Walton’s Viola Concerto always has been admired as one of his finest works, perhaps in part because of the dearth of competition. Hyperion is making up for that lack, at least as far as English composers are concerned. This coupling offers a fine perspective on the Walton because not only is the Rubbra concerto one of that composer’s best pieces, I frankly prefer it. This isn’t to say that the Walton doesn’t deserve its fame, but speaking purely personally, Rubbra’s concerto strikes me as deeper in feeling, more appealing in thematic content, and even a bit more colorfully scored. The fact that this performance uses Walton’s original orchestration (it was revised in 1961 to lighten the textures and add a harp) matters not a bit in this judgment. I’m sure this will be a minority view, but listen and make up your own mind.
The performances are uniformly excellent. Violist Lawrence Power has a smaller, more violin-like tone than tradition calls for in this music, but his winsome timbre and sharp ear for good intonation suit the bittersweet character of both works really well. In his lower register, even when he really digs in (the second movement of the Walton especially), he does sound aptly “throaty”–but never “strep throaty”. He’s also very nicely accompanied by Ilan Volkov and ideally balanced against the orchestra by Hyperion’s engineers.
Rubbra’s Meditations on a Byzantine Hymn for solo viola makes an obvious and intelligent bonus. It’s placed between the two concertos. To be frank, it strikes me as a touch dreary (not Power’s fault), but then how many 15-minute-long solo viola works are there? Highly recommended for the concertos, and if you’ve got a quarter of an hour to kill, try the Meditations. [10/12/2007]