gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 55creator in an interview with annotator
Lewis Foreman just a few years prior to
Vernon Handley’s exemplary pioneering
1988 recording with the RLPO, it emerges
here with comparably flying colours,
Yates’s affectionately unhurried approach
paying especial dividends in the middle
movements: the enchanting Allegretto has
something of the nostalgia and whimsy
of the two infinitely touching suites that
comprise The Wand of Youth, while the
ensuing Andante espressivo brings
unmistakable foreshadowings of those
inspired slow movements of the Violin
Concerto and both symphonies. No less
than Handley’s rather more thrusting
account, this stylish newcomer had me
admiring afresh the structural ambition,
harmonic resourcefulness and tenderness
of expression to be found in Elgar’s
Op 28 – ‘Symphony No 0’ indeed.
Commissioned for the 1930 National
Brass Band Championship at Crystal
Palace and orchestrated by the composer
the following February, the Severn Suite
sounds positively newly minted when
given such opulent and beguilingly alert
advocacy as Yates’s. We also get three
different versions (spanning some six
years) of the brief Civic Fanfare that
Elgar originally wrote for the mayoral
procession that accompanied the opening
of the 1927 Three Choirs Festival in
Hereford. All told, a conspicuously
rewarding and generously full anthology
that no Elgarian will want to miss.
Dutton’s enticingly ripe sound and
copious presentation are the icing on
the cake. Andrew Achenbach
Elgar. Holst
Elgar Variations on an Original Theme,
‘Enigma’, Op 36 Holst The Planets, Op 32
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Litton
BIS F Í BIS2068 (83’ • DDD/DSD)
Edward Gardner
and Vasily Petrenko
have been taking
their Norwegian
orchestras through plenty of Elgar in
concert while recording the same works
with ensembles in Britain. There is a
certain feeling for the composer on the
Danish-Norwegian axis – explainable via
cultural and geopolitical history, to a
point – which this 2013 Bergen recording
of the Enigma Variations under Gardner’s
predecessor Andrew Litton reveals in its
depth, detail, sincerity and fluency.
Jazz-literate Litton invests the score
with the improvisatory feeling that
induceditinthefirstplace,evenifhe
drawsouttheinitialthemeinawaythat
mightconcernsome(likehisover-egged
lastgestureinthefinale).Otherthanthat,
theperformanceison-point,elegiac,
witty,highonself-confidencewhereit
needstobe(withaswaggerrecalling
Barbirolli)andconvincinglycompassionate
elsewhere.Ensembleistightandtextures
meticulous,forwhichtry‘BGN’withits
cellosololeadingtothemistysea-voyage
clarinetsolo.Thefresh,woodyqualityof
theBergenstringsmakesforadistinctive
‘Nimrod’–evenifLittondoesn’ttugthe
movementonwardsinthemiddleasothers
soeffectivelydo–anddeliversmoments
tosavourthroughout,asat4'13"inthe
finale,whenthemusicstartstodigdeep.
Allover,phrasingconveysthenarrative
andLitton’sgenerosityofspirit,more
hot-headedthanPetrenkoinLiverpool,
movedmedeeply.
OnlyoneseriousconcernwithHolst’s
ThePlanetsthatfollows,recordedfour
yearslaterin 2017 (wellintoGardner’s
tenure),andthat’sthewayLittonhasthe
mainthemein‘Jupiter’fallexaggeratingly
intoitstempo–twice.Thejollityison
theleadensideandthestringconstellation
thatopensthemovementlacksthestatic
electricityitneeds.Otherwise,everything
isinplaceinameatyperformancethat
doesn’tquitereachthelightnessand
fluidityofVladimirJurowski’slive
performancewiththeLPOorthefearsome
powerofGardner’swiththeNational
YouthOrchestra,butdoeswellonfocusing
thescore’sunusualandetherealtextures.
SoacaseofdecentHolstbutexceptional
Elgar.AndrewMellor
Elgar–selectedcomparison:
RLPO,VPetrenko(5/19)(ONYX)ONYX4205
Holst–selectedcomparisons:
LPO,Jurowski(11/10)(LPO)LPO0047
NYO,Gardner(3/17)(CHAN)CHSA5179
SeeTheMusicianandtheScoreonpage 64Gershwin.Goodyear
GershwinRhapsodyinBlue(originaljazzband
version)aGoodyearCallalooa. PianoSonata
StewartGoodyearpf
aChineke!Orchestra/ WayneMarshall
OrchidFORC100100(60’• DDD)The curtain rips
apart with brash
glissandos, followed by
syncopated bitonality
that cries out ‘Busoni in Trinidad!’, only
to morph into propulsive Bartókian chords
and wild percussion dancing the night
away. The themes are closer to ‘hooks’than melodies, but that’s perfectly fine,
because you’re listening with your body.
And we’re only into the first of the five
movements comprising Callaloo, Stewart
Goodyear’s exciting, inventive and smartly
scored suite for piano and orchestra.
The second movement gives the
percussion section a respite, adding
horns alongside the strings. The tempo
is slower and the mood is calmer, while
Goodyear’s characteristically busy and
energetic piano-writing gains breathing
room. Goodyear likens the third-
movement Ballad to the kind of lilting
moderate-tempo mento that Harry
Belafonte popularised (think of the singer’s
treatment of ‘Jamaica Farewell’).
The solo-piano fourth-movement
cadenza begins lyrically yet traverses the
whole keyboard; again Busoni’s harmonic
ambivalence informs Goodyear’s aesthetic
but with a sensual component distinctly
his own. The cadenza ultimately builds
into a frenzied yet strongly profiled fifth-
movement finale with full forces present.
Here Goodyear’s penchant for
counterpoint conveys more focus (the
fleet trumpet and clarinet lines against
the piano, for example). I find the extended
percussion-only passage towards the end
a tad audience-baiting and ‘showbiz’-
orientated but it admittedly works – and,
besides, the public can’t resist a drum solo!
Under Wayne Marshall’s sympathetic
leadership, the Chineke! Orchestra sound
as if they’re having the time of their lives.
Goodyear’s three-movement Piano
Sonata stems from his 18th year, and
he confesses that he wanted to show off
and write the most difficult piano work
ever. While the outer movements’ pop
influence results in stretches of predictable
syncopations, I hear sheer creativity and joy
rather than youthful hubris in Goodyear’s
wonderfully idiomatic piano-writing. The
slow movement works best when Goodyear
sings out simply, yet works less well in his
fatiguing deployment of high-register block
chords. Still, we hear a real composer in
the making, not to mention an ‘unreal’
pianist; those effortless double notes and
ricocheting chordal jumps alone will make
mortal key-pushers green with envy. And
with so many pianists these days mistaking
Rhapsody in Blue for Rachmaninov’s
Third, Goodyear’s bracingly forthright
and ever-fresh interpretation is a
welcome corrective.
If you only know this musician from
his Beethoven sonata cycle and complete
Nutcracker ballet transcription recordings,
be prepared for another extraordinary
example of Stewart Goodyear’s wide-
ranging gifts. Jed DistlerORCHESTRAL REVIEWS