle from the 1980s, while lithe, muscular and exceptionally well-recorded, lacks the emotional involvement necessary to bring luster to the music.



Among Haitink's Vaughan Williams cycle, I have now heard the Symphonies 3, 4, 8 and 9. I would not count any of those among the better versions I own or have encountered. I cannot join the legion that has jumped on the Haitink Vaughan Williams bandwagon and would argue quite the opposite. For me, this is a recording that does not compete with the best in its arena and does nothing to change the overall Vaughan Williams landscape."

Best 8th and 9th (for now)

Ahmed E. Ismail | Cambridge, MA United States | 07/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are some similarities between Vaughan Williams's 8th symphony and Beethoven's--their short length (relative to the composers' other symphonies), their unusual structures, and their playfulness in instrumentation and melodic content. While these are perhaps valid observations, Haitink's performance points up the more "modern" aspects of this twentieth-century symphony. With excellent playing from the London Philharmonic, Haitink's performance is a shade "darker" than usual--in particular, the final Toccata (led by the largest percussion section in any of RVW's works), is here far more menacing than in any other performance I've heard.Haitink's Ninth is somewhat more conventional than the Eighth--the brooding and foreboding which permeates the earlier work is somewhat missing here. However, the performance is brilliantly captured by EMI--you can here far more orchestral detail than in just about any other recording of this piece. Unfortunately--or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint--VW's Ninth symphony is one of those works that is meant to challenge and provoke listeners and performers alike. As a result, no single conception can ever adequately capture everything he set forth to accomplish in this work. If you do not have a recording of these symphonies--and anyone with an interest in twentieth-century symphonic music should--these are an outstanding place to start (at least until Richard Hickox records them for his RVW cycle on Chandos)."

Earnest performance very good sonics

James Jankovich | Brainerd, MN United States | 06/25/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the premier of his 8th symphony RVW said he had enough ideas left to occupy him for another ten years. Then he died. He survive World War One at the front, the blitz of World War Two and the second Viennese school of music, only to succumb to the ninth symphony curse. Haitink and the London Philharmonic present a digital era 8th which can stand shoulder to shoulder with Slatkins on RCA or maybe Davis on Teldec, but the chestnut on this disk is the 9th. In the ninth Vaughn Williams used the addition of three saxophones and a flugelhorn which were not allowed to "indulge in the bad habit of vibrato and were obliged to sit up and play straight. Haitink seems to have found the core of this work. Add in the fine quality of the recording and this is a solid pick."