Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica/The Wasps

Ralph Vaughan Williams (Composer), John Alldis (Conductor), Adrian Boult (Conductor), London Philharmonic Chorus (Orchestra), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Norma Burrowes (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Norma Burrowes
• Orchestra: London Philharmonic Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: John Alldis, Adrian Boult
• Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Audio CD (October 11, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002S2Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,850 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Symphony of the South Pole, April 4, 2002

By 

jean couture (Quebec city - Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica/The Wasps (Audio CD)

THIS SYMPHONY is, definitely, one of the most important works of the 20th century. It's a heavy piece of music, not really of the quiet listening sort. Most readers will undoubtedly agree that the heart of this symphony is the Landscape movement with it's window-shattering organ passage. As a reviewer for Good-Music-Guide so promptly remarked : "The Sinfonia Antartica is a wonderful piece of music and those who dismiss it as `mere film music' are forgetting the genius of Vaughan Williams. [...] I love the novel, exotic sounds and techniques Vaughan Williams created to describe the Antarctic landscape ; you are practically transported there! It is a work of incredible musical imagination. The use of wordless soprano and chorus, the wind machine, the use of block organ chords to symbolize the glacier; they are master strokes." I couldn't agree more. There are many elements that contrive to make this fine symphonic oeuvre a master's work.

The thematic concept foreshadows the resurgence of spirit previously seen and heard in the film 'Scott of the Antarctic' and its music. Therefore, the symphony has much of a motion picture, "soundtrack-like" temperament ; still, the symphonic form stands as the core of this huge work. There is no denying of the composer's mastery of form and harmonic coloring for, as orchestral parts should go, this symphony is every bit as much efficient as his best film scores. Interpretation can do the difference, however, with more or less of a "straight" symphonic approach or within the confines of a "cinemascopic treatment"--variable from one conductor/orchestra to another. Which is exactly why one can guess, even without knowing the roots of the symphony in the first place, that it all was strongly built on music for a motion picture. Some of the recorded versions seem to provide more of that effect, the earlier accounts of the 1950's in particular.

There are many good examples on disc of the Sinfonia Antartica, the 7th symphony conceived by Ralph [pronounced `Rayfe'] Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). A few ones, to be fully honest, sound more like "pretty good attempts" rather than truly consummated deeds. I'll try to describe what you are likely to find.

Bernard Haitink (with the London Philharmonic, on EMI) brings out what one hears as, perhaps, the greatest modern recording : That's powerful stuff. The majesty of the work is captured at it's fullest--with subtleties and colors--and with unrestrained intensity and drama. The recording features the attractive soprano voice of Sheila Armstrong and a reliable choir backed by inspiring orchestral parts. The glacial mood is caught perfectly ; the apparently bleak music unveils a small extent of appropriate wildness--interestingly, not unlike what one often hears from Sibelius. But comparisons with the great Finn stop here, for the contexts are much different (in an attempt to detect some musical affinities with Sibelius, it might seem more to the point to look at Vaughan Williams' Third, Fifth and Sixth symphonies, as their sometimes "cold" nature or somewhat stark attitude -versus warmth and expressive humanity- could justify comparisons). In most of his nine symphonies, Vaughan Williams sums up, for me, the best of both worlds between Jean Sibelius' `inner logic' or `pure spring water' and Gustav Mahler's obstinate assertion that `the symphony must be like the world' and `must embrace everything'. Like Holst's Planets or Dvorak's New World, the Sinfonia Antartica--like many other symphonies--is certainly universal and "embraces everything" while dealing as well in some individual ways with formal logic and thematic growth.

If Haitink's version is, on various points, memorable, then that is not the only great recording of the work. Actually, it's been claimed that the version directed by Raymond Leppard might be a serious challenge to the former (Indianapolis, Koss Classics CD 2214). Indeed, a fantastic reading it is--with splendid recorded sound. The album has earned several positive reviews and, not the least of it, was one of Stereophile magazine's 'Records To Die For' in 1994. Leppard's meticulous and yet at times brawny approach opens up the fittingly atmospheric gelid wind guts of the first movements. One way or another, the huge dynamic range of this disc helps. The Landscape movement really is power music!

Andre Previn (RCA) succeeds definitely on this one, thanks to a strong, bold and obviously solid orchestral playing by the then-members of the LSO. The crucial Intermezzo (fourth movement) is stunning and retains a "thin edge" of romantic attitude contributing to the uniqueness of that windswept polar symphony. I find the fourth movement especially fascinating because it is oddly tenebrous and illuminated at once ; of the five movements this one is certainly the most "pastoral". The mood calls for some yearning for home and evokes pleasant memories. But then comes a passage considerably more somber in character--if not squarely lugubrious, perhaps to remind us the frightening feeling of abdication in the middle of that immense no man's land--leading inexorably toward the end of the movement. I draw a parallel with Holst and his Planets (the big tune in 'Jupiter') where, for a moment, we come back "at home" through a longing, thoughtful, if not dignified, melody not completely bereft of jovial rejoicement--as if only to stir a few good familiar memories. In the big Sea Symphony of 1910 there is a similar space/time trick, but i won't say where it is precisely located in the score for the musical enjoyment of those who don't know. Regarding the Antartica, only Boult with LPO (EMI recording of the present discussion) surpasses Previn in that movement : Handley also excels here, but not as much as Boult or Previn. Other highlights of the Previn are a solidly anchored Scherzo (not as firm and steel-cast rigid as Haitink's, though), a very decent Prelude and a climactic Landscape--the latter at its apogee in Haitink's reading in terms of verve and presence. It does sound really good, too, as led by other conductors but its probe seems quite a bit more convincing under Haitink.

Adrian Boult's performance (EMI) is, without an ounce of a doubt, a very good account. Sound is tight and emphatic, but at the same time it seems to lose track of bits and pieces in minute orchestral details ; nonetheless, this is a dynamic reading of the score and the organ part is a smasher. Boult's reading of the Epilogue (fifth movement) is heartfelt and, though it retains a thin edge of reserve, he still conveys with some sense of yearning the drama which brings such a titanic piece to a close. Nice work, as well, by the chorus and wordless voice. They express well their parts which most people will undoubtedly identify with the ghostly voices heard in Holst's `Neptune'. The dark, inhuman atmosphere is also well-rendered (it is comparable to the readings from Haitink, Previn and Slatkin on that point). Not necessarily viewed as Boult's greatest achievement on disc (some people say that feat could pertain to his justly famous Moeran on the Lyrita label), it still deserves to be ranked as an honest interpretation. And, as i said earlier, there's the nice fourth movement which, under Boult's direction, is absolutely ravishing.

Boult's original efforts (December 1953, issued by Decca Records), were described as a classic reading, usually hailed by connoisseurs as a superior account in comparison to the EMI under review. Of course, the stereo EMI has a clear advantage with fuller and richer sound, but i still think it lacks the "drive" of the earlier version--distinctly dark, more "impactful" and decidedly tauter as a reading. Leonard Norwitz, a music reviewer, noted that "the Sinfonia Antartica [...] ranks as one of the great tone poems for orchestra, filled with appropriate awe for one of the most hostile, striking and beautiful places on our planet. The younger Boult finds darkness within the ice landscapes, blinding light in the ravines; respect, hope and fear in our future. The EMI doesn't bring us quite to the abyss." I marginally prefer the mono Decca - which sound isn't that bad, after all, if only not as much detailed. One could even argue--and rightly so--that most of the dynamics on the EMI are present on the monophonic Decca. The 1953 LPO recording (Kingsway Hall) has aged well ; most important, the music is infused with surefire power and drama. The atmosphere is icy and threatening. Throughout, there is a strange sense of "the real thing" as we proceed on this polar journey. Margaret Ritchie had a fine voice and was a perfectly suited soloist for that program, perhaps even more so than Sheila Armstrong, Norma Burrowes or Heather Harper. Ritchie is also the voice you hear in Sir John Barbirolli's Antartica, with the Halle Orchestra, the first recording--and still probably the greatest--of the work.

The EMI-Boult CD pairs the symphony with a persuasive recording of 'The Wasps' (the whole Suite, not just the Overture). 'The Wasps' belongs to the more typical VW : Orchestral music a la English Folk Song Suite, etc., certainly a lighter fare than the fate-laden symphony. Here we have a really good, competent recording of that entertaining Suite ; "Classic Boult," i'd say. Yet, if you prefer two symphonies on one disc then perhaps you should look elsewhere, such as Previn's, the earlier Boult on Decca or the more recent Kees Bakels on Naxos (all generous couplings with the Eighth Symphony). As regards quality, the spacious EMI studio recording is no less than excellent.

Other versions of the Antartica? Well, of course there are and there's a bunch of them worth the term "recommendable". Kees Bakels with Bournemouth S.O. (a justly famous Naxos disc) does a fine job in both symphonies 7 & 8. Here we have a definite best-buy, with solid performances and... Read more ›

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've been very impressed, February 3, 2000

By 

Trevor Gillespie "sol_man" (San Jose, California United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica/The Wasps (Audio CD)

Ordered this CD from Amazon.com and was not familiar with the recording or the conductor. A friend recommended this particular recording after we had listened to the work. The sound is great. I am amazed that the sound is almost as good as a digital recording of today. The performance is wonderful. It is apparent in the first movement that Boult truly had the vision of the picture VW was trying to create with his Antarctic Symphony. Listen to the prominent trombones. They're awesome! The mystery, fear, wonder, cold, and intrigue of the Antarctic all seam to be there. Also the liner notes are excellent for deciphering the instruments used to depict various things. On top of all that, this CD isn't full price. My understanding is that this is the best recording of this piece. I would not disagree.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boult makes this a great symphony, November 28, 2005

By 

john - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica/The Wasps (Audio CD)

Too much is made of the 'film music' thing with this piece, in my view. It distracts from the musical value of this astonishing work that develops on VW traditions but goes far beyond them into things that are new.

Boult concentrates on its worth as a symphony. A highly original one with experiments in sound that look well ahead to what came a decade and more later. Am I alone in hearing touches that avant-gardists like Ligeti worked further in the 1960s? The quiet introduction and closing solos of the central landscape movement over the tonal clusters of strings, woodwind, harp and the like? After getting the 'big' parts of this work into perspective, I find it's the startling, quiet, background tensions that point this music forward.

An unparalleled feat perhaps from a great composer getting greater as he grew older.

Quite remarkable invention with wonderful freshness from a man born in 1873! With that looking forward, whilst not forgetting what looks back, that is the hallmark of this 20th century great.