Having so rewardingly picked up the British light music gauntlet thrown down by Marco Polo, ASV now has two Addinsell CDs (the other reviewed in 9/97) to Marco Polo’s one. And what delights they contain! Nobody should imagine that the Warsaw Concerto is all that is worth hearing from this fine composer, and this newcomer is no less full of delights than its predecessors.
Addinsell obviously had an utterly natural feel for richly tuneful, romantic music in the very best tradition of British light music. The diverse subjects for which he was commissioned to provide music served to turn these gifts to contrasted musical styles, which together provide a rewardingly varied programme. For me the most immediately familiar music here is the swaggering march and haunting waltz from the Waltz of the Toreadors. For others it may be the prelude and waltz from David Lean’s film of Blithe Spirit or the suite from A Christmas Carol, starring Alistair Sim.
Among my particular favourites in this latest collection are the invigorating WRNS March (rewarding material for any military band), the delightfully mysterious prelude to the 1939 film of Gaslight and the waltz from the stage play Parisienne. This last has been given a splendid Glazunovian orchestration by compiler, producer, arranger and annotator Philip Lane, who again leaves us immensely in his debt, no less than conductor Kenneth Alwyn and the admirable Royal Ballet Sinfonia.'