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Friday, July 28, 2017

Hubert Parry - Symphony No. 1; Concertstück (Matthias Bamert)


Information

Composer: Hubert Parry
  1. Symphony No. 1 in G major: I. Con fuoco
  2. Symphony No. 1 in G major: II. Andante
  3. Symphony No. 1 in G major: III. Presto - Meno mosso
  4. Symphony No. 1 in G major: IV. Allegretto, molto vivace
  5. Concertstück in G minor

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Matthias Bamert, conductor

Date: 1992
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209062

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Review

Nimbus may just have stolen a march over Chandos, with their world premiere recording of Parry's First Symphony, but there can be little doubt that this latest instalment in the revelatory Parry series from Matthias Bamert and the London Philharmonic Orchestra leads the field in this work. In May, MK concluded his review of William Boughton's performance of the piece with the English Symphony Orchestra, by expressing some scepticism over its chances of ever securing a place in the repertory, and one wonders whether his reaction might have been more positive had he listened to Bamert first.

Bamert certainly has an innate sympathy for the spacious and monumental qualities of Parry's music, and his breadth and urgency make a strong case for this work from the very opening bars. Boughton's response to the Con fuoco marking of the first movement sounds tame and lethargic alongside the gripping thrust of Bamert, who also draws constant attention to the cyclic components of this symphony; areas of critical structural detail which can easily become obscured, particularly in the over-reverberant setting used for the Nimbus disc. There is some glorious solo horn playing from the LPO principal horn at the opening of the Andante, in which Boughton becomes bogged down by Parry's Quasi adagio indication. Bamert finds just the right basic pulse here, and sustains the movement with an unhurried natural eloquence.

Both conductors take a similar view of the scherzo, with its progressive double trio, but again the finer inner details (particularly the contributions of the ESO wind players) are all but lost in the indeterminate ambience of the Great Hall of Birmingham University. Bamert draws all the various strands of symphonic thought together with unfaltering security in the finale, where the cyclic elements return with renewed force, and he ensures that the work concludes in triumph, rather than self-conscious rhetoric. This superb Chandos disc also includes Parry's Concertstuck for orchestra, and once again Bamert comes close to convincing us that this plainly neo-Germanic offering is a great deal more satisfactory than it really is. The symphony, however, is a work of remarkable strength and insight, and deserves more general recognition.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parry-Symphony-No-1-Concertstuck/dp/B000000APH
https://www.amazon.com/Parry-Symphony-No-1-Concertstuck/dp/B000000APH

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Hubert Parry (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. As a composer he is best known for compositions such as the choral song "Jerusalem" and the coronation anthem "I was glad". His orchestral works include five symphonies and a set of Symphonic Variations. In 1895 Parry succeeded George Grove as head of the Royal College of Music, remaining in the post for the rest of his life. Parry's influence on later composers, such as Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge and John Ireland, is widely recognised.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Parry

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Matthias Bamert (born July 5, 1942 in Ersigen, Canton of Bern) is a Swiss composer and conductor. Bamert studied music in Switzerland, in Darmstadt and in Paris, with Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He was principal oboist with the Salzburg Mozart Orchestra between 1965-1969, then switched to conducting. Bamert's conducting career began in North America as an apprentice to George Szell and later as Assistant Conductor to Leopold Stokowski, and Resident Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. He made over 60 recordings, most of them for Chandos.

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