Vaughan Williams, The Complete Symphonies [BOX SET] [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

John Carol Case (Performer), Christopher Keyte (Performer), John Noble (Performer), Richard Angas (Performer), Ralph Vaughan Williams (Composer), Adrian Boult (Conductor), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), New Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra), Victor Babin (Performer), Vitya Vronsky (Performer), Margaret Price (Performer), Marie Hayward (Performer), Norma Burrowes (Performer), Sheila Armstrong (Performer), Susan Longfield (Performer), Bernard Dickerson (Performer), Ian Partridge (Performer), Kenneth Bowen (Performer), Wynford Evans (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: John Carol Case, Christopher Keyte, John Noble, Richard Angas, Victor Babin, et al.
• Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra
• Conductor: Adrian Boult
• Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Audio CD (November 7, 2000)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 8
• Format: Box set, Limited Edition, Original recording reissued
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00004YA0V
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,177 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Adrian Boult's credentials in this repertoire are unassailable, and to have nearly all his stereo Vaughan Williams recordings for EMI so elegantly packaged and enticingly priced will be incentive enough for many a prospective purchaser. There's much to treasure here, not least those gently perceptive accounts of the first three symphonies, as well as the Fifth and the Ninth. All the same, the fires burned more brightly on Boult's earlier mono cycle for Decca, and there's some oddly listless orchestral playing to contend with in both the Sinfonia Antarctica and the Eighth, especially. The Fourth and Sixth, too, find the New Philharmonia in less than ideally tidy form. The disc of shorter orchestral items and the gorgeous Serenade to Music offer mostly unbridled pleasure (with Hugh Bean a memorably serene soloist in The Lark Ascending), as does Boult's fourth and final recording of Job, though here, too, tension levels are markedly lower than on either of his mono versions. No matter, for all its ups and downs, the present anthology undoubtedly offers fine value for the money. --Andrew Achenbach

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boult's final tributes to Vaughan Williams, June 25, 2002

By	John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"You got the score right into you and through you into the orchestra."

So wrote Vaughan Williams to the thirty year old conductor Adrian Boult in 1918 after a performance of A London Symphony. Subsequently Boult conducted and championed Vaughan Williams' works constantly. Many times he recorded and premiered them. This slim-line box, containing all the symphonies and many other items, all recorded in stereo and mostly in the warm Kingsway Hall acoustic between 1967 and 1975, ought therefore to be self-recommending.

It must be said that Vaughan Williams as a composer has tended to polarize listeners. Detractors say that he had neither the architectural vision nor the construction skills necessary for a symphonist. They point to the fact that he himself hesitated to name and number many of his works as symphonies, and that one of them is merely a re-cycled film score. They contain, moreover, many awkward and ungainly rhythmic figures that tend to cheapen them. Champions argue that the music is wonderfully evocative of its time, that many beauties are to be found therein, and that at least three of the works deserve to remain in the international repertoire forever.

Internet browsers, wondering which Vaughan Williams purchases to make, need to balance several factors before selecting this box. The octogenarian conductor, Sir Adrian Boult, directs with authority and knowledge, but nevertheless does not always elicit the very best performances (as in No 7) available or the very best performances of his own recorded versions (as in No 2 and No 6). Against this must be balanced the benefits of relatively modern recording and reprocessing, together with the benefits of low cost and compactness.

Perhaps there are no other internet browsers who, like me, heard Vaughan Williams conduct. At an orchestral concert in London in the early 1950s, devoted to his works, he conducted his own Fourth Symphony. As a young audience member I reckoned that he obviously was not the world's best conductor. A tall, big-framed figure, he kept his eye on his own score and beat time with the baton. Nowadays, I am happy to recommend and own this box of his works, while ensuring however that other versions of them are in my collection.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consider Supplementing This Core Set , February 22, 2005

By	Jeffrey Lipscomb (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

My first exposure to V W's symphonies happened back in the 1970's courtesy of Boult's earlier recordings (#1-8 on London and Decca LPs, and #9 on an Everest LP). Later I acquired all of Boult's stereo recordings on Angel LPs. Here we have the latter recordings in their best-ever transfers. Despite strong competition from Handley (EMI) and Previn (RCA), I feel that over-all this Boult set (Boult II) remains THE one to own in good stereo sound. However, Boult's earlier set (Boult I - now available on Decca CDs in top-notch transfers) features even better performances of Symphonies 4, 6 and 9. I own them both, along with a few individual symphony readings by other conductors. Here's a brief summary of the performances:

#1. I won't mince words here: This Sea Symphony is absolutely dazzling, the finest I have ever heard. Boult I was also pretty extraordinary, but Boult II's superb stereo sound and slightly stronger vocal line-up make it a clear first choice.

#2. Boult I is a more energetic performance than Boult II. Sonically, however, Boult II offers a far more vivid listening experience. I am also rather fond of Barbirolli's first recording (on Dutton, paired with his magnificent 8th). My favorite "live" 2nd is a superb Malcolm Sargent reading, available only in an expensive 10-disc set from the Chicago Symphony. That set is well worth owning: it also contains what I feel are the finest-ever recordings of three great Third Symphonies (Mahler's, Prokofiev's and Roussel's), in readings by (respectively) Martinon, Kondrashin and Munch.

#3. Boult II is my favorite here, just ahead of Previn (RCA).

#4. Boult II simply lacks the incredible rhythmic snap and commitment of Boult I, which is my favorite account along with the Stokowski (Cala) and the composer himself (Dutton, paired with Barbirolli's fine 5th). In V W's own reading, the influence of the composer's contemporaries (especially Honegger, Janacek and Roussel) sounds more noticeable than in any other recording.

#5. Boult I and II are both excellent. Despite II's better sound, I think I prefer I's greater exuberance (especially in the 2nd mvt.) Likewise, I am very fond of both Barbirolli readings (Dutton and EMI), but retain a slight preference for the mono Dutton (which also has V W's own hell-for-leather rendition of the 4th).

#6. Boult I is far better than the slightly soggy Boult II: the former is my favorite performance of the work, despite the mono sound. At the end is a touching little speech given by the composer, in which he thanks Boult and the orchestra for their incredible pianissimo playing in the Epilogue: Indispensable. In stereo, the inexpensive Bakels (Naxos) is excellent.

#7. It's almost a toss-up here, but Boult II ultimately wins out on the basis of sound. But Boult I is no sonic slouch, and Sir John Gielgud's stately narration is a handsome dividend.

#8. Here I feel that, while Boult II is clearly superior to Boult I, neither comes even close to matching the classic first studio recording by Barbirolli, to whom the work is dedicated. The latter is coupled on Dutton with Barbirolli's fine #2 (both in stereo). Barbirolli's studio effort is FAR better played than his live 8th on BBC Legends.

#9. Boult I, this time in clear stereo sound (licensed from Everest), is in every way superior to Boult II, which is curiously detached. Unfortunately, the excellent "Job: A Masque for Dancing" that was Everest's discmate has not been retained. That's a pity: nobody ever did it better, although the Boult II is very satisfying.

All of the smaller works included on Boult II (the Boult I set has just the 9 symphonies) receive fine performances. Especially noteworthy is the Serenade to Music: it even eclipses the classic first-ever recording by Sir Henry Wood (on Dutton). In the Tallis Variations, there are wonderful versions worth hearing from Silvestri (EMI), Stokowski (Bridge) and Barbirolli (EMI). Silvestri also recorded a superlative Wasps (EMI).

If recorded sound is your uppermost concern, then Boult II will prove the more satisfying. But if you want to hear Boult's V W interpretations at their finest, then owning both sets becomes essential.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Remastering of Historical Recordings, January 2, 2001

By	Roger Lakins (West New York, New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What is a definitive recording? Is such a thing even desirable? If so, these may be the closest we will get to an understanding of how Vaughan Williams intended his symphonies to be performed. These recordings, however, go so much further than simply being an encyclopedic collection. Boult and Vaughan Williams enjoyed a mutually beneficial collegiality and warm friendship. Boult gave the premier performances of many of these works. Most, if not all, of these recordings were made under the attentive supervision of the composer. The wonderful biography of the composer, which was written by his second wife, chronicles many of these events in a most humanly interesting way. On the other hand, Michael Kennedy's monumental book analyzing the complete works of the composer adds some technical details about these recordings, which are of interest to anyone devoted strongly enough to RVW to want to have his complete symphonic output on cd.

All of the recordings are better than very good. The technical work of remastering has been done to perfection. The performances are full blooded, expressive and exciting. Everyone will have his own favorite among these discs, but to this listener the `Tallis Fantasia' and `Sinfonia Antarctica' stand out over other recordings of the same works. The "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis" was originally composed for and performed in a cavernous cathedral space at a Three Choirs Festival. This performance communicates the mysticism of the work in a way in which I have never heard anyone else succeed. Likewise, "The Sinfonia Antarctica" or "Symphony No. 7" is here performed with the poems and excerpts from Scott's journal read by a young Sir John Gielgud before each movement. This does very much to enhance the total effect. Remembering that this was initially film music, later adapted into a symphony, only heightens one's estimation of the composer. Vaughan Williams was a bold and progressive artist, firmly rooted in the great mainstream tradition. As he labeled Holst and himself: they were `heirs and rebels' of the great tradition. To any serious musician or music lover, this collection is essential.