Only last December I was enthusiastically welcoming Richard Hickox's outstanding new version of Dona nobis pacem; now comes Matthew Best with an utterly sympathetic alternative view to Hickox's more imposing, 'public' statement. He is greatly aided, on this occasion, by the experienced Thomas Allen: even more than Bryn Terfel for Hickox, Allen finds an extra raptness of response in the sublime setting of Whitman's ''Reconciliation'', and Best's subtly shaded accompaniment during this passage is a model of touching sensitivity. Though not as large a body as Hickox's admirable London Symphony Chorus, the Corydon Singers acquit themselves with distinction; the orchestral playing, too, is both assured and keen-eyed. Soprano Judith Howarth occasionally inclines to sharpness (witness her linking phrase between ''Reconciliation'' and ''Dirge for Two Veterans'') and her contribution overall doesn't quite possess the assurance and authority evinced by Hickox's Yvonne Kenny. The sound is immensely ripe and bloom-laden (Hyperion's unnamed venue has the benefit of an organ in situ), but the overall effect remains less refined and helpfully analytical than EMI's exemplary soundstage for Hickox (one of the finest Abbey Road efforts to have come my way in recent years). Of course, Hickox's magnificent performance remains an essential purchase (his CD also contains a stunning Sancta Civitas), but Best's sensitive interpretation also deserves to be heard and can, in many respects, be recommended alongside it.
Anyway, all VW devotees will derive considerable pleasure from the remainder of Best's programme. The lovely Four Hymns date from 1912-14, though they were not heard in public until 1920 when Steuart Wilson first presented them in Cardiff. In 1973, Ian Partridge recorded a most eloquent version of this work with solo viola and piano accompaniment; Hyperion now let us hear VW's preferred arrangement, with a body of strings replacing the piano. EMI inform me that the Partridge recording is, in fact, scheduled to reappear on CD in the not-too-distant future (coupled, I hope, with the same artist's classic version of Warlock's The Curlew), but John Mark Ainsley all but matches his illustrious predecessor-a wonderfully fervent, intensely beautiful display-and Best lends glowing support. Both Psalm-settings are also most successfully brought off, though the present O clap your hands has not quite the infectious vigour of David Hill's spectacularly-engineered Winchester account. That just leaves Toward the Unknown Region, which receives good rather than inspired advocacy-memories of Boult and Del Mar (5/74 and 6/82, both EMI-nla) are not entirely banished. No matter, here is an enticing VW collection, whose attractions are enhanced by Christopher Palmer's typically illuminating booklet-notes.'