In June 1939, Sir Adrian Boult travelled to New York to direct two concerts at Carnegie Hall as part of British Week at the World Fair. To mark the occasion, the British Council commissioned works from four composers – Bax, Bliss, Vaughan Williams and Walton. In the event, the latter’s Violin Concerto had to wait a little longer for its first performance, whereas that of Bliss’s swaggering Piano Concerto created quite a stir. Soloist Solomon (for whose sovereign technique the piece was specially designed) plays like a man possessed, and his partnership with Boult and the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra operates at the highest level of excitement, eloquence and dedication.

Solomon, of course, went on to make a famous commercial recording with Sir Adrian and the Liverpool PO in January 1943 (last available on EMI Great Recordings of the Century, 7/91 – nla), segments from which transfer engineer Bryan Crimp has expertly incorporated to fill in the lacunae on these extremely rare acetate discs. Yes, the disconcertingly rough sound takes some adjusting to, but things do settle down and no aficionado of great music-making should miss the opportunity to experience what is effectively a historic document. Now, I wonder if acetates still exist for Boult’s New York world premières of Bax’s Seventh Symphony and VW’s Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus’?

As an ideal coupling, Lady Bliss has provided APR with unique shellacs of Constant Lambert’s world première broadcast of music from Bliss’s third full-length ballet Adam Zero. There are 10 numbers in all (well over half of the entire score, in fact), and Bliss’s zestful, unjustly neglected inspiration positively glows in the safe hands of its dedicatee and his accomplished Royal Opera House band (Lambert had presided over the Sadler’s Wells company’s first performance at Covent Garden only five weeks or so previously on April 6, 1946). Some intermittently niggling surface swish aside, the sound has terrific body and presence for the period.

So, a fascinating, hugely enterprising release. Comprehensive and helpful presentation, too – one even forgives the misspelling of Wilfrid Mellers (Wilfred Mellors indeed!).