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In Reply to: RE: How is The Lark Ascending? I've always like Bean's. Nt posted by jdaniel@jps.net on September 28, 2016 at 17:59:46
It's good. It's sonically better than the new Pinchas Zukerman or the Hilary Hahn, but I think those two seem more flowing and passionate.
Follow Ups:
Hahn may be considered more flowing by some but she just isn't idiomatic. No nint in her playing of any relationship with English folk song or landscape. Still it's more palatable than her overly sentimentalised yet paradoxically unemotional Elgar on the same disc.
I find that as the Lark has become more internationalised it is now hardly treated as a rhapsody but more as a form of small violin concerto. Mistake.
Bean has the intent of the piece correct by evoking the George Meredith poem rather than treating it as a vehicle for virtuosity. He was a great ensemble player. When the Bean version was recorded in conjunction with the Boult traversal of the RVW Symphonies he was leader of the Philharmonia and not a brought in soloist.
Oh, before writing this I looked out my SACD copy of the Hahn and listened again to make sure that my negative view didn't require any revision.
. . . I remember when that recording was first issued in the 60's, some reviewers in the US criticized Bean for being too focused on technical perfection and not sensitive enough to the emotion! Well, I suppose it takes all kinds of listeners, but I agree with you and jdaniel that the Bean/Boult recording is magnificent.
BTW, you're right that performances of this work have become more internationalized these days, and I think a lot of the babe violinists (JJ, Lisa, J-Fi, et al.) have it in their repertoires - J-Fi even has a recording of it. I hope I won't cause a scandal by saying I prefer Bean's to hers! ;-)
Through the magic of streaming via Tidal (also available from Amazon Music and Spotify) I was able to enjoy the Boult/Bean recording last night! It is quite wonderful. It is an idiomatic performance that seems less "slick" than the more recent performances of my experience. I had most of those Boult/Vaughan Williams recordings at one time so I don't know how I missed this. Oh, well. Thanks for the recommendation.
It certainly holds up well!
Just purchased it on Amazon. $7.50 or so.
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
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