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I always felt the only performance in Matthias Bamert’s invaluable Parry series for Chandos which didn’t quite measure up to the exalted standards of its companions was that of the Second Symphony. A rehearing confirmed my niggling original reservations: I still think that Bamert’s interpretation hadn’t had sufficient time to settle, and the LPO, too, sound less than ideally geared up for proceedings. Let me say straight away that Andrew Penny’s conception is, on the whole, a more concentrated and lucid affair than that of his Swiss rival. His more propulsive manner ensures that Parry’s ambitious opening movement (and its development section in particular) doesn’t hang fire in the way it does under Bamert, and he brings plenty of affection to the scherzo (with its strong hints of the exhilarating Furiant from Dvorak’s Sixth Symphony) and the succeeding Schumannesque slow movement. Nor is there any doubt about the RSNO’s response (though I thought the timpani a trifle over-brusque in the early stages of the scherzo). On the downside, it must also be admitted that there are times – especially in the main Allegro portion of the first movement – when the Scottish violins are audibly taxed by Parry’s flying passagework (the LPO strings are only marginally more polished – evidently this music is a great deal trickier than it sounds). Neither account is absolutely ideal, but I suspect it will be Penny’s lively reading I will be taking off the shelves the next time I want to hear this likeable work. |
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