Eugene Goossens - Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (Richard Hickox)

Information

Composer: Eugene Goossens

• (01) Phantasy Concerto, Op. 60
• (05) Symphony No. 1, Op. 58

Howard Shelley, piano
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox, conductor

Date: 2009
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205068

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Review

Of all the 20th-century conductor/composers (with the possible exception of the industrious Felix Weingartner), Sir Eugene Goossens (1893–1962) produced one of the most substantial and inspired body of works. From his beginnings as a member of a distinguished and cosmopolitan family of Belgian musicians to his celebrated leadership of the Cincinnati and Sydney Symphonies, Goossens the composer demonstrates a level of self-assurance and authority that is phenomenal. All of his output has a fluidity and forthrightness that draws the listener in immediately with its striking ideas and dazzling orchestration, qualities that are fully resplendent in the two major late scores presented here.

The 1942 piano concerto—written for Jose Iturbi, significantly titled Phantasy , and receiving its premiere recording—is a dense and volatile tableau in four closely linked sections played continuously. The term “phantasy” (derived no doubt from the famous Cobbett chamber-music prizes awarded in the early 1900s) is of central importance to the type of musical syntax Goossens excelled in. “Motto” themes, both easily graspable and unusually malleable, form the backbone of his idiom, as they are twisted and transmogrified in an ecstatic Szymanowski-like display of endlessly exfoliating and highly chromaticized metamorphoses. A glance at the constantly alternating tempo markings bears this out: Allegro—Poco più tranquillo—Poco allargando—Subito a tempo—Poco meno mosso—Poco animando—Più moto. And, of course, this makes for a highly charged, almost kinesthetic arc of dramatic reversals and reconciliations.

Although the slightly earlier First Symphony of 1938–1940 is in four distinct movements lasting almost 40 massive minutes, it is characterized by the same kinetic and incandescent qualities as the concerto. The Symphony’s two most prominent motto themes are threaded throughout the whole rich tapestry of the score. But, unlike the glittering and gamboling concerto, the symphony has a much darker and more ominous undertone, probably due to the gathering war clouds attending its creation. In Goossens’s own words, however, the tenor of the music has a universal compass: it “has no message, neither is there any literary or other significance to it . . . it deals with the old abstractions, or what my master Stanford rather portentously used to refer to as The Eternal Verities.”

This spectacular Chandos release is the third recording of the Symphony and Hickox (in his sadly final appearance in the recording studio) easily matches—and, technically speaking, even surpasses—its two earlier disc incarnations: a vinyl-only release on the Unicorn-Kanchana label by the Adelaide Symphony under the brilliant David Meacham and an equally superlative rendering by the late great Vernon Handley on an Australian Broadcasting Company three-CD set devoted to Goossens. And we are fully aware from past recordings of pianist Howard Shelley’s prowess in unearthing and projecting the value inherent in long-neglected concertos. In short, this release is a surefire candidate for this year’s Want List. Grab it!

-- Paul A. Snook, FANFARE

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: *****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Mar09/Goossens_CHSA5068.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/19/goossens-symphony-phantasy-melbourne-mso-hickox-shelley
https://www.amazon.com/Goossens-Symphony-No-Phantasy-Concerto/dp/B001ONSW9S

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Eugene Goossens (26 May 1893 – 13 June 1962) was an English conductor and composer. He studied at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford and Achille Rivarde, among others. Goossens was Thomas Beecham's assistant conductor, and gave the British concert premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring on 7 June 1921. For nearly a quarter of a century, he accepted positions at U.S. orchestras, then spent nine years in Australia, from 1947 to 1956. Among his works as a composer are 2 symphonies, 2 "Phantasy" concertos, 2 string quartets, 2 violin sonatas and a Concertino for string octet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Aynsley_Goossens

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Howard Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. As pianist he has performed, broadcast and recorded around the world with leading orchestras and conductors. He made many recordings for Chandos, Hyperion and EMI, including Rachmaninov's complete piano music and concertos. As a conductor, he has held positions of Associate and Principal Guest Conductor with the London Mozart Players in a close relationship of over twenty years. He has appeared regularly on television and on the soundtrack of several films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Shelley

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Richard Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music. He served as Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia (1982-1990), Associate Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (1985-2008), Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2000-2006), and was contracted as Opera Australia's music director at the time of his death. His recording repertoire concentrated on British music, in which he made a number of recording premieres for Chandos Records (he made over 280 recordings for this company) and won five Gramophone Awards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hickox

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