Gerald Finzi - Grand Fantasia & Toccata • Eclogue • Nocturne • Introit • The Fall of the Leaf etc.

Rodney Friend, solo violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult, conductor
Peter Katin, piano
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Vernon Handley, conductor

Label: Lyrita
Copyright: 2007 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England
Catalogue number: SRCD.239
UPC/EAN: 5020926023926
Format: CD
Analogue / Digital recording: ADD
Number of discs: 1
Total playing time: 79.26
Price: £ 14.99 (+ postage & packing)

Track 1: No recording information available
Tracks 2, 8 : Recorded at Kingsway Hall, 9 October 1974, Producer: James Walker, Engineer: James Lock
Tracks 3 - 7, 9: Recorded at Kingsway Hall, 30 September 1975, Producer: James Walker, Engineer: John Dunkerley
Tracks 10, 11: Recorded at Walthamstow, 29 August 1975

"Boult is in his element – the Butterworth one, that is – in the Severn Rhapsody which was clearly written under thrall of George Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad and Bridge’s Summer. Blue skies, birdsong, sunny fields, cool coppices and shaded brooks – all these breathe through the pages of this Finzi score ... This is a most generously timed collection - essential Finzi in many respects ..." Rob Barnett, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review

"I was especially pleased to see that at last the Boult ex-LP of Finzi miniatures was on CD. First, because on the LP the tracks ran quickly into each other and as the mood of several of the pieces is somewhat similar it was more than easy, after a lapse of concentration, to forget which piece you are on. Secondly because having Boult, and for that matter Handley, conducting Finzi is somehow to possess the authentic voice of a British, mid-20th century sound. Thirdly this disc also draws into its compass the ‘Grand Fantasia’ and the ‘Eclogue’ with the irrepressible Peter Katin. In addition the recording is warm and friendly and the whole enterprise oozes a long lost world never to be recaptured. Also, at seventy-nine minutes it is extremely good value ..." Gary Higginson, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review

"Boult does no wrong for me in this selection. He even manages to instil some coherence into the diffuse and not-entirely-satisfactory A Severn Rhapsody, an early work in which Finzi had not reconciled himself fully to rhapsodic writing. Despite the diffuseness of his inspiration, and the over-insistent lure of Butterworth as an inspiration, Boult charts an assured path ... Superb sound and Diana McVeagh’s astute notes cap a mandatory purchase for lovers of the English muse, and of course for Finzi lovers in particular ..." Jonathan Woolf, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review

"Two highlights of this release are the two pieces for strings – Romance and Prelude, both extraordinarily conventional titles that tend to hide grave and profound depths of feeling – Finzi never wore his heart on his sleeve, he was a much too good a composer to do that - the sensitivity and emotion here is real and deeply touching ... the value of this compact disc is Boult’s impeccable selection of orchestral works ..." David Wordsworth, www.classicalsource.com Click here to read the full review