Eugene Goossens - Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 (Andrew Davis)

Information

Composer: Eugene Goossens

• (01) Phantasy Concerto, Op. 63
• (05) Symphony No. 2, Op. 62

Tasmin Little, violin
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Davis, conductor

Date: 2020
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205193

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Review

It’s been a decade since Chandos issued the first volume in this Goossens survey from Melbourne (6/09). Andrew Achenbach greeted that release – with the late Richard Hickox conducting the First Symphony and Phantasy Concerto for piano and orchestra – with delight. I wish I shared his enthusiasm for Goossens’s music, for neither that disc nor this new one under Andrew Davis give me much pleasure, although the performances on both are superbly accomplished and committed. There are striking passages scattered here and there, certainly, particularly in the Second Symphony (1945). The slow movement makes the most lasting impression, with moments of touching delicacy (try at 1'52") and a long, lyrical clarinet solo near the very end that demands rapt attention. But the harmonies have a restless, often aimless quality that make it difficult to follow the thread.

The same might be said for Goossens’s melodic writing. Take the fugue subject in the Symphony’s finale (at 3'59"), for example, which circles around awkwardly like a dog chasing its tail. Indeed, I’m not terribly surprised that Heifetz refused to play the concerto that Goossens composed at his request. It’s not a virtuoso showpiece, but I don’t believe that was the violinist’s issue, as the solo part is kept front and centre throughout. Like its predecessor for piano, the highly changeable mood of this Phantasy Concerto (1948, rev 1958) gives it its fantastical character. Its mood changes so rapidly, in fact, that it seems to thwart any real sense of any of its myriad ideas finding fulfilment.

One curious aspect of this pair of works (and those on the first volume, as well) is their colour, for they all suggest to me that they were written using the musical equivalent of black-and-white film. The shadings are fine and sharp, but it’s all in greyscale nonetheless. This, combined with the music’s slightly uneasy, ominous tone, wouldn’t be out of place in the soundtrack to a 1940s detective film.

Again, the performances are superb. I prefer Davis’s deliberate, determined tread in the Symphony’s Scherzo to Handley’s fleet tempo, even if the latter is closer to the composer’s giocoso marking (ABC Classics, A/05). And Tasmin Little turns on a dime in the Phantasy Concerto – a premiere recording, I believe – holding the discursive score together as tautly as possible.

-- Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Jan/Goossens_orchestral_v3_CHSA5193.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Orchestral-Works-3-Tasmin-Little/dp/B07ZWBMYZB

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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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Tasmin Little (born 13 May 1965 in London) is an English classical violinist. She is best known and widely acclaimed as a concerto soloist, and also performs as a recitalist and chamber musician. Her first professional performance as a soloist was in 1988 with The Hallé. She made her first appearance at the BBC Proms in 1990, and has appeared regularly since. Little has been an exponent of the works of composer Frederick Delius throughout her career. She has released multiple albums, winning the Critics Award at the Classic Brit Awards in 2011 for her recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmin_Little

http://www.tasminlittle.org.uk/

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Andrew Davis (born 2 February 1944 in Ashridge, Hertfordshire) is a British conductor. Davis was music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1975-1988) and chief conductor the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1989-2000). He is currently music director and principal conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago (since 2000), and chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (since 2012). Davis has performed a wide range of repertoire, with a particular focus on contemporary British music. Davis has recorded for a number of labels, including Chandos, NMC Recordings, Teldec and Deutsche Grammophon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Davis_(conductor)

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