William Boughton imparts tremendous zest to VW's Wasps Overture, fully in keeping with its breezy nature, and he gives the big central tune its true nobility. Michael Bochmann, I note, was a pupil of the late Frederick Grinke, whose recording of The lark ascending must have introduced this ravishing piece to many readers of GRAMOPHONE, as it did to me. Bochmann plays it like his teacher, with unaffected ease and a natural appreciation of its poetry. His tone is pure and steady, even at the stratospheric height to which the lark takes him. The recording has the customary Nimbus fidelity.

Character is one thing that Boughton’s performances could not be accused of wanting. The two works, recorded earlier, which include wind instruments have plenty of individuality...[In The Lark] Michael Bochmann is set slightly back in the recorded acoustic. This lends his playing a nicely distanced romantic quality but the resulting sound is a bit thin for music which we are used to hearing with a more romantic ardour.