BaL 12.11.16 - Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony

[Pulcinella]

Several versions here too.
Most in complete sets (Boult/EMI, Haitink, Handley with RLPO, Previn) but also the earlier Halle/Barbirolli (coupled with the 8th; the cover says EMI Phoenixa), the 'original' Hickox, and one that seems not to have been mentioned yet: Handley with the LPO.

[Alain Maréchal]

Handley with the LPO - I have an LP, (Memory tells me Classics for Pleasure, or perhaps Eminence). Has it appeared on CD? Quite a lot of those labels languish in the vaults (probably there is no profit in them for Warner).

[Pulcinella]

Handley with the LPO - I have an LP, (Memory tells me Classics for Pleasure, or perhaps Eminence). Has it appeared on CD? Quite a lot of those labels languish in the vaults (probably there is no profit in them for Warner).

Yes, as part of a 2CD set.
The second CD has the Prelude and Fugue and Symphony 6.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Symphony-Handley-Philharmonic-Orchestra/dp/B000BTDLRE/ref=sr_1_43?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1468836587&sr=1-43&keywords=vaughan+williams+handley

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Handley with the LPO - I have an LP, (Memory tells me Classics for Pleasure, or perhaps Eminence). Has it appeared on CD? Quite a lot of those labels languish in the vaults (probably there is no profit in them for Warner).

Handley's '70s recordings with the LPO originally appeared on two CfP vinyl LPs (one for each of the London Symphony, and the Sixth Symphony, coupled with the Prelude & Fugue in c minor). I believe that they have twice appeared on CD, the first time in a double album on CfP in the '90s, most recently on this single ( - ignore - as Pulcie has pointed out, it was still married!) CD:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Symphony-Handley-Philharmonic-Orchestra/dp/B000BTDLRE/

His later, more famous complete cycle on EMINENCE was with the Royal Liverpool Phil.

[Pulcinella]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Symphony-Handley-Philharmonic-Orchestra/dp/B000BTDLRE/

This seems to produce the same item as the link I posted.
Perhaps we just used different search terms so the links look different.

His later, more famous complete cycle on EMINENCE was with the Royal Liverpool Phil.

My Penguin CD guide rates the LPO version more highly than the RLPO one.
Too nice weather to do a comparison today!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

This seems to produce the same item as the link I posted.
Perhaps we just used different search terms so the links look different.

All roads lead to London.

My Penguin CD guide rates the LPO version more highly than the RLPO one.

Interesting, the Penguins were rather sniffy about the LPO Sixth when it appeared on LP.

[Pulcinella]

Interesting, the Penguins were rather sniffy about the LPO Sixth when it appeared on LP.

2009 edition says....
Yet this compilation, with excellent transfers, demonstrates that they [meaning these versions] stand up extraordinarily well, and in some ways are even preferable to the rightly praised CfP versions [RLPO].

It goes on to say that the LPO version of the sixth is more polished than the RLPO one, if less elemental.

Overall the compilation gets a key symbol and three stars.
Must have a relisten when the weather breaks!

[Barbirollians]

Interesting to read opinions preferring the later EMI Barbirolli . As I recall it appeared on an EMI Eminence release before the handley set came out and was sniffily described as rather lacking in cockney charm .

As cassettes can my tape unravelled not all that long after I bought it and I have always lived the Pye version I must try and hear the EMI again .

[seabright]

If someone can find it, the first (and only?) American recording of RVW2 is well worth looking out for: recorded in 1941, it's by the Cincinnati Orchestra under Sir Eugene Goossens in the 1920 edition of the score, with extra music in the slow movement and finale (Biddulph WHL 016). Alan Sanders' 'Gramophone' review (December 1993) said: "Not only is it very instructive to hear the restored cuts, but they are set in the context of a strong, vivid performance, very well-played by an ensemble which Goossens had led for a decade. Tempos are quite swift, especially in the first and third movements, but there is an urgent, direct sense of communication and plenty of atmosphere in the slower parts of the work."

The coupling is the Walton Violin Concerto, again with the Cincinnati and Goossens, recorded the day before they made the "London" Symphony, with Heifetz as soloist. He plays the original version of the work. Walton was to revise the orchestration later and that's the edition we usually hear. Sanders wrote that "the transfers throughout are of a high standard" though of course anyone wanting a modern stereo version of the 1920 RVW2 score will opt for Martin Yates and the RSNO on 'Dutton Epoch.'

Incidentally, the RVW slow movement from the Cincinnati 78s is on You Tube. The cut bars come in at about two minutes before the end ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhjM-jmdFxU

[richardfinegold]

All roads lead to London.


Interesting, the Penguins were rather sniffy about the LPO Sixth when it appeared on LP.

I thought the Penguins were in the next VW Symphony.

[Pulcinella]

I thought the Penguins were in the next VW Symphony.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I thought the Penguins were in the next VW Symphony.

[Barbirollians]

I thought the Penguins were in the next VW Symphony.

[LeMartinPecheur]

If someone can find it, the first (and only?) American recording of RVW2 is well worth looking out for

See #3 - I believe the Rochester Philharmonic is a US orchestra!

[seabright]

See #3 - I believe the Rochester Philharmonic is a US orchestra!

Thanks ... That one I missed! ... Still, I'm not sure I'd put them in quite the same class as the superb Cleveland Orchestra, who can be heard in this broadcast of RVW2 with Leonard Slatkin conducting ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aGycjQLOGU