Bax: Orchestral Works

Album review

Let's say you'd like to try just one recording of one symphony by the self-described brazen Romantic Arnold Bax, by all means try this one. To begin with, the Sixth is probably Bax's best and most characteristic symphony. Like his other works in the genre, the Sixth is in three movements arranged fast-slow-fast, and like most of his later works in the genre, the Sixth's finale ends with an expansive and evocative Epilogue. But unlike his sometimes sprawling and occasionally overloaded earlier symphonies, Bax retains tight control over his materials in his Sixth, and its drama is thus more cogent and convincing. On top of that, Handley and the New Philharmonia's performance is stupendous. Like his mentor Adrian Boult, Handley goes after structure first, never forgetting color and contrast but always keeping the long line and the ultimate goal inviolate. The New Philharmonia plays as if its job depended on it, and this courageous performance matches the music's tone wonderfully. The four remaining works on the disc, the Irish Landscape from 1913 and the four much later Overtures, are not nearly as impressive, but they are still never less than interesting, and later performances by the Royal Philharmonic also under Handley are never less than persuasive. Oddly, Lyrita's 1996 stereo recording for the Sixth is cleaner, clearer, and warmer than the 1976 stereo Irish Landscape and especially the harder, tighter 1994 digital Overtures.
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