Walton Symphony 2
Thu, Oct 20 2011, 11:49PM
Recently in a charity shop for a fiver I picked up a Naxos boxset '20th Century British Orchestral Masterpieces'. 5 discs, one CD was missing (Delius Florida suite) which I got from ebay 99p!.
Discs include Arnold, complete dances. Bliss Adam Zero and a wonderful Colour Symphony by English Northern Sinfonia, David Lloyd-Jones. VW, Job. But the gem for me is Walton Sym 2 and Viola Conterto - English Northen Phil, Paul Daniels and Lars Anders viola. Gramophone review http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/May%201996/70/777267/al+Walton+Concerto+for+Viola+and+Orchestra+in+A+minora.+Symphony+No.+2.+Johannesburg+Festival+Overture.+Lars+Anders+Tomter+%28va%29+English+Northern+Philharmonia++Paul+Daniel.+Naxos+0+ICI%29+8+553402+%2861+minutes%3A+DDD%29.+Recorded+in+association+with+the+William+Walton+Trust.
It may not be the best recording of his second symphony (RPO and Previn is my usual choice) but WOW the sound is superb. Punchy brass and vibrant strings altogether with a warm Leeds Town Hall acoustic.
Best five quid I've spent in a long time.
Fri, Oct 21 2011, 9:46AM
#2
RE: Walton Symphony 2
In the 40+ years I've been listening to music and countless different hi-fi combinations, one curious and glaring omission is that I've never heard a pair of electrostatics.
JKH
Fri, Oct 21 2011, 10:56AM
#3
RE: Walton Symphony 2
Me neither, but I have to admit I never dealt with electrostatic speakers. My recent high end equipment plays very well the Naxos products, which are, nowadays, a very good value for money, particularly the very few SACDs.
As for Walton's Symphony No. 2, I thoroughly enjoyed the recent Hyperion release, at full price, of course.
Parla
Fri, Oct 21 2011, 12:06PM
#4
RE: Walton Symphony 2
I have.
My late, electronics whizz-kid friend, owned a pair of Quad in the seventies.
He had a listening room barely big enough to contain them because, as I remember they had to be some considerable distance from the wall.
Fiddling around with them one day he put his screwdriver through the membrane and we got it into my mini and drove off to the factory in Huntingdon where we deposited it for repair and had a tour of the factory, which was nice.
They, like all of Quad's stuff, at the time, were mightily impressive.
As for Walton, I must confess he is a deaf spot for me.
I know a saucy story about Lady Walton and Sir Malcolm Sargent, though.
Fri, Oct 21 2011, 5:22PM
#5
RE: Walton Symphony 2
I know a saucy story about Lady Walton and Sir Malcolm Sargent, though.
Don't tease, let's have it!
I bought my ESL 63s in the early 80s when I had more money than sense. They're as finicky as hell, both in terms of room/placement and reliability. But once you've got used to them, nothing else will do. As Peter Walker said, if you don't like the sound, blame the recording.
When they go on the blink, which does happen every so often, I spring my KEF 104s out of the home theatre system into the main set-up. Immediately you notice they're kinder to marginal recordings. Last time this happened I bought the Chailly Mahler cycle and thought it sounded stupendous on the KEFs. But with the electrostatics back in action all the recording faults showed through - glare on some, not all, of the recordings, a badly-recessed Resurrection (back to Lady Walton and Sir M.?).
What comes across as "presence" on conventional speakers is mid-range glare on electrostatics. There's no way recording engineers are going to design their products for the handfull of electrostatic enthusiasts so we have to put up with it. But I'm particularly sad about the Petrenko Shostakovich cycle. After waiting decades for a recording to match the old Svetlanov performance of #10, here comes a dazzler on Naxos. But you have to notch the volume right back to tame all those high woodwinds.
For anyone interested, you can often pick up used Quad electrostatics for a song. Typical story is the old man passes on, the kids inherit the electrostatics. As soon as they've got over the old man's demise (probably the day after the funeral) they throw a gigantic party, fire up the Quads on their Wallmart no-name amp and blow half the membranes (sound familiar Troyen?). Next thing they're on ebay or some other on-line listing at knock-down prices. Fifty quid in materials, some research on the net and many hours of DIY will get them running good as new.
The Litton Walton set is/was a decent bet and better recordings than the Naxos.
Sat, Oct 22 2011, 12:50AM
#6
RE: Walton Symphony 2
Sargent could not drive but Lady Walton could, so, one day she offered to drive him across London to his flat near the RAH.
During the whole length of the journey he persistently tried to get his hand up her skirt. DOM was Flash!
I could never pluck up enough courage to fork out on Quad's "firegrills" and, besides, had doubts that I had a room, not enough room, that could do them justice.
My friend wired them up to everything: radio, TV.
Naxos did a superb job with the Walton orchestral works. For my money, Paul Daniel's Symphony 1 was the first to challenge Previn's. But the recordings are foul on electrostatic speakers. Same as with the current Petrenko Shostakovich cycle and the old Bax Lloyd-Jones set. Everything closely miked, no air around the sound, no depth, and an ear-piercing high midrange. Only listenable at low volume. Too bad, because the actual performances in all three of these sets are A1.
I've tried listening to them on high-end headphones and the same reservations apply.