DELIUS: Orchestral Works (2); extraordinary, and they have a sense of en- Choral Works (2). FORMAT KEY semble that a great string quartet could Walker*, Allent; Ambrosian Singers°. envy. uP Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Fenby. 0 LP CE Videocassette Neeme Jarvi's reading of the Seventh Christopher Palmer, prod. Unicorn-Kan- CD Cassette CY) Videodisc shares roughly the same timings as Doh- chana DKP CD 9063 (D). (Distributed by a Compact Disc nanyi's (it is only 22 seconds slower), but Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) little else. His conception is more expan- Orchestral works: Dance Rhapsody No. RECORDING INFORMATION sive and Romantic, and while it does not 2; Intermezzo from "Fennimore and (A) Analog original (D) Digital original lack for vigor, it casts the music in a rather Gerda." Choral works: Songs of Sunset *r; mysterious Brucknerian mold. The re- An Arabeskr: Large symbol at left margin indicates reviewed corded perspective might well have been "Languor" ... lovely word; and I would format. Small symbols following catalog num- chosen for this conception: It is slightly re- not contest Christopher Palmer's claim ber of reviewed format indicate other avail- able formats (if any). Catalog numbers of for- cessive and lacks a bit of London's sense of that we find "this state of rapture . more mats other than the reviewed format are presence and definition. Jarvi has a way of frequently in Delius's music than in that of printed only if their basic numbers differ sub- beautifully shaping individual phrases, any other composer." Certainly it per- stantially from that of the reviewed format. but, overall, his performance does not vades all the works recorded here, except Arabic numeral in parentheses indicates number of items in multi-item set. match the energy and high voltage of Doh- for the vigorous, whimsical Dance Rhap- nanyi's. Also, as fine as the Scottish Na- sody; that exudes vigor, and even ends tional Orchestra is, it is outclassed by the loud, which in Delius's tender, introspec- they rather overdo it, particularly with re- Cleveland ensemble. tive music almost never happens. All the gard to soloists Sarah Walker and Thomas The Chandos disc has a major advan- other works here derive from what Eric Allen, who sound unnecessarily far from tage in that it offers almost another half Fenby calls "a theme which obsessed [De- their microphones. That makes it less easy hour of music in Jarvi's stirring, charac- lius] increasingly from his early opera to understand Ernest Dowson's touching terful performance of Dvotak's symphon- Koanga, through the choral works Appa- words, even with the text in the leaflet. ic poem The Golden Spinning-Wheel. lachia, Sea Drift, Songs of Sunset to An The surge at the end, however, on "They Whatever possessed London to issue a CD Arabesk —the transience of creaturely are not long, the days of wine and roses," with only 36:25 of music on it? Playing love, its partings, its frailties, and its sepa- brings a passage of Delius at his best. time (Chandos CHAN 8501): 64:50. rations." In An Arabesk, the composer takes his Robert R. Reilly The Songs of Sunset dominate this se- text (translated by Philip Heseltine, a.k.a. lection, and they get an outstanding per- Peter Warlock) from Jens Peter Jacobsen, HUMMEL: Concertos for Piano and formance from two ideal soloists, an un- the Dane who also gave us the Gurrelieder. Orchestra in A minor, Op. 85, and surpassed chorus, and one of London's I question Fenby's pronouncement that it B minor, Op. 89. best orchestras, all conducted by today's "exemplifies the best of Delius," but for Chang; Budapest Symphony Chamber leading living Delius expert. (After ad- any true fan of the composer its availa- Orchestra, Pd!. Herser Zoltan, prod. vanced syphilis left Delius completely bility alone makes this a tempting record- Marco Polo 8.223107 (D). (Distributed by blind, Fenby served for the final decade as ing. Playing time: 64:41. Paul Moor Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) his amanuensis, writing down the last In the early 19th century, everyone ap- scores the composer dictated, note for D9OAAK: Symphony No. 7, in D minor, peared to know that Johann Nepomuk note.) Rather self-defensively, Fenby op. 70. Hummel (1778-1837) was a genius. His states here that "in all his choral works Cleveland Orchestra, Dohndnyi. Paul contemporaries described him as both the Delius always wanted to hear the orchestra Myers, prod. London 417 564-2 (D). inheritor of Mozart's melodic gift and as a first priority, and we bore this in mind mr=1 grace and the principal rival to the young in making this recording." For my taste, DV014AK: Symphony No. 7, in D minor, Beethoven. A century and a half after Op. 70; The Golden Spinning-Wheel, Hummel's death, we can discover why he Op. 109. was included in the pantheon, and also Scottish National Orchestra, Joni Bri- puzzle over the obscurity that engulfed his an Couzens, prod. Chandos CHAN work as Romanticism swept everything 8501 (D). m ABTD 1211. (Distributed by before it. This is in large part thanks to Ian Harmon ía Mundi, U.S.A.) Hobson's superb set of Hummel's six pi- Christoph von Dohnanyi's account of ano sonatas (on three Arabesque CDs) Dvotak's Seventh Symphony with the and Stephen Hough's very fine perfor- Cleveland Orchestra is another success in mances of Hummel's Piano Concertos in his traversal of this composer's sympho- A minor, Op. 85, and B minor, Op. 89 (on nies. Never becoming manic, Dohnanyi Chandos). conducts with Beethovenian vigor and The sure sign of a revival is duplication, brings out a wealth of orchestral details and now the program of the Chandos disc without fussing over them. He keeps is replicated on a Marco Polo CD with things beautifully balanced and maintains performances that surpass it. Without a tension that never slackens, yet he knowing the size of the Budapest Sympho- doesn't push. It is a bracing and exhilarat- ny Chamber Orchestra, one can hear that ing performance. The almost startling it has the requisite weight for Hummel's clarity of orchestral detail is a tribute not brilliant and sometimes powerful orches- only to the Decca/London recording engi- tral accompaniment—which was rather neers—who here have produced yet an- lacking with the English Chamber Or- other demonstration-class disc—but to chestra. The players and conductor Ta- the virtuosity of the Clevelanders. The Thomas Allen mas Pal seem to have the style of this mu- precision and beauty of their playing are (Continued on page 83) SO H I G H FI D E L I T Y.