Elgar's defiant late work and Walton's richly atmospheric display vehicle have inspired Daniel Müller-Schott and André Previn - who was a personal friend of Walton - to collaborate on a recording that does full justice to the variety and uniqueness of these two masterpieces of English music.

REVIEW:

The contents of this set are identical to RCA’s previous Previn RVW reissue, and the discs do not appear to have been remastered. André Previn’s Vaughan Williams symphony cycle arguably is the best such offering on the market today, particularly given the difficulty of finding the similarly fine Handley and Slatkin sets domestically (or at all!). In contrast to Boult’s famous EMI set, where his all-knowing conducting (he was a lifelong friend of the composer) occasionally takes on a relaxed and autumnal air, Previn’s consistently vibrant renditions reflect his fresh encounters with the music.

Not to say that he’s always faster–Boult is noticeably quicker in many instances–yet, especially in the case of Nos. 3 and 5, Previn sounds more energized and involved despite his slower tempos. Previn also has at his disposal the London Symphony, which provides exceptionally robust playing throughout. Case in point: compare the LSO’s playing in Previn’s potent and dramatic No. 6 with Boult’s generally listless London Philharmonic in the same work.

Previn’s gripping Sinfonia Antarctica and his profoundly atmospheric A London Symphony rank among the finest versions available. However, Previn must yield to Boult in A Sea Symphony, where Boult’s grandiose vision and EMI’s ravishing recording make a tremendous impression. RCA’s sound, except for a dry and edgy No. 8 (did the master tape deteriorate?) is generally clear and well-balanced, with plenty of impact. Factor in the bonus works–the Violin concerto “Concerto accademico”, the Tuba Concerto, and the “Three Portraits” from The England of Elizabeth–and you’ve got a handsome package of memorable, recommendable performances. The bargain price makes it all the more irresistible.

-- ClassicsToday (Victor Carr, Jr.)

Alicia de Larrocha will always be remembered as one of the most idiomatic and poetic interpreters of Spanish piano music, but this beloved artist – born in Barcelona in 1923 to two pianists – was hardly less devoted to Mozart. In the 1990s, towards the end of her career, she undertook a series of concerto recordings for RCA with Sir Colin Davis – one of the great Mozartians of his time – conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, formidable Mozart veterans themselves. Now collected for the first time in a 6-album set, these performances were widely admired by music lovers and critics. Gramophone wrote: “In their transparency and vitality these performances are outstanding. Sir Colin’s partnership is affectionate and exemplary [Nos. 25 and 27].” And of their collaboration in Nos. 19 and 27: “Sir Colin’s unforced way with the opening tutti of K 595, his awareness of ‘all passion spent’ is haunting but unobtrusive. Such sensitivity is effortlessly mirrored by Larrocha with her enviable ease, her avoidance of all artifice or attention-seeking dalliance. Few other pianists are more attuned to Mozart’s mix of pain and radiance.”