Document

  1997
    June 1997
        Orchestral
                Delius Orchestral Works.

Delius Florida Suite. Over the hills and far away. Idylle de printemps. La quadroone (Rapsodie floridienne). Scherzo. Koanga – Closing scene^a. ^a Susannah Glanville, ^a Susan Lees, ^a Irene Evans (sops); ^a Sandra Francis, ^a Sue Pearce, ^a Shirley Thomas (mezzos); English Northern Philharmonia / David Lloyd-Jones.

Naxos (Super budget price) (CD) 8 553535 (79 minutes: DDD). Recorded in association with the Delius Trust and Opera North.

Florida Suite – selected comparisons:

RPO, Beecham (6/87) (EMI) CDS7 47509-8

Ulster Orch, Handley (12/86) (CHAN) CHAN8413

Over the hills and far away – selected comparison:

LPO, Beecham (6/89) (BEEC) BEECHAM2

Though neither the booklet-notes nor the cover of this disc acknowledges the fact, this generously filled Naxos release actually contains a sprinkling of world premiere performances and recordings. Apparently, the manuscripts of the Idylle de printemps (1889), La quadroone (or Rapsodie floridienne) and Scherzo (both 1889-90) were in the possession of Sir Thomas Beecham and only became available for publication in 1992. In conjunction with the Delius Trust, Naxos had parts specially prepared for this venture. None is a forgotten masterwork, but all three reveal a deft orchestral touch and a lyricism that are really most appealing. David Lloyd-Jones and his Leeds-based band prove more-than-able protagonists of the young composer’s very Griegian inspiration.

These artists also lend enthusiastic, honest-to-goodness advocacy to the lovely fantasy overture of 1897, Over the hills and far away. Utterly sympathetic though Lloyd-Jones is, all three of Beecham’s recordings (and his inspirational first account from 1936 in particular) convey a recreative flair and intuitive enchantment that this newcomer barely hints at. Admittedly that’s a cruel comparison; on its own terms, Lloyd-Jones’s lively reading holds up perfectly well. Perhaps the highlight of this collection is the concluding scene from Koanga, which Lloyd-Jones conducts with marvellous understanding.

We also get a shapely, affectionate account of the Florida Suite. The ENP strings (not always as tightly disciplined as they might be) sing out with a lyrical ardour that is most touching, and there is plenty of atmosphere and fresh-faced charm throughout. Only at the very start of the concluding “At Night” did I crave greater mystery, with those magical horn-calls looming too far forward in the picture (Richard Hickox, in his now-deleted Bournemouth recording for EMI, 5/91, was outstanding in this movement, I recall). During those heftily-scored revelries some 5'39" into “Sunset – Near the Plantation”, The sound doesn’t quite expand as spectacularly as it does on Handley’s Chandos version with the Ulster Orchestra (and the harp accompaniment is surely too prominent in the preceding “By the River”). Otherwise, the engineering is very good, and the performance enjoyable and idiomatic, if (again) inevitably lacking that indefinable Beecham spell.

AA



		Though neither the booklet-notes nor the cover of this disc acknowledges the fact, this generously filled Naxos release actually contains a sprinkling of world premiere performances and recordings. Apparently, the manuscripts of the Idylle de printemps (1889), La quadroone (or Rapsodie floridienne) and Scherzo (both 1889-90) were in the possession of Sir Thomas Beecham and only became available for publication in 1992. In conjunction with the Delius Trust, Naxos had parts specially prepared for this venture. None is a forgotten masterwork, but all three reveal a deft orchestral touch and a lyricism that are really most appealing. David Lloyd-Jones and his Leeds-based band prove more-than-able protagonists of the young composer’s very Griegian inspiration.



		These artists also lend enthusiastic, honest-to-goodness advocacy to the lovely fantasy overture of 1897, Over the hills and far away. Utterly sympathetic though Lloyd-Jones is, all three of Beecham’s recordings (and his inspirational first account from 1936 in particular) convey a recreative flair and intuitive enchantment that this newcomer barely hints at. Admittedly that’s a cruel comparison; on its own terms, Lloyd-Jones’s lively reading holds up perfectly well. Perhaps the highlight of this collection is the concluding scene from Koanga, which Lloyd-Jones conducts with marvellous understanding.



		We also get a shapely, affectionate account of the Florida Suite. The ENP strings (not always as tightly disciplined as they might be) sing out with a lyrical ardour that is most touching, and there is plenty of atmosphere and fresh-faced charm throughout. Only at the very start of the concluding “At Night” did I crave greater mystery, with those magical horn-calls looming too far forward in the picture (Richard Hickox, in his now-deleted Bournemouth recording for EMI, 5/91, was outstanding in this movement, I recall). During those heftily-scored revelries some 5'39" into “Sunset – Near the Plantation”, The sound doesn’t quite expand as spectacularly as it does on Handley’s Chandos version with the Ulster Orchestra (and the harp accompaniment is surely too prominent in the preceding “By the River”). Otherwise, the engineering is very good, and the performance enjoyable and idiomatic, if (again) inevitably lacking that indefinable Beecham spell.