Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2006-11-16 03:30
I recently spoke at length with Thea King about suggestions to the performer based on her intimate knowledge of this magnificent piece representative of the English pastoral style and splendor via her special relationship with Thurston (her teacher and husband). I was about to perform the concerto for the first time and wanted to go to a reliable source as to insights into it's history in order to give context to an interpretation showing some degree of fidelity to the score.
I did mention that there were obviously a few recordings made of it (and tried to persuade her to tell me if there was a recorded performance of the premiere that she may have in her possession, to no avail), hoping to get her opinion as to which recordings she felt would best exude the style of the piece as she remembered the Finzi being performed in the style of the day.
First and foremost she was adamant about the fact that the piece was romantic enough without the performer having to resort to gilding the lily or pouring honey on sugar which she hoped her own performances avoided. Fair enough I thought and we proceeded section by section, movement by movement discussing how that was best accomplished. She was always insistent that the performer play with expression but not give artistic licence a bad name by straying outside the bounds of the romantic style already inherent on the printed page.
Near the end of our extremely informative conversation about tempi, transitions, and style, I tried again to persuade her to recommend performances that she had heard beside that of her own whom she thought best expressed the style of the period and that were what she thought were inspired performances in their own right.
I finally overcame my hesitancy in our exchange of pleasantries and became more direct (as my European friends like to use the expression on these occasions). I threw out suggestions of my own two favorite performances on CD and she was delighted to excitedly agree with me on both counts - firstly that of Michael Collins, whom I personally believe "owns" the work, and secondly Andrew Marriner who gives a delightful performance of great fidelity if not of equal finesse and depth as that of a relatively young Collins from 1990. (He recently performed it live which I heard on BBC 3 almost 16 years later with little or no difference in interpretation except it's liveliness due partly to the fact that it was not simply a studio recording.)
In that light I can only conclude that by comparison, while the Plane is a bit academic, never really getting off the ground to achieve the soaring heights that the exalted melodies and harmonies require, and that in complete opposition to the style of simple fidelity to the printed instructions that Finzi lays forth, that the Stoltzman recording would be laughable if not so sad, lacking completely due to it's offensively self-indulgent interpretation.* It would have to be the complete antithesis of the style both in terms of expression and execution at the most basic of levels. Dramamine required.
Other performances that I have heard on radio or own such as Hacker (blatant, rather wooden and unsympathetic), Campbell, Donaghue, MacDonald, Johnson, and Denmann are all to varying degrees second rate with much less to recommend them IMO.
Gregory Smith
*A discussion about "interpretation" and the Debussy Rhapsodie might illuminate this point further in a thread from a few years back:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=20&i=877&t=877
On edit:
The Collins recording is available (used only) at Amazon.com
Post Edited (2006-11-16 04:32)
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