Double double.(THE MUSIC)(Interview)

After last issue's sell-out fiasco, Tom Lyle and I are back to the classics. Over the past couple of years there have been a couple of low-priced but highly regarded recordings of Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes released on CD, and Tom and I thought it would be interesting to compare them. In 2003, EMI repackaged Andre Previn's account with the London Symphony Orchestra from the '70s on a "Great Recordings of the Century" disc that also features Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and a couple of works by Hoist (EMI 7243 5 62616 2 4). Tom and I will be comparing that classic account with another rerelease, this of a 1989 recording of the same orchestra under the direction of Stuart Bedford that was originally released on the Collins Classics label in 1989 (Naxos 8.557196), a disc that also includes the Sinfonia da Requiem and the Symphonic Suite: Gloriana.

Following our time-tested method, Tom and have abstained from discussing these two recordings with each other and have done our listening and writing completely independently. Because this is an even-numbered issue, Tom will lead off with his findings and then I will close with my two cents' worth.

TL: I didn't think it important to use the original EMI LP of the Previn version of this piece for this Double Double. Of course that's easy for me to say, since I never owned the original. It would be nice though, because this LP is likely to sound pretty nice, being from what many consider EMI's Golden Age era of recordings.

But I don't have any complaints about the recording quality of either of these releases. The Naxos has plenty of focus, deep bass, and sparkling highs. There is a touch of midrange prominence, but I'm probably nitpicking. The EMI is amazing for being an analog transfer. It also has plenty of deep bass, and the highs aren't as rolled off as one might expect. In fact, the recording quality of either release didn't come into play that much, so I was able to compare the recordings on the basis of their performances alone.

It was pretty clear after only the first couple of spins that the Previn was the better disc. Previn just puts so much more emotion into the piece than Bedford, and there are so many examples of where he shows that he has a greater grasp on the inner meaning of the piece. Of course, the section that I kept turning to is the Passacaglia, I guess because of its turbulent nature. It is here that Previn shows how he can draw one into the piece better than anyone. But it is also during the quiet passages that he grabs hold of the listener. On the Bedford CD, the conductor does an excellent job of playing the piece, and like I said, it is an excellent recording. But next to the Previn, it seems like an ordinary reading.