These three major works make up another richly enjoyable, generously-filled disc in Chandos's Walton series. When for many Waltonians the Viola Concerto is a special favourite among his works, it is surprising that it has not been recorded more often. Though in the last year or so the Violin Concerto has appeared in a good range of versions, the only modern rival to this new account of the Viola Concerto is Nigel Kennedy's on EMI, with Andre Previn conducting. There is little direct rivalry, when the couplings are so different, and both can be warmly recommended.
Imai is gloriously firm and true in all her playing, wonderfully confident in the virtuoso passages, with the central scherzo sounding not at all breathless. Yet I still hope that a modern interpreter will go back to Walton's original intentions and adopt a more flowing Andante comodo for the concerto's lovely opening theme. Like Kennedy, Imai uses a very broad Andante to bring out the full lyrical warmth, but it means that the bravura section starting two bars after fig. 5 (track 1, 3'19'') enters with a jolt rather than developing naturally. The movement is not helped either by the forward balance of the soloist. It means that when the flute is given the main theme in the recapitulation (track 1, 6'43''), it sounds too distant in relation to the elaborate figuration in the soloist's descant. Though the recording also obscures some orchestral detail, not just a question of balance, Jan Latham-Koenig secures crisply rhythmic playing from the orchestra in all three movements. The main theme of the finale is even jaustier than usual, again at a speed fractionally slower than normal.
The warmth of the LPO string-tone comes over impressively in the Sonata for Strings. This is a bigger-scale reading than the rival ones from the Guildhall String Ensemble on RCA or from the Australian Chamber Orchestra on Sony, both of them excellent too. Yet the bigger scale is not all gain. It means that the contrast between the passages for solo string quartet (echoing the original quartet version) and the full string ensemble is if anything too extreme, even if the extra weight and tonal warmth in such passages as the opening of the Lento slow movement is very satisfying.
Latham-Koenig is warmly expressive too in the Hindemith Variations, another work that has tended to be neglected on disc. George Szell's brilliant Cleveland version on Sony is still listed, a vintage account, but Vernon Handley's EMI version with the Bournemouth orchestra, which came as a coupling for the First Symphony (8/89), disappeared from the catalogue all too quickly. Latham-Koenig now provides a first-rate modern account, not as lightly pointed or cleanly detailed as Handley's, partly a question of the recording, but with extra weight and thrust to make it if anything even more satisfying. The three works on the disc not only make an exceptionally generous coupling, but one which reflects Walton's mastery over the full span of his career.'