Po3 Wednesday, 23rd BBCSO Bychkov

[salymap]

I am nervous about commenting on the playing of Walton Symphony no 1 and Rachmaninov'The Bells' by the above;
however I enjoyed it a lot and thought the orchestra played their socks off for Bychkov.

I wonder whether the very recent sudden death of the conductor's brother gave him the extra tension that the performancers seemed to have. However I'm not sure if this was before or after the concert, recorded last Saturday at the Barbican. Now I shall be told it was a shambles. Such is life.

[rauschwerk]

I heard the first two movements of the Walton. I have had the LSO/Previn recording since it came out and, for better or for worse, I am absolutely conditioned to Previn's way with the scherzo, especially the fast tempo. Therefore I found Bychkov's performance disappointing, though I can't really blame him for that. I agree that the playing was excellent.

[salymap]

I have the Previn Walton on an LP so will try to compare later. What I meant to add earlier was what wonderful bell sonorities Rach gets into his music.
Can anyone recommend a good recording of this work?

[rauschwerk]

Can anyone recommend a good recording of this work?

The BaL recommendation in 2005 (David Fanning) was Ashkenazy, the runner-up being Previn. The latter recording is certainly very fine.

[BBMmk2]

I still a fan of the Previn recording.I doint think that Sir andrew Davis has made one though?(Walton's 1st). Rather an odd coupling though, this concert, with the Rach?

[Nick Armstrong]

Can anyone recommend a good recording of this work?

I have recently been very impressed with Paul Daniel's with the English Northern Phil:

http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page...+I+Paul+Daniel.

(I also love their recording of Orb & Sceptre - it can be a bit of a repeat-play fixation, once I listen to it).

I grew up with the Previn, it still has lots of energy going for it - but there's room for more sonic splendour. I have time for Haitink's totally different, more massive approach with the Philharmonia. The recent LSO Live with Colin Davis is good too.

I heard the broadcast last night. I thought Bychkov started well, I don't mind a more deliberate tempo, and like to hear inner lines brought out differently - the orchestra played well I thought. But the final movement was a let-down - I thought it slack and lacking the zestful spark without which it sags.

[Alison]

I enjoyed this particular combination of works.

Caliban eaxctly sums up my thoughts on the Walton performance.

[Curalach]

I have recently been very impressed with Paul Daniel's with the English Northern Phil:

http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page...+I+Paul+Daniel.

I agree, this is a good performance. At the time, Paul Daniel told me that he wasn't completely happy with the recording, I can't remember why, but I like it and it has always had good reviews.
Other versions I have are by Previn, Gibson, Slatkin, Rattle and Davis.
The Daniel is at least as good as any of these. The recent re-issue of the Colin Davis version is coupled with a blistering performance of Belshazzar beside which the Symphony is less impressive.

[NickWraight]

I was present at this concert and the Bells was very fine indeed. Perhaps not a great work with the second, rather rambling, movement seeming to be of a lesser quality than the rest. The final movement, with Jumbo's wonderful contribution, particularly moving - demonstarted by the aching silence after finish.

The Walton to my mind was thought through and really rather decent. The Scherzo was less malicious than it can (should?) be but the first 3 movements worked excellently as a whole. I may be unusual in thinking the Finale in performance often seems to stand apart from the preceding movements being so different in emotion and style and Bychkov made it ,to my ears anyway, part of the rest. Given the symphony's stretched gestation, and 2 premiers both with Hamilton Harty, that is not really surprising. The BBCSO played their socks off.

[salymap]

Nick Wraight. I agree with you, the last movement of the Walton fitted in more than it usually does, and I thought the performance very good. I enjoyed the Rach too with the wonderful dying bell sounds and the orchestra as we have both said 'played their socks off'. I must look up the poem butI don'tfeel the words matter too much in such an atmospheric work.

[Chris Newman]

The recordings I have are Previn's and Mackerras's: both very fine. Previn's were much feted at their issue and I heard him play No 2 in the Maida Vale Studio. Mackerras used the LPO for Number 1 and the LSO for Number 2.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-1-2-Walton/dp/tags-on-product/B000003X2L

I also have a BBCMM disc of No 1 with the BBCSO under Boult. Wonderful.

Bychkov is a wonderful conductor, truly one of my greats, and gets superb results from every orchestra.

[NickWraight]

Wishful thinking perhaps but I did have the sense that the BBCSO were courting him to take over from Jiri in 2012. There are conductiors that get rather used to radio orchestra rehearsal time and the more adventurous repertoire options.

A small point, in the Bells we had organ at the end of the 4th movement which I have never heard before.

[Ventilhorn]

The Walton to my mind was thought through and really rather decent. The Scherzo was less malicious than it can (should?) be but the first 3 movements worked excellently as a whole. I may be unusual in thinking the Finale in performance often seems to stand apart from the preceding movements being so different in emotion and style and Bychkov made it ,to my ears anyway, part of the rest. Given the symphony's stretched gestation, and 2 premiers both with Hamilton Harty, that is not really surprising. The BBCSO played their socks off.[/QUOTE]

[Ventilhorn]

I have a particular affection for Walton's 1st symphony, because it was the first piece that I played (at the age of 18)with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Eugene Goosens. Obviously, I was too busy getting the notes to enter into any judgement on that performance but I was aware of a certain amount of mirth from the trumpet section over the conductor's inability to cope with the 5/8 bars in the scherzo!

My first recording was of Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting the (then) magnificent Philharmonia orchestra and so that, for me, will always be the benchmark by which I judge all others. Fine, accurate playing from the BBCSO, but I would have been looking for more malice in the scherzo and the pathos of the third movement laid on a bit more. Yes, the last movement of this autobiographical work is the composer's attempt to look forward, not in retrospect and I would have preferred a brisker tempo.
As for the Rachmaninoff, this was a work which I knew of, but have never heard. A pleasant enough piece and one which I feel might well have caught the attention of some choral societies, who are getting a bit tired of Carmina Burana, but I personally would not be dashing out to buy the recording. Nothing wrong with the mix of the two items, and the Conductor did explain his reason for coupling them in the same programme.

Since posting this message, I have had time to listen again to this Walton with a more analytical approach (nostalgia isn't what it used to be) and I have to say that the playing of the entire horn section throughout what is, admittedly, extreme writing on Walton's part, was far from accurate, with duff notes all over the place.
Yes, like Rauschwerk, I would have liked more malice in the scherzo - the strings should sound as if they are trying to saw through their instruments and I also felt that the slow movement conveyed a feeling of weariness rather than agony.

So next time, I will try to think objectively before rushing into print.

VH

[rauschwerk]

I have a particular affection for Walton's 1st symphony, because it was the first piece that I played (at the age of 18)with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Eugene Goosens. Obviously, I was too busy getting the notes to enter into any judgement on that performance but I was aware of a certain amount of mirth from the trumpet section over the conductor's inability to cope with the 5/8 bars in the scherzo!

I'm surprised to hear that, since Goossens was a great champion of the avant-garde in his early career. Perhaps by the time you played for him he was past his best?