Some mouthwatering new releases from Testament, including a number of BPO concerts with Klaus Tennstedt. Most intriguing is the Boult recording of Havergal Brian's 'Gothic' Symphony. Apparently this is the elusive performance I've heard so much about over the years. An odd piece - I only know it from the old Marco Polo recording - but I'd be interested to know what others make of it.
http://www.testament.co.uk/default.aspx?PageID=74
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I too got the old Marco Polo recording, but couldn't really "get into" the work, so it ended up one the shelf, gathering dust that was brushed off far too infrequently. My earlier attempt to get to grips with this work suffered an even more ignominious fate - I tried to record off-air the famed Boult performance (1966), but was defeated by a mixture of level overload and noisy broadcast signal.
ReplyDeleteThen, along came a review copy of the Naxos reissue, which forced me into a lot of concentrated listening. This was one of those rare occasions in my life when not only did I "see the Light", but also I was dazzled by its sheer brilliance (more normally, I tend to overlook the blindingly obvious!). For me, the reviewing process rapidly became something of a voyage of discovery.
By, but it's a hard nut to crack! Yet, has the labour of cracking such an exceedingly robust, cast-iron nut ever been rewarded by a more succulent fruit?
www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/July04/Brian1.htm