A very fine addition to Pappano’s Vaughan Williams cycle
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
A Sea Symphony (Symphony No.1) (1903-09)
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994)
Nocturne for Orchestra (1950)
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Will Liverman (baritone)
London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Sir Antonio Pappano
rec. live, 9 & 12 February 2025, Barbican Hall, London
Texts included
LSO Live LSO0910 SACD [70]
This is a further instalment in Pappano’s ongoing series of live recordings with the LSO of Vaughan Williams symphonies. RVW devotees will, like me, already have established favourites on their shelves which means that not only Pappano but the singers will be measured against some formidable partnerships, such as Previn with the same orchestra, Heather Harper and John Shirley-Quirk over fifty years ago (see the opening of my review of the box set), and even earlier but highly recommendable, the recording by Sir Adrian Boult with the LPO, Isobel Baillie and John Cameron (review), and finally, Vernon Handley in Liverpool in 1988 with Joan Rodgers and William Shimmell.
Let me first praise the depth and richness of the recorded sound, the assuredness of the choral contribution, the power and sonority of the LSO and the firmness of Pappano’s grip over proceedings. He has long been a fine operatic conductor and brings that dramatic flair to this most overtly theatrical of RVW’s scores. My colleague John Quinn writes approvingly of this new release (review) but has some reservations regarding the contribution at several points of the baritone soloist here, Will Liverman just as he does regarding the baritone in the Handley version (review), although I confess to being less bothered by Shimmell’s occasional rockiness but agree that despite possessing a clear, bright voice, Liverman’s top notes start to blare and shake and his handling of textual nuance is wanting; he tends to sing straight through it without finding its subtleties. Likewise, I have read many eulogies of the South African soprano but do not care for the pulse in her vibrato or a certain cloudiness in her middle and lower voice compared with her distinguished predecessors mentioned above. However, she rises nobly to the climax of the first movement, her diction is pellucid and the chorus is magnificent.
Likewise, Liverman makes a fine job of “On the beach alone” without erasing memories of his antecedents, as his tone is a little hard and his delivery somewhat unvarying. The complex third movement is expertly delivered by a clearly very-well-drilled LSO Chorus. The big finale is almost half the length of the whole symphony and makes great demands on all participants; mystery must be sustained over a long span and the tension gradually built to the first grand peroration on the repeated “singing his songs.” Liverman and Rangwanasha launch into “O we can wait no longer” in impassioned style but the beat in both voices can obtrude. The second big moment comes with “O Thou transcendent” but as my colleague has already rightly observed, Liverman is too bland, forthright and stentorian in his delivery of the lines beginning “Swiftly I shrivel”. The third and final high point is of course concluding passage starting with “Away O soul” which is undeniably first stirring then serenely otherworldly – and mercifully devoid of coughing.
The concluding item on the disc – which was in fact played first at the concert from which this recording is derived – is Elizabeth Maconchy’s Nocturne for Orchestra. JQ mentions that he was unable to ascertain whether this was a first commercial release; I have since discovered that it was part of the programme on a CD entitled Women Write Music on the ATMA Classique label (ACD 22199), featuring the Foundation Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Snell and released in 1999, hence Warner did not label it as a premiere. It would appear that it is now available only on the used market, so this new issue is you best chance to hear it – although it is on YouTube, along with another performance by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Sinead Hayes.
It is a moody, melancholy piece, a little meandering and shapeless, perhaps, but highly atmospheric and elegantly orchestrated, somewhat reminiscent of Bax and surely the influence of Maconchy’s teacher, Vaughan Williams, is discernible, suggesting a link between the two works here.
This is a performance which is satisfying in many ways without necessarily displacing the vintage versions I name in my opening paragraph above, especially with regard to the role of the soloists.
Ralph Moore
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