This series has been inconsistent, but these are good performances. In the Fifth Symphony, Elder adopts brisk tempos that serve the piece well. The music itself is so mellow and lovely that it can very easily drift about listlessly, especially in the outer movements. There’s no risk of that here, and the result has a freshness that never compromises the music’s luminous serenity. The Romanza, although still the longest movement in the symphony, hasn’t quite the hushed intensity of Slatkin’s version (RCA), and the playing of the Hallé doesn’t quite match that of the best London orchestras–especially the LSO for Previn–but this is still impressive and convincing.
The Eighth is also quite well done, with only one caveat. The vibraphone, which does so much to characterize the opening movement and episodes in the concluding Toccata, simply has to be more prominent. Boult (EMI) is ideal here. There really is not point in the composer’s purposeful emphasis on unusual sonorities only to have them downplayed. At least everything else is vivid and sharp, with the strings-only Cavatina especially well-shaped. I can’t say that we actually needed more versions of this music–it’s no longer a rarity on disc–but these interpretation do hold their own despite strikingly cheap and ugly cover design. If you collect this music, you will enjoy them.
