Page 460 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

the crotchet = 80 marked in the score, but I like it, and Collins is certainly
not the only conductor to balk at that tempo indication. A nice feeling of calm
is established, and on the third page the horn calls, now muted, are nicely
contrasted with the opening. There is an appropriate sense of mystery in the
passage leading into the faster middle section, and the winds, quite heavily
accented, provide menace throughout the passage. The temperature rises
very satisfyingly, after which the return of the opening theme is well
handled. When we come to the Tutta forza presentation of the second theme
Collins suddenly pulls back the tempo, as if he wants to underline the effect.
Sudden pauses, hesitations, and one dramatic stab at the brakes give the
impression that the conductor doesn’t quite trust the music to do the job on
its own. The close of the movement can sound bleak in some hands, though
here it sounds sadly matter of fact.

The tempo of the second movement is just right, and Collins makes sure that
the texture favours the winds rather than the strings. There are quite a
few fortissimo markings in this movement – more than you might expect in
something we often think of as a kind of nocturne – and Collins does not
hesitate to make the most of them. Rasping trombones – marked
only forte – rather cross the line of good taste. The lovely string passage a
minute or so before the end is played here with more expressiveness than is
often the case, and so pleases this listener!

The Romanza is beautifully played from all concerned, but there are a
number of rather abrupt changes of tempo and of mood. These expressive
points do not always sound spontaneous. The three-fold farewell at the end
of the movement is beautifully done. This is serious, even solemn music, but
it is not sombre; even so, the sun should come out at the beginning of the
finale. It is all fairly straightforward here, almost non-committal, and I
certainly don’t hear much sense of fun in the first paragraph of this
movement. The passage preceding and preparing for the return of the music
from the opening of the symphony is extremely dramatic, and the glorious
coda is beautifully played, though you might well wish that greater attention
had been paid to the pp and ppp markings. This is perhaps a performance to
please those who hear the work as a response to conflict rather than as a
calm oasis in wartime. Despite a few doubts I enjoy this performance rather
more than one or two other reviewers.

Martyn Brabbins/BBC Symphony Orchestra, 2019 (Hyperion)
This performance from Martyn Brabbins was recorded only four months after
that by Michael Collins. Brabbins, like Collins, adopts a basic tempo for the
first movement that is slower than Vaughan Williams’s marking. He creates a
greater sense of calm, however. The strings employ a varied palette of colour
throughout the opening paragraph, a quality also much in evidence in the
deliciously wispy playing in the faster, middle section. The lead-in to this
passage is masterly, beginning early and reaching a particularly passionate
climax, the two-note descending motif ominous and threatening but with no
exaggerated violence. The return to the opening music is perfectly managed,