Themes of Grainger

Chronique

Themes of Grainger features the conductor-less Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble and predates the "Grainger Edition" that English label Chandos began in 1996 that, so far, has reached Volume 19. Themes of Grainger actually isn't all-Grainger as the cover design might suggest; the longest piece featured on the disc is a multi-movement work by English composer Kenneth Leighton, Fantasy Octet on Themes of Grainger, Op. 87. This is the most impressively performed work on the disc, played with purpose and fire, and one wonders if Grainger's music is meant to be included as filler for the Leighton work and not the other way around. The least enjoyable selection on Themes of Grainger is a shaky, seasick rendering by baritone Nicholas Sears of Grainger's maritime folk-song setting Shallow Brown. Sears' voice is so wayward that the Academy members probably wished they had a conductor present when this was waxed -- the performance is all over the map. While it is certainly admirable that the Academy can play its Grainger without Sir Neville Marriner's assistance, or for that matter, interference, this doesn't automatically lead to the best possible results. While Grainger's music can withstand some scrappiness in the string section, listening to this loose-limbed recording of Handel in the Strand makes one long for the precision and charm of Frederick Fennell's 1959 recording with the Eastman-Rochester Pops -- this is more like an English schoolboy who can't keep his shirttail tucked into his trousers. Certain pieces work on Themes of Grainger, such as Mock Morris and Molly on the Shore. However, the more problematical performances are impossible to ignore, such as when the Academy musters up its best, most magisterial string sound for Irish Tune from County Derry only to have two overbalanced horns blow the whole thing out of the water. Had Marriner been there, he would have made them back off. Consider Themes of Grainger mainly for the Kenneth Leighton work, otherwise better performances of these Grainger pieces may be had a dozen different ways or more.
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