Search - William [composer] Walton, Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra :: Walton: Symphony No. 1 [Hybrid SACD]

3.5 stars -- musically satisfying, good sound, and one big l

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 01/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When conductor Hamilton Hardy recommended the young William Walton compose a symphony, this was the result. Written during 1930-32, Walton's Symphony No. 1 joined contemporary symphonies by Elgar and Vaughan Williams during the most prolific period for English symphonists in history.



It's clear from listening to the opening movement and the closing that Walton wrote this, in part, as devotion to Jean Sibelius. Indeed, the entire first movement and final pages of the closing mimic the famous closing sequence from the Sibelius Symphony No. 5. Elsewhere, the music alternately reflects the jazz era influences of the 1920s and 1930s, Walton's acumen as a composer of scores for flims and the theater, and tonal postromantic notions still in vogue in opposition to the 12-tone experiment that had taken root elsewhere in Europe.



Colin Davis, a noted interpreter of both Walton and Sibelius, executes the score with some energy although I can imagine this work being more urgently interpreted (Ashkenazy, for one) and, as a result, more dramatic than the resulting recording. The composer proposed a 43-minute performance; Davis does it in 46.



Arranged from concerts during September and December 2005, the SACD recording is excellent. The soundstage has realism, depth and definition, especially the fourth movement conclusion that shows off Walton's extra scoring for timpani and percussion. The London Symphony playing is similarly excellent but sometimes labored, reflecting the conductor's measured approach. While the recording lacks brilliance, it always sounds clean and clear in broadband SACD.



While a satisfactory performance in excellent modern sound -- some people derided the SACD sound; I like its clarity and openness -- there is no sugar-coating this: for $18.98 ($9.99 for "club" members, whomever they are), you get a new recording of an English masterpiece on CD of 46 minutes' duration. Even in the super audio format this is not very good value. I played it in standard stereo in the car; the elocution and depth was not as great but it still sounded good. If money is an issue, you may want to explore this in stereo format where the cost is more in keeping with the content of the issue. Or join the "club"."