Search - Rachmaninoff, Handley, Rpo :: Symphony 2

For a budget Rachmaninov Second, this one is hard to beat

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After its glory days under its founder, Thomas Beecham, the Royal Phil. took a back seat to the London sym. and the Philharmonia. They were rarely to be found on the major labels, which prompted the orchestra to be among the first to make their own line of recordings, released at budget price on labels like Intersound and IMP. Dozens of conductors were invited to churn out recordings, and although quite a few readings sound like run throughs, a few jump out, such as the Mahler fifth under Frank Shipway.



Here we have an all but unknown Rachmaninov Second under the late Vernon Handley, an exceptionally professional conductor who is represented by some 134 CDs in the current catalog but whose reputation never extended across the Atlantic -- he seemed content to lead his Royal Liverpool Phil. His death in 2008, at age 77, sent me searching out Handley's performances. Rachmaninov is strange territory for him, but this is a mellifluous, completely natural Rachmaninov Second, short on passion and temperament compared to half a dozen others led by true blue Russians yet quite enjoyable. On the used market it sells for less than three dollars; the sound is very good; the orchestra plays with real commitment. Perhaps my praise is too faint, and there's no doubt that this recording has sunk into obscurity -- I see no other reviews at Amazon for any of its several incarnations. Nevertheless, in its energy and musicality, it falls more easily on the ears than quite a number of hell-for-leather Soviet accounts. My admiration for Handley keeps growing."