Arnold Orchestral Works: The British Symphonic Collection, Vol 11
Sensitive performances of some Arnold rarities from an unexpected source
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Malcolm Arnold
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Classico
Magazine Review Date: 13/2002
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: CLASSCD424

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Little Suite No. 2 |
Malcolm Arnold, Composer
Douglas Bostock, Conductor Malcolm Arnold, Composer Royal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra |
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra |
Malcolm Arnold, Composer
Douglas Bostock, Conductor Malcolm Arnold, Composer Royal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra Ulrik Spang-Hanssen, Organ |
Hommage to the Queen |
Malcolm Arnold, Composer
Douglas Bostock, Conductor Malcolm Arnold, Composer Royal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra |
Rinaldo and Armida |
Malcolm Arnold, Composer
Douglas Bostock, Conductor Malcolm Arnold, Composer Royal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra |
Author:
No fewer than three first recordings adorn Douglas Bostock’s latest release‚ in which some of Denmark’s finest young musicians lend spirited advocacy to three appealing Arnold scores from the 1950s.
Bostock’s first recording of the 20minute concert suite from the 1953 Coronationballet Homage to the Queen is all the more welcome given that Robert Irving’s superbly stylish 1954 Philharmonia recording of the complete work has fallen foul of the deletionaxe (do keep an eye out in the secondhand racks for the exemplary EMI British Composers reissue). Hailed by Dame Ninette de Valois as ‘the finest ballet composer since Tchaikovsky’‚ Arnold penned a further three scores for the Royal Ballet. First staged in 1955 and choreographed (like Homage to the Queen) by Frederick Ashton‚ Rinaldo and Armida packs a wealth of colourful and touching invention into its tightlyknit 22minute span. Elsewhere‚ Ulrik SpangHanssen is a nimble soloist in the Organ Concerto written in 1954 for Denis Vaughan (the central Lento casts quite a spell)‚ and we also get the brighteyed‚ impeccably crafted Little Suite No 2 that Arnold fashioned for the 1963 Farnham Festival.
Nicely prepared‚ committed performances one and all; reasonably vivid sound. Sir Malcolm’s many fans will surely warm to this enterprising collection.
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