Walton Hamlet ^a. As You Like It – Poem for Orchestra. ^a Michael Sheen (narr); RTE Concert Orchestra / Andrew Penny.

Naxos (Super budget price) (CD) 8 553344 (53 minutes: DDD).

Walton Spitfire Prelude and Fugue. Sinfonia concertante ^a. Variations on a Theme by Hindemith. March – The History of the English Speaking Peoples. ^a Peter Donohoe (pf); English Northern Philharmonia / Paul Daniel.

Naxos (Super budget price) (CD) 8 553869 (53 minutes: DDD).

Following each other in quick succession, these two Walton issues make one wonder how far Naxos intend to challenge the Chandos Walton Edition with rival issues at bargain price. In the disc of film music, as arranged for concert performance by the late Christopher Palmer, the rivalry is direct in this coupling. Though Penny and the RTE Concert Orchestra give warm, sympathetic performances of both the early As You Like It music and the Hamlet Scenario, they cannot match the Chandos issue with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, either in the playing or the quality of sound, which is relatively recessed, not as rich as the Chandos. Michael Sheen recites the Hamlet soliloquies with the ardour of youth, and the unnamed soprano soloist in the As You Like It song, ‘Under the greenwood tree’, sings with fresh, girlish tone, but neither can quite match Sir John Gielgud or Catherine Bott respectively.

In the other disc Naxos follows the example of the Chandos edition in preferring the original version of the Sinfonia concertante to Walton’s revision, with piano writing and orchestration slimmed down. Walton himself, before he died, suggested such a return. As soloist Peter Donohoe plays with power and flamboyance, brought home the more when the piano is very forwardly balanced, too much so for a work which does not aim to be a full concerto, leaving the orchestra a little pale behind. Even so, I hope this new account, broad in the first movement, flowing in the central Andante, will persuade others to take it up, young man’s music built on striking, colourful ideas, used with crisp concision. As in his outstanding earlier issues of Walton Paul Daniel is splendid at interpreting the jazzy syncopations with the right degree of freedom, and in the Spitfire Prelude and Fugue he adds to the impact by taking the big march tune faster than many, similarly demonstrating that The History of the English Speaking Peoples March, buried for too long, is a match for Walton’s other ceremonial marches.

Best of all is the performance of the Hindemith Variations, given here with winning panache. The strings of the English Northern Philharmonia may not be as weighty as in some rival versions, but the articulation is brilliant, and the complex textures are all the more transparent. The fire and energy of the performance, the persuasive way Daniel leads from variation to variation has never been surpassed on disc, not even by Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra in their legendary account. A very welcome issue.

EG