VW Symphonies - Boult at the Proms

[Barbirollians]

ICA Classics advert in Gramophone for June refers to a coupling of VW 5 and 6 with Boult from the 1972 and 1975 Proms being released on CD for the first time. Anyone know of these performances or heard them ? Sound enticing when one considers how fab his Elgar 1 and Brahms from those Proms in the 1970s were .

[makropulos]

ICA Classics advert in Gramophone for June refers to a coupling of VW 5 and 6 with Boult from the 1972 and 1975 Proms being released on CD for the first time. Anyone know of these performances or heard them ? Sound enticing when one considers how fab his Elgar 1 and Brahms from those Proms in the 1970s were .

I've recently got this CD and would recommend it without hesitation. The performance of No. 6 (which I remember being at) has been out before, but the 1975 No. 5 is new and it's a wonderful performance. Be enticed!

[Pulcinella]

I've recently got this CD and would recommend it without hesitation. The performance of No. 6 (which I remember being at) has been out before, but the 1975 No. 5 is new and it's a wonderful performance. Be enticed!

This BBCSO/Boult performance of S6 (Proms, 16 August 1972) forms part of the April 2013 BBC MM CD (Volume 21, Number 7), coupled with a 2013 Cardiff performance of Bridge's The Sea (BBCNOW/Brabbins).

[Dave2002]

I can't find any reference to these releases on the ICA website. Perhaps that's not been updated yet.

The only one I can find is Symphony 8, coupled with Job.

[Barbirollians]

I can't find any reference to these releases on the ICA website. Perhaps that's not been updated yet.

The only one I can find is Symphony 8, coupled with Job.

It can be found easily on Amazon and Presto.

[Pulcinella]

Presto link here:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9320635--vaughan-williams-symphonies-nos-5-6

[LeMartinPecheur]

I've recently got this CD and would recommend it without hesitation. The performance of No. 6 (which I remember being at) has been out before, but the 1975 No. 5 is new and it's a wonderful performance. Be enticed!

I too heard this live as a not very experienced 18yr old, and was distinctly disappointed. IIRC on paper it looked a dream ticket with Menuhin in the Elgar concerto in the first half, but his intonation was pretty dire even to my not usually sensitive ears. The finale of VW 6 seemed an uninvolved steady mezzo-forte.

Out of curiosity I bought the recording when it came out c1996 on Carlton BBC Radio Classics coupled with a VW Pastoral from 12/12/66, and wondered if the finale had been turned down a few notches by the transfer engineers as it seemed much more in keeping with the marked dynamics than I'd remembered.

[BBMmk2]

I've recently got this CD and would recommend it without hesitation. The performance of No. 6 (which I remember being at) has been out before, but the 1975 No. 5 is new and it's a wonderful performance. Be enticed!

How does it compare with his 1970s set?

[makropulos]

I too heard this live as a not very experienced 18yr old, and was distinctly disappointed. IIRC on paper it looked a dream ticket with Menuhin in the Elgar concerto in the first half, but his intonation was pretty dire even to my not usually sensitive ears. The finale of VW 6 seemed an uninvolved steady mezzo-forte.

Out of curiosity I bought the recording when it came out c1996 on Carlton BBC Radio Classics coupled with a VW Pastoral from 12/12/66, and wondered if the finale had been turned down a few notches by the transfer engineers as it seemed much more in keeping with the marked dynamics than I'd remembered.

That's interesting. I remember being terribly disappointed by the Elgar –above all because Menuhin's playing was in terrible shape that night –but the VW made a big (and good) impression. Re the dynamics, I wonder if it might have had something to do with where we were standing/sitting in the hall? I was in the gallery and found myself pretty much spellbound by the VW.

[makropulos]

How does it compare with his 1970s set?

The Fifth is particularly good in the Proms performance. First movement quite a bit quicker than the 1969 EMI/LPO recording, as is the slow movement, but neither of them sound hurried.
I'd say it's very typical of other late Boult live performances of works he knew really well: decades of wisdom and musical insights distilled into a marvellous moment.

[Petrushka]

This BBCSO/Boult performance of S6 (Proms, 16 August 1972) forms part of the April 2013 BBC MM CD (Volume 21, Number 7), coupled with a 2013 Cardiff performance of Bridge's The Sea (BBCNOW/Brabbins).

As far as I know, this latest ICA issue of the 6th makes it the third time it has appeared on CD. Very irritating if you want the respective couplings.

Apart from the BBC MM mentioned above it first came out on a Carlton Classics CD coupled with the 3rd (also already mentioned) and then there is a Cheltenham performance from a month earlier on BBC Legends coupled with works by Bax, Hadley and Berg.

[makropulos]

As far as I know, this latest ICA issue of the 6th makes it the third time it has appeared on CD. Very irritating if you want the respective couplings.

Apart from the BBC MM mentioned above it first came out on a Carlton Classics CD coupled with the 3rd (also already mentioned) and then there is a Cheltenham performance from a month earlier on BBC Legends coupled with works by Bax, Hadley and Berg.

I agree –particularly as there's a breathtaking 1977 RFH Sinfonia antartica with the BBCSO which would have made the perfect coupling for No. 5 (it was Boult's last public concert –only the very late Elgar ballet performances were to come). I have a copy of it in very good sound (the RFH organ sounds astonishing at the climax of the third movement), and the young Margaret Marshall is the solo soprano. It's a shame they didn't think to use this instead as even if the BBC don't have a tape of it, others certainly do.

Incidentally, there's also a wonderful Proms performance of A London Symphony from 11 August 1971 with Boult and the BBCSO which would also be well worth releasing. The last movement, in particular, is exceptional.

[Petrushka]

I agree –particularly as there's a breathtaking 1977 RFH Sinfonia antartica with the BBCSO which would have made the perfect coupling for No. 5 (it was Boult's last public concert –only the very late Elgar ballet performances were to come). I have a copy of it in very good sound (the RFH organ sounds astonishing at the climax of the third movement), and the young Margaret Marshall is the solo soprano. It's a shame they didn't think to use this instead as even if the BBC don't have a tape of it, others certainly do.

Incidentally, there's also a wonderful Proms performance of A London Symphony from 11 August 1971 with Boult and the BBCSO which would also be well worth releasing. The last movement, in particular, is exceptional.

I did actually wonder about that 1977 performance of the Sinfonia Antartica because I remember hearing it live on Radio 3. My thinking was that perhaps there might be some technical problem ruling out any issue on CD but am glad that this seems not to be the case. Perhaps you should offer your tape to ICA Classics!

[jonfan]

I wouldn’t hesitate getting these performances, the best of Boult. There’s also an excellent note by Martin Cotton signalling what to listen out for.

[makropulos]

I did actually wonder about that 1977 performance of the Sinfonia Antartica because I remember hearing it live on Radio 3. My thinking was that perhaps there might be some technical problem ruling out any issue on CD but am glad that this seems not to be the case. Perhaps you should offer your tape to ICA Classics!

I have a copy of the recording, but sadly it's not mine to offer for a release as I was given it by the person who made the tape at the time. No technical problems though –and, as you'll no doubt remember, an astonishing, long and well deserved ovation afterwards.

The other day I gave a talk about Boult and VW and included some of that Antartica, and also Boult's performance of the Fifth Symphony from October 1976: a Maida Vale recording with the BBCSO and the last time he ever conducted it. Did you hear that at the the time? The Fifth, in particular, made quite an impression when I played it, and if anything, it's even more serenely wonderful than the 1975 Prom. Really we could do with all these late Boult performances of VW being released in some form (and other things, of course): he always brought something fresh to these pieces and each performance is distinctive even if it was his umpteenth time doing it.