Guy Duker’s sensitive and idiomatic transcription of The Pines of Rome receives a performance of such distinction that it compares favorably to any version of the full-orchestra original that you can name. In fact, this is one of the finest treatments of the triumphant “Pines of the Appian Way” that I have ever heard, the crescendo in the timpani growing inexorably to the final bar, the brass blasting away with total confidence, the percussion perfectly in balance. If you love this work, you need to hear what conductor Colonel John R. Bourgeois does with it. The other outstanding major item on this stunningly performed, brilliantly recorded disc comes in the form of Sousa’s transcription of Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture. The reason the arrangement works so well, of course, stems from the fact that the original is basically band music to begin with and so loses little with the strings missing. In fact, the harder sound of clarinets instead of violins makes the whole thing markedly less trashy than usual (Tovey referred to this overture as “very good bad music,” and this kind of thing always makes for the best transcriptions). Boris Kozhevnikov’s Symphony No. 3 belongs squarely in the world of socialist realist ephemera, but it’s no less entertaining for that, and the smaller works (Chadwick’s “Jubilee”, Berlioz’s “Hungarian March”, and Granados’ “Intermezzo” from Goyescas) receive equally dazzling performances. Sensational.
