BBC Concert Orchestra reviews
Joe Cutler: Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii, etc
Arnold: The Dancing Master
Britten: Saint Nicolas; A Ceremony of Carols
J Gardner: The Ballad of the White Horse, etc
Cellier • Ford • Sullivan: Haddon Hall, etc
Alfred Cellier: The Mountebanks; Suite Symphonique
Elgar: Short Orchestral Works
Ina Boyle: Overture for Orchestra; Violin Concerto; Symphony No. 1; Wildgeese: Psalm; A Sea Poem
Howells: Missa Sabrinensis, etc
20th Century French Flute Concertos
Elgar: The Hills of Dreamland
Sullivan: The Light of the World
Lorraine McAslan performs violin concertos by Bliss and Walton
The Walton Violin Concerto almost always heard today is not the original 1939 score, but its later revision. Marooned in England by the Second World War, Walton had to miss the work’s first performance by Jascha Heifetz in America. After himself conducting the British premiere, he re-worked the orchestration, in places substantially, while leaving the solo part unchanged. While Heifetz recorded the first version in 1941, Dutton’s release has the advantage of modern sound. Is this original version ‘better’? It depends on your preference.
Martin Yates conducts orchestral music by Chaminade
In 1895, The Musical Times in reviewing this Concertstück played by the composer heard influences of Wagner, Liszt and Grieg; Lewis Foreman in the liner notes to this disc adds Dvořák and Saint-Saëns. Take your pick!