Delius - Violin Sonatas 1-3; Sonata for String Orchestra; Five Little Pieces

Frederick Delius: 

Violin Sonatas, Sonata For String Orchestra, Five Little Pieces

   

Eric Fenby,  Yehudi Menuhin,  Elena Duran 

Conductor:  Eric Fenby 

Bournemouth Sinfonietta 

Perhaps the colloquial title "Violin Sonatas" is on this occasion closer to the mark than the more formal "Sonatas for Violin and Piano": for in truth the violin sings for nearly an hour while the piano plays chords or arpeggiated accompaniments. Or so it seems in continuous performance. But what songs the violin sings! No lover of Delius's music needs telling today of their quality; nor does he need telling that Menuhin is beyond doubt one of the men who should be singing them, nor that Fenby, with his unique authority on the matter of what Delius meant, is singularly well placed to accompany them. 

And so indeed it proves; there are many golden qualities in these performances, stemming from Menuhin's romantic tone and style, and Fenby's willingness to assume the accompanist's role in the most musicianly of ways. Indeed, if there are any lurking doubts about the total magic of the performances, they might reasonably stem only from consideration whether these particular qualities might be overdone: whether Menuhin's fine-spun line is too continuous, the phrases sometimes too long even in this context; or, again, whether the recorded balance is quite right, whether the piano should be brought up one notch—no more—in the general balance. Altogether more certain than marginal doubts about the balance are the splendid qualities of the recording as a whole: it is clear and most beautifully toned.

Gramophone [6/1980, reviewing the LP release of the violin sonatas]

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Any new record of Delius's shorter orchestral pieces is more than welcome and this one is notable for being directed by Eric Fenby, who makes his conducting debut on LP, has made the arrangements and contributes the sleevenote. All the music here is arranged, and almost always to its advantage. The opening Dance (originally a harpsichord piece) is particularly charming in this scoring with Elena Duran playing the solo flute part with feminine grace. She is no less good in La Calinda (an arrangement commissioned by James Galway) and how deftly she is accompanied. Note the delicacy of the gentle opening string ostinato or the nicely managed ritenuto at the end when the flute plays the lyrical codetta (originally allocated to the horn). The Five little pieces instantly recall the Elgar of The Wand of Youth in their mirliaturism and notalgic colouring. They are most fetching. The Sonata for strings which occupies Side 2 is an arrangement of the String Quartet, composed during the First World War. It is not one of the composer's strongest works and Eric Fenby makes a good case for the present version. The slow movement ("Late swallows") is already familiar in a 1962 arrangement—both Barbirolli (HMV ASD2477, 6/69) and Del Mar (RCA RL25069, 6/77) have recorded it; in 1977 the other three movements were added. Undoubtedly the slow movement contains the most memorable music; the rest of the piece tends to be rather diffuse, although strong in Delian atmosphere. It is played with skill and affection, and the recording balance, as throughOut this disc, is splendid. The record was made in the Guildhall, Southampton, and Neville Boyling, the balance engineer, is to be congratulated on the beauty of the sound, which has splendid bloom and warmth yet no lack of detail.

Ivan March, Gramophone [7/1979, reviewing the LP release of the orchestral works]