Search - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vanska :: Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3; Bax: Tintagel

Solid performances of colorful Rachmaninov and Bax scores

Classic Music Lover | Maryland, USA | 01/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an interesting incidence of pairing a British and a Russian composer on disk. It works; despite their stylistic differences, both Bax and Rachmaninov composed in a late-romantic style, with plenty of passion. It's amazing to realize just how popular the Bax Tintagel symphonic poem has become, with recordings by conductors like Barbirolli, Boult, Marriner, Handley, Thomson and Falletta out there today. This performance by Vanska is better than average -- highly atmospheric, yet not quite up to the level of Sir Adrian Boult's stellar performance on Lyrita. That one would be my "desert island" choice.



Turning to the Rachmaninov Symphony No. 3, we're treated to a passionate performance that is highly effective on first hearing ... and that bears up well under repeating listening. In this live LPO performance, there's a spark that is too often missing from commercial releases of the Rach 3. As for the sparks REALLY flying, that would be found on Leopold Stokowski's 1977 studio recording made when he was 93 years old, in a performance that's so thrilling the orchestra practically runs off the rails in places. It's out on EMI. This Vanska/LPO recording is very good, but neither he nor anyone else has "taken things to the edge" in this piece quite the way Stoky did. Too bad."