Vernon Handley’s premiere recording of the Finzi Cello Concerto for Lyrita (with Yo-Yo Ma, no less) never has been released on CD, and this remake with Raphael Wallfisch doesn’t improve on it. Still, until Tim Hugh’s recent superb Naxos version (rhythmically tighter and just that much more dramatic than this one), collectors had little choice in this splendid work. There’s nothing really wrong here. Wallfisch plays with commitment and technical agility, but Handley’s accompaniments have less energy than on his first go. Chandos’ recording also seems to have trouble unclogging the textures of the very dark first movement, and in the final analysis the central Andante really does hang fire. Perhaps with a more energetic opening movement, it would not have seemed so.
On the other hand, Kenneth Leighton’s Cello Concerto makes a sensible coupling on this reissue, and it’s very well performed to boot, despite the fact that the composer’s melodic invention sounds distinctly second rate, especially after the Finzi. The central scherzo shows real compositional resource but the extended slow finale requires more patience than some listeners may be willing to lend. Still, if you admire this composer, that’s the reason to by this disc, since Naxos currently rules the Finzi roost, both artistically and economically.
