Team work by Scottish is refreshing

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 22

Team work by Scottish is refreshing

Classical records review

ALLAN FRANCIS

VIVALDI. String Concertos (four) Wind Concertos (five), played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, directed by Jaimie Laredo. CONTOUR RED LABEL CC7608 and CC7610.

It is impossible not to regard a new record label in much the same way as a new boy entering school; circumspect at first, then with gathering admiration, as in this case in which price and quality for the records are both in the right proportions.

The initial wariness of the Contour label is soon replaced with warm feel-. Ings towards the skill and enthuslam of the Scottish players. The recorded sound is appropriately fresh and clear, with the accent on the team work of the group rather than any virtuoso playing from the soloists, who are placed fairly well forward in the fashion of the fifties and sixties.

In one instance only is there any Indication of RV or opus numbers in either recording. The Concertos in A minor for two Violins and Two Violins and Cello are both from the opus ill catalogue, but elsewhere it is a case of taking your pick. This may not be of any great importance, unless one has already got most of the works from other

groups or if one is seeking a specific work — among Vivaldi’s vast repertoire this is quite a formidable task.

In most instances the works have multiple soloists, two flutes, two oboes, two trumpets, two clarinets, two horns, four violins and cello, so it appears that the group is more comfortable in this context.

Certainly the over-all sound quality is most attractive, with plenty of sparkle and eighteenth century zest. As always, comparisons must be made with the I Music! versions of most Vivaldi pieces. The verdict here probably still favours the latter for marginally more mature interpretations and a warmer sound. For a cross section of Vivaldi’s more complicated composition it would be hard to find; better examples — particularly at the price.

MOZART. Clarinet Quintet and Oboe Quartet, played by the Gabrieli String Quartet with Keith Puddy, clarinet, and Douglas Boyd, oboe.

CONTOUR RED LABEL CC 7609.

The great feature here is the presence of the Gabrieli Quartet, which had just completed * the K5Bl Clarinet Quintet with Thea King, the clarinet soloist for Hyperion, (bringing much experience to bear on the second version.

There is little to choose between the actual playing from either soloist, except that Thea King elects the basset clarinet. Both performances must rank highly with those available, even the Emma Johnson account for ASV.

HAYDN. Symphony No. 44 in E minor “Trauer.” MOZART. Symphony No. 40 in G minor played by the Orchestra of St

John’s Smith Square, London. John Lubbock conducts. CONTOUR RED LABEL CC7618.

As recorded here, the Haydn symphony harks back to the fleeting interpretations of Sir Thomas Beecham, with"out, I might add, the undue ferocity of- many modem conductors. Both works are treated sympathetically, without any trace of gimmickry or condescension; they are “straight” performances by two highly compatible partners, one who has suffered from over exposure, the other from too little. The London Orchestra captures the restless urgency of the outer movements and the elegaic pathos of the slow movements to perfection.