Search - Vaughan Williams, Handley, Rlpo :: Sea Symphony 1

A Great Recording Of A Great Yet Still Underrated Piece

R. V. Wendel | NYC, NY United States | 11/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have always been a Vaughan Williams fanatic, and not just becuase we share the same initials, but because just when you think you've pegged RVW, he'll surprise you. This is a youthful work by a gifted, though not yet fully matured composer, who had just finished studying with Ravel, and who's influence can be heard at times, yet the RVW-to-come is already there and speaking with a voice of his own.
This symphony has "formalistic" problems at times, amplified by trying to follow Whitman's somewhat free-style poetry, but, who cares? The results are always enjoyable, and at their best, awe-inspiring! I had the first release of this CD, mixed in a concert-like setting, which often made me ride the volume to bring out the soloists at times. Thankfully, EMI remixed this recording and the results are spectacular. The opening alone will bounce you off the back wall. Handley's reading is dramatic, well paced, and very forgiving in RVW's weaker moments. The soloists are wonderful, and the overall balance a credit to any engineer. I only wish the organ in movements 1 & 4 were a bit louder, but this is the first recording I've found where you actually hear it at all, it being so distantly mixed on the Boult version, and absent from the Previn, which are both superb recordings in themselves, and sit along side this one on my shelf. Sit back, turn up the volume and revel in the sound and performance, and forgive some weaknesses in the chorus, an occasional foot stomp from the conductor, and RVW's weaknesses at the begining of the 4th movement...the musical and engineering rewards are well worth the few negatives. ...and if you've had a bad day, just put on the first 4 minutes of this CD, and you'll feel like all is well with the world once again. THIS is the first choice of all currently available recordings for this work."