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Wow!, 25 Feb 2013

I bought this because I wanted to have the Dark Pastoral. I did not expect much from the rest of the works. Surely RVW of 1898 would be dull, derivative, and instantly forgettable. But what a pleasant surprise it was!

The Dark Pastoral apart, two movements completely knocked me over. The opening movement of the Bucolic suite sounds like Holst in bucolic vein -- nothing wishy-washy or heavily derivative here. But the real find is the Romance from the Serenade of 1898. I think I must have listened to this twenty times end to end when I first played the disc. What a find! Glorious, passionate, and entirely RVW, if not mature RVW.

Plugging a yawning gap, 25 Feb 2013

Vaughan Williams collected hundred of folk songs, and the discography is pitifully thin. Here at last is a disc of his delightful folk carols and a handful of not-well-known folk songs. They are an absolute delight and the performances are excellent. Full marks to all concerned -- and how about a follow-up disc?

Cinderella, 25 Feb 2013

Three of Vaughan Williams' operas are fairly light things, and this is perhaps the lightest. The story is almost Gilbertian in its silliness, but the music is delightful and having discovered it, I wouldn't be without it.