Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Symphony No. 5 in D major (1938-43)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor (1956-57)
London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano
rec. live, 17 & 18 April, 2024 (No 5); 15 December 2024 (No 9), Barbican Hall, London
LSO Live LSO0900 SACD [75]
The last LSO Live disc I acquired was a second-hand 2005 recording of Sibelius’s Second Symphony under Colin Davis. The reviews were good, but some adverse comments about the sound quality were attributed to the Barbican’s acoustics. As it transpired, I was not at all impressed with the boxy, thin-sounding recording, in which the orchestral sound failed to expand in a natural acoustic. I do not think I have played it since, and I have resisted any temptation to buy another CD from the label.
I have never been to a concert in the Barbican, so I cannot tell just how accurately the new recording represents the dry acoustic, but I can say this: absolutely nothing about this disc – both as a recording per se and the performances – would make me hesitate for even a second before playing it again and enjoying it again.
The recording (playable on CD and SACD players) is close-up, but when the going gets loud there is ample room for the loudness to expand. The climactic ending of the 9th Symphony demonstrates this well. The strings sound very solid and, where necessary, uniform with no hint of restriction. One benefit of the close balance is that I did not detect a single cough or splutter from the winter audience.
I find the performances to be first rate. As far as the 9th Symphony is concerned, I can now appreciate it as RVW’s most powerful utterance since the 6th, composed some ten years earlier. Unlike that unique symphony, the 9th does not have the same savagery. It is more reflective, gloomier even – an “end of day music”. But the content is memorable, both for its unusual orchestration – a flugelhorn in the second movement – and for its sheer power. The last movement is perhaps my favourite: the ending presents great surges of sound rolling out of the orchestra like a huge wave.
Sir Antonio Pappano gets this very, very fine orchestra to negotiate the many tempi and volume changes with great articulation, and he allows noticeable rubato. RVW’s inventive orchestration adds to the aural addiction generated, for me at least. It is a performance of virtuosity and power, both restrained and unleashed. I wish I had been there to hear it.
The glorious 5th Symphony is a very different beast, of course. Whenever I hear it, I marvel at the immense variety of RVW’s symphonies: no two are alike. Its two immediate neighbours demonstrate to an amazing degree their difference of utterance from the 5th.
What I want from a performance of the 5th is a feeling of serenity, but serenity with occasional cut and thrust . I wish for gentleness cloaking an iron fist, if you will, enabling and enhancing the struggle en route to serenity that is so evident in the last movement.
In defiance of the composer, I find it best to believe that this is a Bunyan Symphony, influenced by RVW’s lifelong reading of A Pilgrim’s Progress. The Pilgrim’s journey to the summit of the Delectable Mountains is hardly achieved without struggle. In this first-rate performance, the climax of the first movement is pitched to perfection. The anxious then tranquil section precedes the climax, leading the listener onward to the tumult. It is very fine music making, and I love it.
The emotional high point of the entire work is the Romanza third movement. It could have been created by no other composer. The movement opens with the English Horn. The booklet notes tell me it is Augustin Gorisse who plays so gorgeously that the exquisite strings preceding it for a few bars made me hold my breath. The movement moves on to the awesome central climax, where the massed strings soar triumphantly – what a sound they make!
It must be obvious that I rate this disc very highly indeed. The disc comes in a hard-bound CD-sized book of some 28 pages. There are notes about the two symphonies, a full orchestra personnel list, and a brief biography of the conductor. We also get five full-colour photographs with accompanying texts in English, French and German. The packaging is such an improvement over plastic cases that I feel it merits comment. This suggests a premium product, and the fact that it is a Super Audio CD confirms the matter.
Jim Westhead
Previous review: John Quinn (September 2025)
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