Major artists like Colin Davis are probably too busy to bother much with recordings by other artists, let alone make listening comparisons in real time, but this is exactly what collectors do, and this is the standard by which new releases are judged. It’s interesting, therefore, to speculate on what Davis’ reaction would be on hearing the classic Previn/LSO recording of this symphony for RCA. That version, justly acclaimed since the day it was released some 40 years ago, remains the benchmark interpretation of Walton’s First, and for good reason. It has tremendous fire in all four movements, stunning playing, and sound that still makes a pretty terrific impression. On the other hand, this newcomer, while good, hardly compares, although it has distinctive qualities that differentiate it from the crowd.
First and foremost of these is extreme clarity of articulation, particularly from the strings. Combined with slow to moderate tempos, this permits a wealth of motivic detail to register, especially in the first movement. The dry acoustic also helps, though that’s a two-edged sword: it also makes the brass sound crude at the climaxes. Those “neutron chords” at the end of the first movement come across as really ugly. Davis’ lack of urgency, as well as his tendency to exaggerate ritards at the ends of musical paragraphs, takes much of the bite out of music whose principal quality is its overwhelming forward thrust. The scherzo, for example, has the right feeling of malice in the playing but lacks sufficient energy, while the slow movement is wholly beautiful. The finale, always tricky under the best of circumstances–and here mislabeled as “Brio [sic] ed ardamente”–treads water, with the lead-in to the coda poorly managed. In short, the performance has its moments, but too few of them.
