Despite Adrian Boult’s reputation as an English music specialist and his advocacy of Vaughan Williams in particular, the later efforts of more assertive, disciplined, and imaginative conductors have eclipsed many, if not all, of Boult’s recordings. He never really had the measure of the Fifth Symphony. Grainy strings, ill-tuned winds, and slackly-held ensemble poorly serve a symphony that requires exceptional purity of intonation and the classical virtues of good rhythm, sensitive dynamic shading, and great string playing above all. The very opening bars sound slightly “off”–unfocused and not quite together. By the time we get to the uncoordinated scherzo (strings and winds disagreeing on details of rhythm), and the quacking, much-too-loud English horn solo that begins the Romanza, the cause has been lost. Boult’s later version isn’t much better, and it’s additionally marred by an electronic tone in its outer movements that no amount of remastering care has ever been able to remove.
“A Pastoral Symphony” is another matter entirely. In particular, Boult’s account of the first movement catches the swiftly flowing current beneath the placid surface in ways that no other performance quite matches. However, his later EMI recording remains preferable to this one in every respect. It’s much better played and infinitely better recorded, particularly in the third movement that here suffers from mushy basses, weak trumpets, and horrendous timpani (when you can hear them). Speaking of sound, these recordings badly need remastering. Who knows how different our perception of them would be without a level of hiss so high that quiet moments are all but obliterated? Perhaps there is some treasure buried here after all, but it certainly isn’t evident in these transfers.
