Walton: Scapino: A Comedy Overture

“John Wilson is probably best known for his light-entertainment orchestral work, especially his restorations of classic film scores – a background which, it turns out, equips him well for this anthology of British musical landscapes.” The Independent, 21st October 2011 ***

“The celebrated John Wilson brings his interpretative magic to bear on these pieces, which often transplant you so fully into the era you have to check you're not wearing a peplum suit or Oxford bags. The general mood is one of unhurried romanticism. The RLPO gently draws out every subtlety” Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 ****

“Rich, immaculate sound and impeccable orchestral playing too.” The Arts Desk, 3rd December 2011

“[Clark's] playing has rapturous firepower...John Wilson's conducting secures ultra-vivid, sparklingly finished performances that also respond memorably to the quieter moments” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ****

“a well-chosen programme of English orchestral miniatures very well recorded. He opens with Walton's portrait of the commedia dell'arte character Scapino, full of gusto yet bringing out tenderly the contrasting romantic episodes that fill out the character...Delius's sensuously romantic Walk to the Paradise Garden and Bax's lushly scored The Happy Forest are made glowingly radiant in John Wilson's richly textured evocations.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

“Astonishingly successful, clear and atmospheric … The performance [is] still the finest ever recorded … miraculously deft” Penguin Guide ***

“As for the performance, it stands above all others since … must remain a classic to the end of time” Gramophone Magazine

“[Peter Katin’s playing] combines agility, poetry and character most impressively, as well as bristling with rhythmic life...the recorded sound is splendid – natural and full” International Record Review, April 2009

“The pianist is assured, athletic, and technically immaculate … Highly energized and flawlessly performed, this [Prokofiev] is an interesting reading that deserves the enthusiastic applause it receives” Fanfare, May/June 2010

“[Peter Katin is] a splendid exponent, whose legerdemain is matched by an acute structural sense, and whose tonal qualities are laudable. The ensemble between pianist and orchestra is pretty solid. The piano’s treble sonorities against the high winds are a notably successful feature of a recording that in no small degree manages to bring some warmth to the hall’s acoustic.” MusicWeb International, May 2012

“Decca's four-disc Walton Edition offers consistently fine versions of all the composer's most important orchestral works, some of them unsurpassed, in full, brilliant sound. Andrew Litton, the conductor of all but two minor items, is central to the success of the whole. Like his compatriot, André Previn, he's idiomatic, with a natural feeling for the jazzy syncopations at the heart of so much of Walton's music.
This issue brings together the three Litton discs previously issued, with important additions.
The third disc was issued separately, and contains outstanding versions, never previously released, of the Viola Concerto and HindemithVariations plus the two Façade Suites. Where most latterday interpreters of the Viola Concerto have taken a very expansive view of the lyrical first movement, Paul Neubauer comes nearer than anyone else to the original interpreters on disc, Frederick Riddle and William Primrose.
With Neubauer – his tone firm and precise, clean rather than fruity – the result is more persuasive than other modern versions, with no suspicion of expressive self-indulgence. The brisker passages are taken faster than is now usual; the impact is tauter and stronger without losing romantic warmth. He relaxes seductively for the hauntingly beautiful epilogue, using the widest dynamic range. Litton encourages wide contrasts in the orchestra, the big tuttis bringing an element of wildness in the brassy syncopations, the ensemble kept crisp and incisive. The Hindemith Variations also brings a taut and purposeful performance with contrasts in both dynamic and speed heightened to extremes.
Façade is predictably fun, though there's some danger of the warm acoustic softening some of the sharpness of these witty parodies.
Two of the other discs remain the same as with their original release, with Tasmin Little's heartfelt reading of the Violin Concerto coupled with Litton's outstanding account of the Second Symphony, the finest digital version yet, as well as Scapino, while Robert Cohen's thoughtful reading of the Cello Concerto is coupled with the richly recorded First Symphony.
Litton's powerful account of Belshazzar'sFeast with Bryn Terfel brings fresh, cleanly focused choral sound in an atmospheric acoustic that clearly lets you appreciate the terracing between the different groupings of voices. That aptly comes with the coronation music – and the Henry V Suite, with David Hill, chorus-master in Belshazzar, ably standing in for Litton in the Coronation Te Deum and Orband Sceptre.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010