These are very beautiful performances, richly recorded. The Tallis Fantasia receives a stately, grave reading–not as passionate as the benchmark recordings by Barbirolli or Silvestri, but thoroughly idiomatic and rewarding nevertheless. The solo quartet is well integrated into the main string ensemble, and Telarc’s ripe sonics seal the deal. When this disc was first issued in 1989 it was surprising to discover that Previn’s singularly supple and evocative view of the Fifth Symphony hadn’t mellowed a bit since his superb LSO recording for RCA. Just the opposite in fact: the finale is measurably swifter in tempo, though the remaining movements have hardly changed at all interpretively speaking. The Romanza, just a touch slower than previously, conveys the music’s mood of hushed concentration particularly well in this, the composer’s most mellow orchestral work. At mid-price, you can’t go wrong here. [4/7/2004]
