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I might wish for a more animated first movement but one appreciates the recording’s detail and dynamic range. On the other hand, the timpani are a welcome presence and the brass are well balanced. If you like the performance, it isn’t going to be a problem the way it is on Boult’s old Westminster/Nixa recording (recently reissued on the First Hand label). I wish the strings had just a bit more power I don’t know if the orchestra has a comparatively small string section or whether it is just a peculiarity of the production. In what is an orchestral showpiece, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra holds its own, despite the fact that the ensemble’s only other studio recording was Frank Brieff’s Mahler First Symphony, issued back in 1968, the first recording to incorporate the “Blumine” movement. Just after them comes a batch of very good ones, say, Davis, Rattle, Mackerras, Litton, Otaka, Handley 2, Leaper, and this new one by Boughton. My favorite recordings are the more animated ones that emphasize its nervous energy and power (it’s quite loud at times): the two Waltons (both are monaural), the first Previn, and Leonard Slatkin’s. I understand that Walton was pleased by Kyung-Wha Chung’s recording but I was unable to obtain a copy I remember being impressed when it first appeared on LP.Ĭan there be such a thing as a piece that revels in its own cleverness? I suppose not, but Walton’s First Symphony is a brilliant, exuberant piece that never fails to please me. Heifetz/Goosens, Heifetz/Walton, Little/Litton, Nikkanen/Boughton-those are my favorites among several very good ones. Despite Heifetz’s urgings, the piece is playable and Nikkanen is in command of the pyrotechnics and never gets drowned out by the orchestra. Whereas Decca almost surely accomplished this by microphonic legerdemain, Nimbus seems to have managed it by moving Nikkanen back from the mikes, in effect making him the first among equals rather than bathing him in a sonic spotlight. Of the recordings I had access to, this characteristic is particularly clear on Decca’s Tasmin Little/Andrew Litton performance and this one, by Kurt Nikkanen and William Boughton. One of the delights of this concerto is the by-play between the busy soloist and the orchestra. Except for lacking a certain brightness on top, these recordings still sound pretty good and Heifetz tosses off the piece’s difficulties with no apparent compromise. Heifetz made two excellent recordings of the piece, on 78s with Eugene Goosens and later, on LP, with Walton himself. The Violin Concerto was written at the behest of Jascha Heifetz, who pestered Walton to increase its difficulties, apparently with some success. Who would have imagined such a thing 50 years ago when Walton was considered irrelevant and washed up? Evidently quality will out. I wasn’t aware that there were any significant textual problems in Walton’s scores, so I don’t know how useful the series, if it continues, will be, but I am glad that it is off to such a good start.
#Tempo of walton violin concerto archive
This is apparently the first in a series of recordings of Walton’s music that will originate in New Haven, taking advantage of the availability of the world’s largest archive of Walton’s original manuscripts. William Boughton, cond Kurt Nikkanen (vn) New Haven SO.