Stanford VC2 (c/w Milford VC) from EM Records

[YankeeMusic]

The Robin Milford Violin Concerto was, for me, more interesting than the Stanford.

This is a big (40 minutes) work and it kept me involved throughout.  Some beautiful themes and a powerful coda which features a thinning of the orchestra until the cellos alone are playing, after which silence and then the solo violin speaking out of the void and leading to an increasingly strong remembrance of the concerto's main theme.  Very effective.

However, across this CD I felt that the soloist was weak and that the works would have benefited from a fuller-sounding violin.  I could not exactly put my finger on it (no pun intended) but something was missing in the timbre of the solo part.  I wanted more substance.  It is noted that the soloist appears to be related to the head honcho of EM Records. Perhaps that is an unfair comment but I kept wishing, as I listened, that Perlman was doing the fiddling.

So, it's a keeper for sure - and the Milford, especially, is a really nice work. 

[Alan Howe]

Perhaps that is an unfair comment but I kept wishing, as I listened, that Perlman was doing the fiddling.

That is indeed a very unfair comment. I'm sure Rupert M-L would admit that he's not Perlman, but his playing is to my ears extremely fine. If we'd waited for Perlman to record these pieces, a recording would never have been made. Friends can be assured that Rupert's performances do these rare works full justice.

[eschiss1]

If anyone's interested, what Stanford left of the concerto (the holograph (signed autograph*) manuscript violin/piano score) has been digitized by the library that has it (Pierpont-Morgan, NYC, I think) and IMSLP has mirrored their copy (@ Violin Concerto No.2, Op.162 @ IMSLP)

*As explained to me awhile back here, autograph manuscript does not = signed manuscript; autograph means "in the composer's hand"; holograph additionally means "with signature".  There's a lot of different kinds of handwritten scores to distinguish between, and they're not really distinctions without a difference, either... since composers often prepare two autograph copies of some major works at least (not speaking of later revisions, just first drafts and recopying for neatness/thinking over ideas (which are a bit contradictory), or "erstschrift" & "reinschrift"?...) - anyhow, the date on this holograph is 1918, which is... er... probably(?) the date when the work was concluded (?) (though sometimes composers write dates of composition-beginnings on their manuscripts, etc., etc. Generally it takes knowing someone's practice- as I expect Dibble does- to make a better guess of what- a number of things mean, really. Manuscripts, for very useful sources, are also a pain-in-the-neck. If one may say.)

[eschiss1]

I often wish that the best conductors and performers would take up certain composers and/or pieces (and have been gratified and surprised to see that without my knowledge, though usually without commercially recording them, they sometimes have- Slatkin conducting Ropartz' 5th symphony, Dutoit conducting Magnard's 3rd (making quite a few excellent conductors who've conducted that symphony and had their accounts recorded- certainly including Ansermet) - etc.) Must alas grant the justice of both statements in my honest opinion... can't wait for it, but I can hope for something like it...

[YankeeMusic]

Perhaps that is an unfair comment but I kept wishing, as I listened, that Perlman was doing the fiddling.

That is indeed a very unfair comment. I'm sure Rupert M-L would admit that he's not Perlman, but his playing is to my ears extremely fine. If we'd waited for Perlman to record these pieces, a recording would never have been made. Friends can be assured that Rupert's performances do these rare works full justice.

Oh, I realize and appreciate the value of any recording at all of such obscure music.  However, my ears tell me that the soloist sounds weak on this disc. A fuller string sound is required - but, as was mentioned, waiting, in this case, is futile - hoping for better is eternal.

(Incidentally, have you any comment on the substance of my impressions?)

[Alan Howe]

I think I have made my view of the violinist's performance perfectly clear. So, I beg to disagree with your assessment. Now, let's move on...

[Alan Howe]

The Stanford is a very attractive and melodically memorable piece - certainly downstream from Brahms (but not in a chromatically dense way, like Reger), although I'd probably align the piece more with, say, Bruch. Definitely one for violinists to take up, I'd have thought.
In truth the Milford lies somewhat beyond the confines of UC's remit, although it is a most beautiful piece, often strikingly so - and predominantly although not exclusively in the English pastoral style. I can't think of any VC quite like it, which is saying something.
Rupert M-L's playing is scrupulous, finely tuned and well-prepared. The orchestra play very well, I thought, although, as ever with the BBC Concert Orchestra, a larger body of strings might have been to the CD's advantage.
This ought to be a big seller. We owe a huge debt to EM Records for their courage in bringing to fruition such a big project. 

[Alan Howe]

An afterthought: the Milford occasionally puts me in mind of Samuel Barber. VW's also a constant background presence.

[FBerwald]

Barber is always a good comparison as far as violin concertos go. The Milford must be amazing if you say so!

[Mark Thomas]

I've just caught up with this CD, and I must say that I am greatly impressed by all aspects of the Stanford concerto. The work itself is rather more powerful and heartfelt than I was somehow expecting it to be and certainly holds its own in the canon of Stanford orchestral music. It is characteristically rich in melody and is clearly post-Brahms in spirit, but never aggressively so. There's a powerfully dramatic opening movement and a long, lyrically reflective slow movement which is clearly some sort of lament. The rondo finale struck me as slightly weaker than the first two movements both in passion and memorability, but it's a substantial piece and Stanford certainly doesn't throw the work away in it.  Dibble has done a good job with his orchestration, which is thoroughly idiomatic. I guess the best compliment which he can be paid is that you soon forget that the instrumentation isn't by Stanford himself. Despite criticism elsewhere here, I think that Rupert Marshall-Luck's performance is a very strong and convincing one. He's clearly on top of the technical demands, has a good solid tone and seems to be able to project the heart of the music to the listener. No complaints from me. The BBC Concert Orchestra are rather underpowered in the strings, but its not a disastrous shortcoming and is a very common failing in recordings of unsung repertoire. One has to be pragmatic. Overall, this is a really worthwhile work, expertly restored and persuasively performed.

Robin Milford's Violin Concerto of 1937 isn't aggressively modern in style and has some very attractive rhapsodising moments, although for me it comes across as a bit bloodless and meandering after the Stanford. It's clearly not "romantic" in style, but there wasn't anything in it to send me screeching from the room covering my ears.  I haven't done a comparison of the performance on this CD of Holst's attractive Walt Whitman Overture with that by the Ulster Orchestra under Jo Ann Falletta on Naxos, but there didn't seem much wrong with it.

Overall, this is one of my stand-out releases of 2014 so far.

[musiclover]

Having just heard my copy of this recording I think that the two works are both interesting, indeed the Milford is a very fine work. There is a "however" coming and that is that they are not ideal cd mates. I found it best to listen to each one in total isolation otherwise the sound world of one was to firmly entrenched in my mind to be able to enjoy the other. I agree with the comments about the soloist's tone being thin. I don't think in general that the BBC Concert Orchestra is under strung. There are many recordings that they have made, particularly I think of the ones with Handley, Wilson and Yates, where they manage to balance the wind and brass in such a way as to compliment the slightly smaller string section. I have been in touch with the orchestra management to ask about this aspect before and they told me that in many cases they have additional string players to make the size of the string orchestra up.  This disc was well worth doing and I will continue to enjoy the two concertos.....spread apart from each other.

[eschiss1]

Belatedly, this recording has now appeared on Naxos Music Library today. Interesting listening to the orchestration of the Stanford.
(As to the Holst, I think there's a 3rd recording on Classico, with his Cotswolds symphony, but I'm not sure?)

[semloh]

Thanks, Eric. Well spotted.