ELGAR: CELLO CONCERTO IN E MINOR, OP. 85, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (DAVID MATTHEWS): DARK PASTORAL FOR CELLO AND ORCHESTRA MDG 650 2181-2 This is one of a pair of new releases stemming from a collaboration between MDG and Denon (Nippon Columbia), and features Japanese cellist Dai Miyata, winner of the 2009 Rostropovich Competition, as the soloist in the E minor Cello Concerto of Edward Elgar, indisputably the most popular and quintessentially English of concertos for the instrument. Miyata’s impassioned and warmly expressive account of the solo part is achingly beautiful throughout with a flawless control of dynamics, while his dextrous precision in the second movement is remarkable for its unforced virtuosity. One could hardly ask for more sensitive and committed support than that Miyata receives from Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Even with intense competition from countless rival versions this one stands out from the crowd. The other piece on this CD – a world premiere recording – will be of considerable interest to aficionados of the music of Vaughan Williams. In the 1940s the composer wrote sketches for a Cello Concerto intending it for Pablo Casals, but for reasons unknown it remained unfinished. After the death of the composer’s widow Ursula in 2007 the RVW trust allowed the composer David Matthews to complete the work’s slow movement from the sketches. Matthews gave the piece the apt tile of ‘Dark Pastoral’ and although he modestly claims that the result is just one third Vaughan Williams and two thirds Matthews, for most listeners, I am sure, the music will appear as echt Vaughan Williams. Miyata’s eloquent performance of this lyrical threnody could hardly be improved upon. Both works were recorded at City Halls, Glasgow (25-26 August 2019) by a team from Nippon Columbia, and the sound is both warm and well balanced. Though some will regard a total playing time of 40 minutes for this CD as somewhat parsimonious, experienced collectors know that quality will always trump quantity.
DVORAK: SYMPHONY NO. 9 OP. 95 ‘FROM THE NEW WORLD’, IFUKUBE: SINFONIA TAPKAARA AND GODZILLA – SYMPHONIC FANTASY, MDG 650 2176-2 The liner notes with this CD bravely, but quite unsuccessfully, attempt to make spurious connections between these totally disparate pieces. This seems quite unnecessary, as the purpose of these recordings is to showcase the undoubted talents of both the young Italian maestro Andrea Battistoni and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he is the Chief Conductor. One wishes that the choice for the main work on this CD had been something other than Dvorak’s ‘New World’ Symphony since any new account of this popular masterpiece is in competition with a plethora of recordings from some of the world’s greatest conductors stretching back for decades. Battistoni’s performance is uncontroversial in matters of tempi and dynamics, though it is a pity that he has chosen to omit the 1st movement exposition repeat, whose observance has become de rigueur on most recent recordings. He elicits fine playing from his Tokyo players and the recording made at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall captures the orchestra’s impressive brass and timpani with considerable realism.Of perhaps greater interest to many will be the three-movement ‘Sinfonia Tapkaara’ by Akira Ifukube (1914-2006), a work completed in 1954 and premiered the following year in the United States. It is a most attractive score comprising of two lively and melodic outer movements separated by an evocative nocturne. Battistoni’s energetic account of this 30 minute piece sounds entirely idiomatic. To most people in the West, Ifukube is probably best known for composing a series of film scores for the ‘Godzilla’ movie franchise. After completing scores for eight films he wrote no more, but after an absence for sixteen years he produced the score for ‘Godzilla vs. Kingghidorah’ in 1991.That same year Ifukube composed his ‘Godzilla -Symphonic Fantasy’ and the final item on this CD is regrettably only a brief (2’34) excerpt from that work.