Vaughan Williams: 9 Symphonies - Boult
Tower Records Definition Serie TDSA-225 (5 discs)
Stereo Hybrid
Classical - Orchestral
Vaughan Williams: 9 Symphonies
Sheila Armstrong (1), Margaret Price (3), Norma Burrows (7), soprano
John Carol Case (1), baritone
London Philharmonic Choir (1, 7)
New Philharmonia Orchestra (3-5)
London Philharmonic Orchestra (1-2, 6-9)
Sir Adrian Boult
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- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 1 (1903-09) 'A Sea Symphony'
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 (1911-13, rev. 1918/20/33) 'A London Symphony'
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 (1921) 'Pastoral Symphony'
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4 in F minor (1931-34)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 in D major (1938-43)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6 in E minor (1944-47, rev. 1950)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 7 (1949-51) 'Sinfonia Antartica'
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 8 in D minor (1953-55)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (1956–57)
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Comment by John Bacon-Shone - June 1, 2022 (1 of 4)
Just released - I have ordered via CDJapan and await my shipment.
Comment by Contrapunctus - June 7, 2022 (2 of 4)
This new release with new remastering at 24/192 base simply sounds fantastic compared to the old regular RBCD versions, which are using remastering dating back to the beginning of cd remastering (early 1990s). The progress in remastering technology is evident and obviously audible here. This new remastering makes the old RBCDs sound like a very poor imitation: muddy, veiled and poor in bass. Because I don't own this set on RBCD, I've downloaded a single track at prestomusic (4th movement of the 5th symphony) for comparison.
A nice example for the new listening experience is the fugato passage, beginning with the flutes and followed by the strings, after the first climax (3:42): now, strings are clean and detailed sounding.
To make it short: if you care about Boult's late RVW cycle, this release won't disappoint! (Because this set is limited to 800 copies, you probably shouldn't wait too long.)
Comment by Ben Leggett - June 8, 2022 (3 of 4)
First impressions are good - weirdly, even though the "classic" cover art on the box headlines the inclusion of Vaughan Williams music that often accompanies these symphonies (Aristophanic Suite/The Wasps, Tallis Fantasia, etc) and is included in other Vaughan Williams/Boult "complete symphonies" box sets, these 5 discs contain *only* the 9 symphonies, nothing less and nothing more.
It would have been nice to get those on a 6th disc.
Comment by John Bacon-Shone - June 10, 2022 (4 of 4)
Highly recommended for anyone who loves Vaughan Williams symphonies. I already have the Chandos recordings (bought individually), but I prefer the interpretations by Boult and the remastering greatly improves the audio quality.