Notes and Editorial Reviews
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No 6,
“Pastoral.”
MOZART
Symphony No. 41,
“Jupiter”
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Adrian Boult, cond; London PO
•
MEDICI ARTS
19 (80:56)
One might well make a case for Sir Adrian Boult as a grossly underestimated conductor, such judgment rooted, perhaps, in the fact that he did not attain the kind of international acclaim that other luminaries of his time garnered.
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Certainly, as the two performances on this release suggest, he was a tasteful, if at times, rather “cool” interpreter. The latter applies to this account of the Beethoven, which I reviewed when it was issued more than 30 years ago by Vanguard in a set devoted to additional Beethoven scores under Boult’s direction. This transfer includes a first-movement exposition repeat excised from the Vanguard release, which, incidentally, identified the orchestra as the Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra of London. It is a musical, if somewhat restrained account, free of mannerisms or eccentricities, but given today’s flooded market, it will probably appeal mainly to those with a special interest in Boult. The Mozart is more animated and, for its time, surprising in its inclusion of all three of the work’s exposition repeats, that in the finale particularly apt in that it emphasizes the stunningly polyphonic coda as the only portion of the movement to be heard but once. The sound is bright, without the kind of stereo separation of choirs commonplace now, but it remains perfectly acceptable. For those interested in Boult, this release of performances produced in the 1970s should prove most welcome.
FANFARE: Mortimer H. Frank
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Works on This Recording
1.
Symphony no 6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor:
Sir Adrian Boult
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1808; Vienna, Austria
2.
Symphony no 41 in C major, K 551 "Jupiter" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor:
Sir Adrian Boult
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1788; Vienna, Austria
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