"William Walton's 1964 tour of New Zealand brings keen enjoyment. Walton's collaboration with Berl Senofsky in the Violin Concerto is particularly worth preserving, but throughout the set Walton and the NZSO make his music sound new, tart and challenging in a way that even accomplished recent performances have difficulty capturing" - BBC Music Magazine These historic performances, recorded by The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, are being released for the first time through an agreement between the NZBC and Bridge Records. Recorded during Sir William Walton's seven concert New Zealand tour in 1964, this two disc set is being sold for the discounted price of one CD. The first CD opens with Walton leading a magisterial 'God Savethe Queen' and segues into an impassioned reading of his romantic Violin Concerto. Walton was reportedly 'overjoyed' to be working again with the American violinist Berl Senofsky, who had performed the concerto under his baton with the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Walton's sparkling Partita is given an exhilarating reading to bring the first CD to its conclusion. Disc B is given over to a major composition—Walton's Symphony No. 1. As encores, Disc B concludes with two short string orchestra pieces from Walton's historic Henry V film collaboration with Laurence Olivier.
Reviews:
“Essential, for Waltonians and full of interest for sympathetic admirers.” - MusicWeb International
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DISC A
God Save the Queen
Violin Concerto (1938-39, revised 1943)
Partita for Orchestra (1957)
DISC B
Symphony No. 1 (1935)
‘Touch her soft lips and part' and ‘Death of Falstaff' from the film score to Henry V (1943-44)
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Berl Senofsky, violin
BRIDGE 9133A/B (two discs for the price of one)