If I were allowed just one work of Walton's to save from the proverbial flood, it would undoubtedly be Facade, for whatever the perhaps more obvious merits of some of the large-scale works, it is here that his naughty, witty, ironic, and even his romantic characteristics are most unselfconsciously caught. In more general terms the work catches the spirit of the 1920s perhaps more authentically than any other. It has already stood the test of 60 and more years, delighting ever new generations with its ideal adumbration of Dame Edith Sitwell's alternately sharp-edged, gay and melancholy verse. It will surely go on doing so when there are such eager advocates as Prunella Scales and Timothy West to renew one's enjoyment of its delights. I was brought up on the classic Decca performance (nla) by Sitwell herself and Sir Peter Pears under Anthony Collins's direction. It will never be surpassed, which is not to say that other interpreters cannot tackle it in their own way. No one will quite match Dame Edith's magnificently nonchalant, languid and singular pronunciation of such words and phrases as ''Long steel grass'', with the 'a' drawled aristocratically, or the dark, almost menacing tone at ''Black Mrs Behemoth'', or the yelp of emphasis on the single word ''Damn'' in ''En famille''.
Sensibly the present speakers don't attempt to copy her, but try their own, perfectly valid way with the text. As other recent interpreters do they often split the pieces between two voices as the text predicates a male, then a female protagonist. This is at first disconcerting, but I learnt to appreciate it, especially when the husband-and-wife team intertwine their voices so effortlessly. Then they employ accents; Scales chooses, perfectly validly, Mummerset for ''Country Dance'', Cockney for ''Valse'', and the pair go for a Swiss accent in the ''Jodelling Song'', Scottish in the ''Scotch Rhapsody''. That might again jar were the accents not so unerringly correct and unexaggerated. Indeed, for all their dramatic skills, or perhaps because of them, the whole performance has a natural flow to it that has not always been the case in other modern versions. This is enhanced by the superlative playing by members of the London Mozart Players under Jane Glover; quite as acute as that on the old aforementioned Decca LP. For once this work has been well balanced with both voices allowed their due thanks to producer Brian Culverhouse.
It is good to see another old hand, Harley Usill (of Argo fame) producing the reading of the Sitwell poems that fill the rest of the CD. Scales and West read her lambent, florid, wordy verse with just the right verve and sincerity. It is a pity that there is only a note on Facade but nothing on the read poems.
The 1972 Classics for Pleasure recording of Facade is closer to the traditional way of performing the work than the new performance. Indeed, Fenella Fielding quite obviously modelled herself on Sitwell while not altogether burying her own strong personality. She is highly successful at catching the languid seductiveness of ''Through gilded trellises'' and is ideally suited to ''Black Mrs Behamoth''. A note of self-parody and also of parodying the work itself is often evident, but not destructively so. Michael Flanders is adept at getting his voice around the racy numbers, and is even better in the delicate, nostalgic pieces such as ''Across the lake''. Sir Neville Marriner and a very distinguished team of players deftly capture the varied flavours of the instrumentation, although there are one or two oddities, as JW indicated in his first review. The sound isn't quite as clear as on the new ASV. Although it is bang boldly offered as a £5.99 bargain, thus is somewhat tempered by the short measure in playing time. By the way, this disc includes ''Four in the morning'', for which Constant Lambert wrote the first 11 bars.
The Gamut version, first issued ten years ago, originally included texts and detailed notes. Here, on cassette only, there is absolutely no information provided, not even a list of the items. In any case, I find Tear self-conscious and Berberian hardly a match for either Scales or Fielding. The only advantage is that Facade 2 is included, but that is also part of the newish Chailly/Decca version where both Facades (including ''Four in the Morning'') are coupled with Renard. As EG pointed out when reviewing the Chailly version the performance of Facade is seriously lamed by having the voices in a different acoustic from the instruments. Still, in consolation we have Dame Peggy's reading, stylish and quite Sitwell-like; her diction and manner in ''Long steel grass'', for instance, seems absolutely right. I like Irons slightly less, as with so many male actors in this work he seems inclined to over-egg the pudding with too knowing interpretations. They need to refer back to Lambert's authentic readings of 1929 on Decca with the young Sitwell. Nevertheless, this version, with a deal of 'duetting' as on the new ASV, does have life and character. The playing is as pointed as on the latter, but too backward in relation to the reciters.
I regret that will leave you as undecided as I am at which to choose. I am certain the ASV disc will give much pleasure. It is certainly the best recorded and perhaps (just) the best played, but I put aside Ashcroft with great reluctance and I feel that the inclusion of Renard may appeal to more collectors than the reading of the Sitwell poems on ASV. The decision has to be yours. Or you might like to await the reissue of the Sitwell/Pears, due from Decca this summer.'