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Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony & Symphony No. 8
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 8th April 2016
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2016, Orchestral Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
This is expressive and atmospheric playing, rarely heard since Boult.
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony & Symphony No. 8
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recording of the Week, 8th April 2016
-
BBC Music Magazine, July 2016, Orchestral Choice
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
This is expressive and atmospheric playing, rarely heard since Boult.
About
Andrew Manze has established himself as one of the leading interpreters of Vaughan Williams Symphonies. His 2012 BBC Proms performances drew critical acclaim, and were highlights of that season's Proms. ONYX Classics will release one volume a year, completing the cycle in the spring of 2019 with Symphonies 7&9. It was RWV’s friend and fellow composer George Butterworth who in 1912 suggested he write a purely orchestral symphony. RVW told him he had absolutely no plans to do so, but Butterworth was a very perceptive friend and colleague, and the premiere took place in 1914. Called ‘A London Symphony’ (RVW considered himself a Londoner), RVW thought a better title would be ‘A Symphony by a Londoner’. On New Year’s Eve that year RVW joined the army and went to the trenches in France. Butterworth would be killed by a sniper at the Somme in 1916. The 8th Symphony of 1955 is a tightly written, brilliant and innovative work that shows RVW’s creativity at full stretch. Although outwardly a sunny work, shadows of the 6th and 7th symphonies lurk in the background at points throughout this brilliant symphony.
Next in the RVW Symphony cycle from Andrew Manze and the RLPO will be Symphonies 3 & 4 [ONYX4161] to be released in March 2017.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
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Andrew Manze on Vaughan Williams
5th Sep 2019
The conductor talks to David about his recently-concluded series of Vaughan Williams symphonies with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on Onyx, and the postscript to the cycle which will be released in October...
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Andrew Manze begins a cycle of symphonies by Vaughan Williams
8th Apr 2016
David enjoys Andrew Manze's interpretations of Vaughan Williams' Second and Eighth Symphonies.
Awards and reviews
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Presto Recording of the Week8th April 2016
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BBC Music MagazineJuly 2016Orchestral Choice
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Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2016
July 2016
This is expressive and atmospheric playing, rarely heard since Boult.
June 2016
Manze’s agreeably vigilant reading of A London Symphony brings much to admire in its clean-cut, unexaggerated demeanour…and the spruce performance of the Eighth likewise reveals Manze as a stylish and committed interpreter. In the ravishing Cavatina for strings alone…[offers] heartwarming lyricism
June 2016
All in all these are terrific performances and convincing interpretations … I can’t wait for the next instalment.
8th April 2016
Vaughan Williams' orchestration is fantastically colourful – he had studied with Ravel a few years previously, and clearly took great inspiration from him both in terms of harmony and in terms of instrumentation – and Manze brings its subtleties out in a way I've never heard anyone else quite manage before.
24th April 2016
Manze keeps a tight rein but lets the music blossom. The RLPO and its excellent soloists make a warm, lustrous sound.
Yorkshire Evening Post 29th April 2016
Remove the encrusted nostalgia for yesteryear that we normally hear in today’s performances and you have Andrew Manze’s virile and colourful account of the Second Symphony, London here bustling with colourful vitality.Tempos are unusually brisk in the outer movements, his wide dynamic range magically capturing the pianissimo passages elsewhere.
28th May 2016
Manze might be best known as a Baroque specialist, but his Vaughan Williams is as charismatic and affectionate as any on disc...Exquisite played by the RLPO strings too. Manze never puts a foot wrong … Tremendous music and a really recommendable, enjoyable disc.
Classical Ear 19th May 2016
if you don't know RVW's A London Symphony and Eighth Symphony, these performances – by turns passionate, dramatic and clear-sighted –would make an ideal introduction. The characteristics of both works are formidably presented, and Manze's unfussy and strong direction is just what is needed.
