Bax - Tone Poems, Vol 2

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-06-11 rating:
More outstanding performances from Handley
This is the second volume of tone poems that Vernon Handley has recorded in the wake of his phenomenal account of the Bax symphonies. As with the first volume, this cd contains a mix of the familiar with the less so, together with one premiere recording. As to be expected from someone so completely immersed in the Bax idiom, Handley's interpretations are definitive.

The premiere recording is an orchestration by Grham Parlett of "Red Autumn", a piece that Bax originally wrote for solo piano in 1912 and which was then arranged for two pianos twenty years later. Parlett is a seasoned Bax scholar and has orchestrated his music before (notably the marvellous "Tamara" ballet suite, also recorded by Chandos). The work is rather intense and only lasts 5 minutes, but is sufficiently diverting to make Mr Parlett's efforts worthwhile. Perhaps the finest performance on the disc is "Nympholept", the opening bars of which must rank as some of the finest, most magical music Bax ever composed. The pace is a bit brisker than usual, and the opening in particular benefits from this; and the woodwind soloists play marvellously here. The "Three Northen Ballads" are less immediately approachable than the other works on the disc but their complexities reward repeated listening. Lewis Foreman's notes explain the history behind whether the third piece, Prelude for a Solemn Occasion, is in fact a "Northern Ballad". Whatever one calls it, the work is certainly one of the finest of Bax's tone-poems from the early 1930s, and the BBCPO brass section gives its absolute best in the climactic peal of bells with which the piece finishes.

It is unlikely that these works will ever be played better than they are on this disc. As shown in the recordings of the symphonies, the BBCPO is the natural choice for this repertoire; the depth and weight of the orchestra's sound is perfect. As with his other recordings for Chandos and other labels, one wonders why on earth Vernon Handley has not yet received a knighthood for his services to British music.

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Similar categories

Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Composers . A-B . Bax
Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Performers . Conductors . Handley, Vernon
Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Record Labels . Chandos
Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Orchestral . Tone Poems
Music . Styles . Classical . Classical Instrumental . Orchestral . General AAS
Music . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . CD . CD Album

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