Julian Lloyd Webber's recent collection of short pieces, ''Cello Song'' (10/93), was an unqualified success, but here the prescription for idyllic English pieces was more restrictive, and the programme as a whole has a certain sameness about it notwithstanding Lloyd Webber's consummate artistry and unfailingly beautiful playing.
From the earlier collection he repeats the Elgar Romance, this time with orchestra, and once again the transcription from bassoon to cello works well. He also repeats two items recorded by him successfully for other companies, the Holst Invocation and Delius's Caprice and Elegy. These are the two most substantial and most rewarding items on the disc. The Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto movement also makes an attractive impression in its cello guise, but the rest of the programme has less to offer. In this particular arrangement for cello and orchestra Ireland's exquisite Holy Boy loses its delicate appeal, and nor is Grainger's Brigg Fair revealed to good advantage in a similar transcription. Dyson's piece provides a slightly livelier interlude in a programme whose pulse is predominantly slow, but it has no other distinction. Cyril Scott's somewhat gritty solo cello items John Lenehan joins in part of the way through a lively Reel) form a strangely contrived ending to the recital.
The recordings are efficient, but not particularly beguiling to the ear.'