Page 428 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

20 September 2022

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

The New Collector’s Edition
No texts or libretti
WARNER 9029624537 [30 CDs: 34 hrs]

In the early 2000s EMI brought out a 9-CD Choral, Vocal and Orchestral box
that included a third of the Vaughan Williams items that were later to form
part of their 30-CD ‘Collector’s Edition’, masterminded by Richard Abram.
Now, in time for the composer’s 150 birthday celebrations, comes Warner’s
th
‘The New Collector’s Edition’, also in a 30-CD box. If you have that earlier
box still on your shelves, you’d be entitled to know what Warner, as it now
is, has come up with. What makes this the ‘New’ collector’s edition, as
distinct from the common or garden ‘Collector’s’ edition? The answer is not
very much.

The earlier set was comprehensively and handsomely reviewed by Rob
Barnett (review) who gave links to previous reviews of the material in the
box, none of which was new, and all of which was part of the EMI-VW
recorded legacy. I have listened to the Handley symphonic cycle in full in this
incarnation as it’s been years since I last heard it, but I have sampled much
of the remainder, dipping into and out of each disc to refresh my memory of
recordings I’ve known for a long time and also to listen to those things that I
haven’t heard before – which includes the smaller items that have been
included in this set that weren’t in the previous one; there are not too many
of those, admittedly.

So, think of this review as a signpost to long-established performances and