01. - 04. Falstaff. Symphonic Study, op.68 [33'19]
05. - 19. Enigma. Variations on an Original Theme, op.36 [29'46]
20. Pomp and Circumstance March No.5 in C major, op.39 [5'41]
New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis
Lyrita SRCD301 (recorded January 1974; this CD release 2008)
(digital download; flac and scans)
Recording venue: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London
Recording engineers: Kenneth Wilkinson & John Dunkerley; Producer: Michael Woolcock
Here's another sleeper and one that I overlooked when first reissued on CD. This was one of Andrew Davis' first recordings; made when he was a dynamic young conductor and a great hope for the promotion of British music. Shortly after making this recording, he departed the UK for Canada and on his return had become a rather mixed conductor - often brilliant but also sometimes rather dull.
This is one of Davis' finest, and as often with Lyrita at the time, abetted by a superb recording by Kenneth Wilkinson and his Decca recording team. The New Philharmonia could also be a very variable orchestra at the time but here they give of their superb best for Davis. It's a very swift Enigma at less than 30 minutes and all the better for that, IMO. Troyte is as exciting as Malcolm Sargent's 1959 recording with the orchestra's predecessor and the string playing in B.G.N is as beautiful as I have heard. In the Finale, Davis' organ-scholar credentials come to the fore and the organ thunders out like few other recordings.
The Falstaff is also one of the most detailed and exuberant recordings of the work that I have heard and is a firm favourite. The performance of the less familiar Pomp and Circumstance March No.5, added for the CD release and made in the time left over at the booked recording sessions, simply enhances the pleasures of this record.