A feast of heartfelt music-making. Sir John Barbirolli’s world premiere recording of the Sinfonia antartica dates from June 1953, some five months after he and his beloved Halle had given the first performance in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall. It has an imposing grandeur and a marvellous humanity not quite equalled by Sir Adrian Boult’s rather more refined Decca production which was shortly to follow (soprano Margaret Ritchie contributes memorably to both versions). Treasurable moments abound: in the scherzo, for example, what an extraordinary feeling of awestruck wonder Sir John distils as the ships approach the Antarctic (try from 1'25''); and what reserves of tender vulnerability he coaxes from his Halle strings in the fourth movement “Intermezzo”. Here, then, is a document to cherish, and it is preceded by equally sympathetic performances (with JB at the helm of the LSO) of VW’s concertos for oboe (featuring the conductor’s wife, Evelyn Rothwell, as a deft, affectionate soloist) and tuba (with LSO principal and dedicatee, Philip Catelinet).
The second disc yields unbridled pleasure from start to finish. The central melody in The Wasps overture soars ecstatically, as do the outer portions of the Fantasia on “Greensleeves”. Recorded on New Year’s Eve, 1953, the Five Variants of “Dives and Lazarus” receive similarly pliable advocacy. As for the three Elgar items, the present Introduction and Allegro (the fourth of Barbirolli’s six recordings, dating from September 1953) is extremely fine, but only fitfully comes close to matching the incendiary passion of his remarkable version of three years later (also with the Halle and still my all-time favourite). Likewise, if the Serenade doesn’t necessarily supplant Barbirolli’s own stereo successor in my longstanding affections, this 1949-50 Cockaigne really does leap to inspirational life and strikes me as very special indeed.
Throughout, the mono recordings have been refurbished most successfully, with both body and bloom intact. Cordially recommended.'