Delius: Appalachia (Variations on an old slave song)

“This fine orchestra has a superb violinist leader (crucial in Sea Drift) plus serious class in every department, the brass in particular. The choral singing, too, is exemplary in its firm-toned accuracy...Sanderling's approach to both works is at once more tight-reined and more sweeping than the familiar Beecham/Groves/Hickox way.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 ****

“Sanderling's interpretation of this imaginative score is sympathetic, especially in the protracted evocation of the dawn. The tempi are well chosen and the handling of Delius's poetic orchestration, not least in its richer Straussian garb, is nicely poised. The chorus also evinces a sense of quasi-informality in its 'free' sound and delivery.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012

“The BBC forces and Andrew Davis conjure exactly the rich transcendence Delius would have enjoyed. The Song of the High Hills, suggested by a visit to the mountains of Norway, is performed with equal lustre.” The Observer, 27th March 2011

*** The Guardian, 31st March 2011

“Both works, in their different ways, conjure up an evocative atmosphere, harnessing a mastery of orchestral and wordless vocal colour that Andrew Davis and his BBC forces translate into musical pictures, rich in texture and poignant in emotion.” The Telegraph, 1st April 2011 ****

“With the excellent BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Davis uncovers original turns of phrase in Appalachia, Delius’s heat-haze of variations inspired by the Mississippi swamps. Here, as in the austere choral-symphonic Song of the High Hills, Davis conjures an authentic Delian atmosphere – and brings joy to the heart.” Financial Times, 7th May 2011 ****

“This is a magnificent, clear-edged recording of two challenging, problematic works, performed here with vibrancy and confidence...Davis's diligent control of this extraordinary material makes for compelling listening.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2011

“[Davis] guides the BBC Symphony Orchestra through two beautifully expressive performances that challenge accusations [that] Delius is boring...Credit must also go to the chorus, which tackles its integral role with great subtlety and skill, from the stirring final song of the first piece to the transcendent, wordless choral work of the second.” Classic FM Magazine, June 2011 ****

“Davis combines a sensitive feeling for tempo and shape with superfine detail of phrasing and balancing...The BBC Symphony Orchestra plays for its former chief conductor with precision and spirit, the solo voices make an excellent contribution, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra achieves miracles of quiet singing and climactic exultation.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 *****

“this new Chandos issue is such that it would be hard, if not impossible, to imagine a more magnificent performance of this masterpiece: Davis's tempos are absolutely ideal and his sense of structure is astonishingly impressive. The orchestral playing is unfailingly beautiful and is infused with the demanding combination of sensitivity, brilliance of technique and vividness of colour the score demands. The singing of the choir (and of the brief solo parts) is faultless.” International Record Review, July 2011

“Following albums devoted to Delius’s Scandinavian, English and French music, Holten and his Danish orchestra now turn to the composer’s American years – with the same rapturous results....[Sea Drift] showcas[es] Holten’s ear for Delian harmony, Reuter’s virile singing and the Aarhus chorus’s clean, clear contributions.” Financial Times, 15th February 2013 ****

“The enchanting Henriette Bonde-Hansen (Palmyra) and powerful Johan Reuter (Koanga/Sea Drift) sing excellent English, and Holten proves this most cosmopolitan of composers is not the exclusive preserve of Brits.” Sunday Times, 6th January 2013

“This is the fifth and last of Danacord's fine series of 'Delius Masterworks'...this is in many ways the most attractive of the whole series...Johan Reuter is the excellent baritone soloist in Sea Drift, sustaining the narration well...the most memorable performance here is of Appalachia...[the conclusion] is a passage which I find sticks in the mind for days after you have heard it, a tribute to this dedicated performance.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2013

“Holten gives a beautifully-shaped and sensitive reading of Appalachia commencing with a wondrous scene-setting...Holten’s portrait of the seas off Long Island [in Sea Drift] shines and shimmers in sympathy with the tragedy unfolding on the beach....[Reuter] lacks just enough expressiveness to really convince” MusicWeb International, 17th April 2013

“American Masterworks is imaginatively planned and well executed, and as recommendable as its predecessors.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2013 ****

“There always was a unique alchemy between the art of Sir Thomas Beecham and the music of Frederick Delius, and you can detect it in every bar. … It is, quite simply, a performance to cherish, its beaming dedication, wistful heartache and rapt wonder leaving the listener in no doubt Sir Thomas' boundless love for a work that served as his introduction to the composer. David Lennick's transfers have been admirably managed, Appalachia now sounding rather more open and full-bodied than on a rival Dutton compilation.” Gramophone

“There always was a unique alchemy between the art of Sir Thomas Beecham and the music of Frederick Delius, to be heard in every bar of this remarkable January 1938 recording of Appalachia.
It's a performance of beaming dedication, wistful heartache and rapt wonder leaves the listener in no doubt about Sir Thomas's boundless love for a work that served as his introduction to the composer. (He later recalled how the 1907 London premiere under Fritz Cassirer left him 'startled and electrified'.) By July 1938 Beecham and the LPO had committed to disc the three remaining items that eventually made up The Delius Society's lavishly presented third and final volume of the composer's music issued by Columbia Records; suffice it to say, La Calinda skips along entrancingly here, while no true Delian could fail to respond to Beecham's ineffably poignant way with both the closing scene from Hassan and the lovely Irmelin Prelude.
Naxos's curtain-raiser, Brigg Fair, was recorded towards the end of the previous decade. Some seven months separated the two days required to produce a reading of unforgettable tenderness and bewitching poetry (the results of an even earlier session in July 1928 having been rejected altogether), although some will still hold a slight preference for the second of Sir Thomas's three versions (a gloriously intuitive display with the newly formed RPO from November 1946).
David Lennick's transfers have been admirably managed, Appalachia now sounding rather more open and full bodied than on a rival Dutton compilation. Throw in a lively and informative booklet-essay from Lyndon Jenkins, not to mention the absurdly low price-tag, and it should be abundantly clear that this is a selfrecommending issue.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010