Delius: Summer Evening (No. 1 of 'Three Small Tone Poems')

No one has brought the same imaginative response to Delius's music as his first and greatest champion, Sir Thomas Beecham - James Jolly, Gramophone 1000th issue

“..when performed with such tender and passionate advocacy as Lloyd-Jones and the Scottish orchestra lavish on them, his once popular orchestral miniatures...emerge with a beguiling freshness and ravishing impressionistic transparency. At Naxos's super-budget price…..this is a steal.” The Sunday Times

"William Boughton imparts tremendous zest to VW's Wasps Overture, fully in keeping with its breezy nature, and he gives the big central tune its true nobility. Michael Bochmann, I note, was a pupil of the late Frederick Grinke, whose recording of The lark ascending must have introduced this ravishing piece to many readers of GRAMOPHONE, as it did to me. Bochmann plays it like his teacher, with unaffected ease and a natural appreciation of its poetry. His tone is pure and steady, even at the stratospheric height to which the lark takes him. The recording has the customary Nimbus fidelity." Gramophone Feb. 1990

"The Birmingham-based English String and Symphony Orchestras under William Boughton are completely at home in this repertoire. One has only to sample the excitingly animated account of Holst's St Paul's Suite (which also has much delicacy of feeling), the ideally paced Warlock Capriol Suite, or the vibrant account of Britten's Frank Bridge Variations, to discover the calibre of this music-making." The Penguin Guide (Rosette and 3 stars)