Vaughan Williams: The symphonies

[EdgeleyRob]

Even I would say yes because 2 sets is not excessive.

I have Handley, Haitink, Davis, Slatkin, Boult Decca, Boult EMI, All the Hickox, Gibson & Berglund and some single CDs including an excellent BBCSO/Sargent #4. Plus some I've forgotten about.

So maybe I should not duplicate my Previn CDs.

Concert-wise, I've not seen 1, 2 or 8.

Beefmeister,you also need Rozhdestvensky,Thomson and Bakels (a stonking 9th here),unless they are included in the ones you have forgotten about.
Then there's the Manze to come !

[Beef Oven!]

Beefmeister,you also need Rozhdestvensky,Thomson and Bakels (a stonking 9th here),unless they are included in the ones you have forgotten about.
Then there's the Manze to come !

P.S. Manze should stick to pies!

[gurnemanz]

I'm starting to feel quite inadequate with just the two complete sets.

[Beef Oven!]

I'm starting to feel quite inadequate with just the two complete sets.

The good news is there's a cheap Andrew Preview set coming out in April - it'll make you feel like a man again

[Ferretfancy]

If I've already got Haitink and Tod Handley do I need Previn?

Yes, it's worth it for quite the best performance of the Pastoral,
which is haunting. The Antartica needs a more expansive sound, but all in all it's a very fine set.

Incidentally, I wish there was a reissue of Previn's RCA recording of Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony with the LSO, it has completely disappeared for some reason and I don't have the LP

[seabright]

Apropos the foregoing comments ... do these mean that complete cycles by one conductor are preferable to single performances by lots of different ones? ... Purely personally, I wouldn't be without Goossens and the Cincinnati Orchestra in the "London" as it is not only a terrific performance but is of the 1920 edition with some extra music. Mitropoulos in No. 4 and Stokowski in No. 6, both with the New York Philharmonic, are also of the "original" scores while Koussevitzky and the Boston SO in No. 5 is another essential performance for any RVW collection. However, they are all non-British and "historic" so I guess they won't appeal to those who think only English orchestras can play RVW and want modern versions. Having said that, Barbirolli and the Halle are essential in the "Antartica", an excellent 'first recording', as is Boult's Decca version of the "Pastoral". Reverting to US orchestras, Bernstein and the NYPO did a thrilling RVW4 for Sony on a CD that also has a very starry line-up in the "Serenade to Music," with Jon Vickers, Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett, George London and others. This is a beautifully sung and played performance too and is well worth seeking out.

[Barbirollians]

Apropos the foregoing comments ... do these mean that complete cycles by one conductor are preferable to single performances by lots of different ones? ... Purely personally, I wouldn't be without Goossens and the Cincinnati Orchestra in the "London" as it is not only a terrific performance but is of the 1920 edition with some extra music. Mitropoulos in No. 4 and Stokowski in No. 6, both with the New York Philharmonic, are also of the "original" scores while Koussevitzky and the Boston SO in No. 5 is another essential performance for any RVW collection. However, they are all non-British and "historic" so I guess they won't appeal to those who think only English orchestras can play RVW and want modern versions. Having said that, Barbirolli and the Halle are essential in the "Antartica", an excellent 'first recording', as is Boult's Decca version of the "Pastoral". Reverting to US orchestras, Bernstein and the NYPO did a thrilling RVW4 for Sony on a CD that also has a very starry line-up in the "Serenade to Music," with Jon Vickers, Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett, George London and others. This is a beautifully sung and played performance too and is well worth seeking out.

Not at all - the Barbirolli Pye no 2 and 8 as well as the EMI Antractica and Fifth are essential recordings . Then again Boult, Handley,Haitink and Previn are pretty essential too !

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

If I've already got Haitink and Tod Handley do I need Previn?

It depends how important RVW is to you, gurne - those are two excellent sets and between them give a great overview of these great (well, seven of 'em) works. I have those two sets, too, together with Boult's MONO set and several recordings of individual symphonies - do I "need" this Previn set? Well, literally, "No" - I have managed to live a full and happy listening life over the past thirty years without hearing it. But it is a superb set that I remember from LP days, and the box costs about the price of a single full-priced CD, and it will make my subsequent RVW listening experience even fuller and more happy; so I'm going to get it!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The good news is there's a cheap Andrew Preview set coming out in April - it'll make you feel like a man again

- all the right notes in exactly the right order!

[ahinton]

I suppose I'll end up getting it.

(when does all this CD buying stop? )

Never! Didn't you already realise that? Just ask our resident one-woman Roussel Society who has all available recorded versions of that composer's four symphonies if you need such assurance!

[ahinton]

- all the right notes in exactly the right order!

!!! - but trust you to spoil it all with an implicit off-topic reminder of Grieg's piano concerto! Was that wise, sir?...

[BBMmk2]

Beefy! I saw that! Can't wait! I wonder if they look at these sites?

Guernemanz, Previn, do you need his, YES!!! :)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes, it's worth it for quite the best performance of the Pastoral,
which is haunting. The Antartica needs a more expansive sound, but all in all it's a very fine set.

- and, having the Haitink, gurne will have already made up for that "dip".

Incidentally, I wish there was a reissue of Previn's RCA recording of Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony with the LSO, it has completely disappeared for some reason and I don't have the LP

[Pabmusic]

Yes, it's worth it for quite the best performance of the Pastoral,
which is haunting. The Antartica needs a more expansive sound, but all in all it's a very fine set...

Yes I'd agree. Best Pastoral. One of the best 5ths too, and a really good London. I've had the set in one form or another from the 1970s. I recall that the RCA pressings were rather 'clicky'.

[Pulcinella]

No feeling of inadequacy here, I'm pleased to say.
Boult (EMI), Haitink, Handley, and Previn (in a previous incarnation: RCA Complete Collections) sets already weighing the shelves down, supplemented by Barbirolli 2/8, Handley (LPO 2/6), Hickox (original 2), Berglund/Gibson (4/5/6), and Menuhin (5, coupled with a two-piano version of the piano concerto, if you see what I mean!).
I'm in accord with the comments about the Previn set.