Walton

Description

This exciting series of 2-CD sets from EMI Classics features music written in the 20th century, a period of enormous upheaval, both political and artistic. During these 100 years music went through an unprecedented period of revolution and transformation and the music in these sets illustrates how these changes manifested themselves in the musical landscape. This seventh installment in the 20th-Century Classics series showcases the depth and range of music offered of the EMI catalogue: Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály from Hungary; Frederick Delius and Sir William Walton from England; Karl Hartmann from Germany; Arthur Honegger from Switzerland; Jacques Ibert and Darius Milhaud from France; Erich Korngold from Czech Republic; and Heitor Villa-Lobos from Brazil, all go to make up a fascinating release of ten 2-CD sets. With striking covers and budget prices, these sets provide a perfect introduction to the exciting music of these modern composers. Review: It is nice to have all this great music on one album - It is nice to have all this great music on one album. An excellent set of pieces to add to one's collection of Walton music! Review: Solid recordings of the symphonies, two concerti and the Wise Virigins. - I'm surprised Walton's pieces are not more popular, but when I look through my collection of LPs and CDs I find only a few other recordings of the symphonies and the concerti. I'm not sure why, either, as these works are not radical in any way, are quite pleasant to listen to, and don't seem out of the normal classical repertoire in any way. The recordings here are excellent, with typical EMI engineering quality of the LPO (for the symphonies), and three different orchestras for the concerti (RPO for the violin, BSO for the cello, and CBSO for the Wise Virgins). All the recordings are dynamic, have decent soundstaging, and have good isolation of the soloists (where appropriate). If you haven't heard Walton's works, you may be pleasantly surprised by the musicality, especially considering some of the more avant-guarde music being written around the same time. Certainly this is a decent set of these works to sample, if you're getting into Walton.