Certainly no complaints about the orchestral playing on this immensely enjoyable Grainger programme. Fennell coaxes some typically beefy, big-hearted sounds from his enthusiastic Eastman-Rochester forces, and his fresh-faced conducting betokens a genuine affection for this repertoire. About the Mercury recording I'm less sure, though: the internal clarity and range on these 1959 tapes remain remarkable (even if balance is, in truth, closer than ideal), but violin timbre is distinctly wiry and a certain lack of ambient glow does prove somewhat tiring on the ear after a while.
The lively Coates coupling, set down some six years later within Watford Town Hall, sounds rather more congenial. This, too, is accorded delightful treatment, with a memorable oboe solo in ''Springtime in Angus'' (one of Coates's most indelible tunes—which is certainly saying something!). Ignore my technical protestations: what we have here is yet another winner from the vintage Mercury stable.'