Fiona Maddocks 

Walton: Symphonies 1 & 2 CD review – a punchy new departure

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Karabits(Onyx)
  
  

‘Inspirational’: Kirill Karabits.
‘Inspirational’: Kirill Karabits. Photograph: Robbie Jack/ Corbis via Getty Images

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra now boasts a strong current discography, recorded with its inspirational music director, Kirill Karabits. After an array of Russians, Walton’s two symphonies mark a fresh departure. Symphony No 1 (1935), which the composer struggled to finish, opens – after a pianissimo timpani roll – with a broad, outdoor canter and an unmistakable splash of Sibelius. By the last movement, Walton’s own majestic, brass-rich orchestral voice takes over (strains of Crown Imperial, which he wrote soon after). In contrast, the second symphony has lighter textures, with echoes of Stravinsky, and, surprisingly for a more rear garde composer, ventures into atonality. Brass and woodwind shine throughout, and the BSO strings sound punchy and lithe.

 

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