Walton: Belshazzar's Feast, Symphony No 1
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Catalogue Number LSO0681
UPC 822231168126James Mallinson producer
Neil Hutchinson for Classic Sound Ltd balance engineer
Neil Hutchinson and Jonathan Stokes for Classic Sound Ltd audio editorsBelshazzar's Feast recorded September 2008, Barbican, London
Symphony No 1 recorded September and 4 December 2005, Barbican, London
DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording
Notes in English / en français / auf Deutsch
Text in English
Sung in English -
The Sunday Times’ Disc of the Week
'An outstanding bargain ... The LSO Chorus give Walton’s grateful choral writing all they have, and the orchestra revel in his brilliant and unconventional orchestration. Davis, too, proves an absolutely authentic performer.''It comes in tandem with an absolutely smoking version of Belshazzar's Feast, easily the finest performance in a decade or so, and the combination of the two earns this particular pairing a firm recommendation.'
ClassicsToday'The LSO at its virtuoso best.'
Financial Times‘If you like your Walton unleashed at full and scalding voltage, look no further. The LSO’s trademark virtuosity and panache are so great, and the players’ unravelling of Walton’s demanding part-writing in the First Symphony so clear, that their performance penetrates straight to the heart of the music.’
BBC Music Magazine'Sir Colin and his LSO forces are in sizzling form in this truly revolutionary take on the often turgid oratorio form.'
Limelight Magazine'Outstanding performance.'
ClassicalCDReview.com
£9.99
Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra
Walton’s Symphony No 1 and Belshazzar’s Feast, which were written consecutively, helped him consolidate his reputation as the most exciting British composer of his generation. Belshazzar’s Feast, a superbly crafted oratorio, vividly depicts the story of Babylon’s excesses and subsequent downfall, brilliantly coloured by the orchestral forces, including two brass bands. Similarly effervescent, volcanic sentiments simmer beneath the surface of the First Symphony, the music conveying the tensions of the 1930s, whilst remaining timeless in its appeal.
| Composer | Walton | |
| Conductor | Sir Colin Davis | |
| Performers | London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra | |
| Soloist | Peter Coleman-Wright |
2. Belshazzar's Feast: II. A Tempo - "If I Forget Thee"
3. Belshazzar's Feast: III. "By the Waters of Babylon"
4. Belshazzar's Feast: IV. "Babylon Was a Great City"
5. Belshazzar's Feast: V. "Praise Ye the God of Gold!"
6. Belshazzar's Feast: VI. Allegro Molto - "Thus in Babylon"
7. Belshazzar's Feast: VII. "Thou, O King, Art King of Kings"
8. Belshazzar's Feast: VIII. "And in That Same Hour"
9. Belshazzar's Feast: IX. "The Trumpeters and Pipers"
10. Belshazzar's Feast: X. Allegro - "Then Sing Aloud to God Our Strength"
11. Symphony No I: I. Allegro assai
12. Symphony No I: II. Scherzo - Presto, con malizia
13. Symphony No I: III. Andante con malincolia
14. Symphony No I: IV. Maestoso - Brioso ed ardentemente - Vivacissimo - Maestoso
