Reviewer Rank:
31,883 - Total Helpful Votes: 2 of 2
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He's done it again! Carl St Clair brings control and balance to Villa-Lobos without sounding the least mechanical about it. He wades through Villa-Lobos' complex rhythms and textures with ease. The balance is exquisite, the salient subject never obscured by the morass of textural things going on in the background (it's there all right, if you care to focus through). St. Clair can sprinkle luminescence on delicate moments yet rises to passion when need be. His rendering of these symphonies (the whole series) has cast new light on the Villa-Lobos repertoire on record. Symphony No 7: without a score or alternative recordings we can only compare it with HVL's output of the same era… Read more
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David Lloyd-Jones is carrying off his Bax Symphony cycle with panache. This is a committed, thoroughly competent performance of both 4th Symphony and Nympholet. Compared with a BBC Radio 3 performance of Nympholet years ago it is lighter, airier and more in character with the work's programme. It compares well with Bryden Thompson's 4th, one of Thompson's best renderings of a Bax Symphony, very worthy of consideration, though the recording acoustic is a little blurry. However, at Naxos prices, one can hardly go wrong with the Lloyd-Jones.
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David Lloyd-Jones gives a commanding and sensitive performance of the 3rd Symphony. It flows easily, sensitive in delicate moments, rising to passion and vehemence in the climaxes. His tempi and treatment are closest to the Barbirolli interpretation on Dutton transferred from 78s - obviously not the definitive recording but definitive performance in my view, as Bax and Barbirolli were great friends. Lloyd-Jones fully captures the magic of the second movement and the lyrically beautiful, if simple, epilogue to the third movement. He also brings off the contrast and tension between moments of respite and violent outbursts, characterising this sympony, with finesse. This is a… Read more
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