- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Robert Spano
Album: Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5; Fantasia; Serenade To Music
Label: Telarc
Playtime: 70:29 min
Genre: Classical
URL: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=43:152540
Rip date: 2008-05-28
Street date: 2007-00-00
Size: 98.15 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 183 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Brilliant programming is here undone by mediocre performances. Starting with
Thomas Tallis' brief a cappella chorus "Why Fum'th in Fight" to lead into
Ralph Vaughan Williams' ecstatic string orchestra Fantasia on a Theme by
Thomas Tallis based on "Why Fum'th" was a brilliant idea. For the first time,
listeners could hear the source and the elaboration side by side, and thereby
take a truer measure of Vaughan Williams' genius. And following these with
Vaughan Williams's sublime Fifth Symphony and rapturous Serenade to Music was
likewise a brilliant idea. Together, the couplings and sequencing could have
produced a persuasive portrait of Vaughan Williams as a later day musical
saint.
But it's all undone by the performances. Robert Spano is a talented conductor
who has turned in many fine recordings for Telarc, and the Atlanta is one of
the best American regional orchestras that has also turned in many fine
recordings for Telarc. But while Spano's conducting here is technically
assured, it fails to catch the spirit of the music. His themes are often
quite expressive, but they don't so much develop as sprawl and don't so much
climax as peter out. The Atlanta Symphony plays very well with a full sound
and cogent ensemble, but the performances never really ignite. Norman
MacKenzie's Atlanta Chamber Choir sings with a vigorous tone in the Tallis
and a lush tone in the Serenade, while the soloists in the Serenade range
from the clarion soprano Jessica Rivera to the imposing baritone Nmon Ford,
but their performances are not nearly enough to compensate for mundane
playing and uninspired direction. Those who know the music will be
disappointed and those who don't know the music are unlikely to be impressed.
Stick with the canonical Boult and Barbirolli recordings of the Tallis
Fantasia and Fifth Symphony and the Boult and especially the Wood recordings
of the Serenade to Music. Producer Elaine Martone and engineer Michael Bishop
create a beautifully balanced and wonderfully realistic acoustic for the
performances.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Thomas Tallis - Why Fum'th in Fight! ( 0:57)
02. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (16:25)
03. Symphony No. 5 in D Major - Preludio - Moderato (12:18)
04. Symphony No. 5 in D Major - Scherzo: Presto ( 5:17)
05. Symphony No. 5 in D Major - Romanza - Lento (11:57)
06. Symphony No. 5 in D Major - Passacaglia - Moderato (10:30)
07. Serenade to Music (13:05)
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