SACDs - Walton

“The LSO Chorus give Walton’s grateful choral writing all they have, and the orchestra revel in his brilliant and unconventional orchestration: E flat clarinet, alto saxophone, exotic percussion and extra brass. Davis, too, proves an absolutely authentic performer. He has come late to this thrilling choral drama on disc, but better that than never.” Sunday Times, 6th March 2011 ****

“Davis emphasizes more than usual the operatic element latent in the work and with which he is perhaps more familiar. Isaiah's opening prophecy of disaster is dramatically sung by the excellent chorus...The work springs instantly to life, and the lament of the Psalm setting 'By the waters of Babylon', one of its finest parts, is imbued with a sense of tragedy...Davis draws beautiful playing from the orchestra.” International Record Review, March 2011

“Davis inspires [the LSC] – and baritone soloist Peter Coleman-Wright – to a reading of technical polish, rhythmic energy and evangelical conviction, with a climax strong enough to convince even the doubters. The First Symphony suffers from a more muffled acoustic, but the performance is so gripping – the LSO at its virtuoso best – that you quickly get swept up in it.” Financial Times, 9th April 2011 ****

“Sir Colin Davis here reclaims the vigour of youth and harnesses it to his deep understanding of Walton's work. Where others dwell on surface detail, Davis consistently reveals the larger picture: listen, for example, to the 'writing on the wall' scene in Belshazzar, urgent, violent and ultimately cathartic. The LSO carries this music in its DNA and possesses the means to make it live in concert.” Classic FM Magazine, June 2011 *****

“If you like your Walton unleashed at full and scalding voltage, look no further. The [LSO's] trademark virtuosity and panache are so great, and the players' unravelling of Walton's demanding part-writing in the First Symphony so clear, that their performance penetrates straight to the heart of the music...[in Belshazzar] the central 'Feast' and closing 'Hymn of Praise' are each propelled by a rampant percussive firepower...Coleman-Wright is a formidable soloist” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 ****

“The French players seem perfectly drilled in the intricate rhythmic complexities of Walton's often jagged writing in these highly enjoyable performances, which also bring out the lyrical warmth of Walton's endlessly memorable melodies” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2010

“One readily sees Walton’s music as a native, untransplantable growth, but here is a French orchestra relishing his symphonies... Hughes is an old hand with British music, and secures persuasive accounts of both” Sunday Times, 8th August 2010 ***

"Bite and Passion should persuade others to perform Walton’s Sonata. The Sonata emerges as a fair match for other great British string pieces - Elgar's introduction and Alegro and Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia,for example - so I hope this new recording will encourage more live performances of a work which neatly spans the gap between the early Walton,passionate and electrifing,and his later refined and carefully considered style." Edward Greenfield - Gramophone

“Arrangements for string orchestra of works originally written for string quartet are not uncommon, especially in the cases of Beethoven and Schubert… But in the amazing scherzo, with its huge climax not long before the movement's end, the extra weight makes a substantial and thrilling difference. And in the slow third movement... there is an organ-like solemnity added by the basses, and that needs the supplementary upper strings to get the proper balance. The Walton piece... is a complete success, making the piece sound as if it had originally been conceived for string orchestra.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 ****

“As the booklet asks, why Beethoven and Walton? The answer is, the Walton has become a favourite work with this superb Dutch ensemble and it was felt appropriate to couple it with another arrangement of a string quartet, the last Beethoven wrote. Walton made the imaginative arrangement of his A minor Quartet at the prompting of Neville Marriner, who wanted a work for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.The arrangement of the Beethoven by Marijn van Prooijen similarly adapts the original without inflating it.
As the booklet-note says, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta aim to preserve the intimate character of the works. In this they contrast their approach to that of Bernstein and the VPO (DG), in which he uses a full body of strings. With the Amsterdam players showing the give-and-take, ebb-and-flow of small chamber groups, they achieve rare refinement and natural warmth.
The bite and precision of the Amsterdam account is most impressive, with the rhythmic lift of the Scherzo and of the finale after the ominous opening bringing a joyful lightness.
Yet it is the sublime Lento slow movement which achieves the greatest heights in playing of hushed dedication. This new version of the Walton is more intimate than the LPO fullstrings Chandos rival. It is true that Walton freely sets the full ensemble in contrast with passages for solo strings, as at the very start, but the Amsterdam performance brings out that terracing of sound more clearly, helped by the refined recording. As in the Beethoven, the heart of the performance comes in the lovely Lento movement.
The Sonata emerges as a fair match for other great British string pieces – Elgar's Introduction and Allegro and Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia, for example. It's a work which neatly spans the gap between the early Walton, passionate and electrifying, and his later refined and carefully considered style.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The arrangement of the Beethoven by Marijn van Prooijen… adapts the original without inflating it. The bite and precision of the Amsterdam account is most impressive, with the rhythmic lift of the Scherzo and of the finale after the ominous opening bringing a joyful lightness. Yet it is the sublime Lento slow movement which achieves the greatest heights in playing of hushed dedication. This new version of the Walton is more intimate than the LPO full-strings Chandos rival. As in the Beethoven, the heart of the performance comes in the lovely Lento movement.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2006