These two issues are obviously timed to coincide with this year’s Last Night of the Proms. The Decca is an entirely new effort, the EMI a haphazard compilation drawn from their back catalogue with scant regard for logic in the sense that it is not the kind of programme you would actually hear at a Last Night. The repertory overlaps in a couple of respects, most importantly as regards the Vaughan Williams Serenade. The 1977 Boult recording on EMI stands the test of time given Boult’s predictably authoritative conducting and a good group of soloists. Norrington’s new version is just as worthwhile, more openly recorded and boasting a stronger line-up of soloists.
Lott, in the Baillie part, may not possess the absolutely pure line of either the original soloist or EMI’s Norma Burrowes but she floats her memorable phrase in her own inimitable way. Most of the others exhibit special character, most notably Milne in Stiles-Allen’s lines, Mannion in Elsie Suddaby’s, Della Jones in Margaret Balfour’s and, not least, Lloyd in Norman Allin’s dark-hued phrases. But if you return to the originals, in particular Eva Turner (Kenny no match for the great Dame) and the tenors (Rolfe Johnson a pale shadow of Walter Widdop), you hear a strength of tone and a conviction lacking in their successors. That old but still keen-sounding version will remain a unique experience, but Norrington’s is a viable representation of the lovely piece in modern terms.
Where Vaughan Williams’s work is timeless in its appeal, Stanford’s Songs of the Sea sound woefully dated, particularly in terms of Newboult’s ghastly verse, but Thomas Allen, in convincing voice, and Norrington make as good a case as possible for the set. In the full version of the Wood Sea Songs Fantasia, a much less pretentious and more attractive work than the Stanford, Norrington and his orchestra are in fine fettle, as they are in Crown Imperial (though this always strikes me as Elgar without the inspiration) and Pomp and Circumstance No. 1. Sarah Walker repeats her familiar and welcome Rule Britannia (with variations), though Anne Collins on EMI actually sings it better.
If you want a well-conceived and well-executed CD of British music of this century in inspiriting performances, the Decca is a delight. The EMI is really only for those who want that particular hotchpotch of ill-assorted pieces.'