The neglect of The Quest, William Walton’s only original ballet and one of his largest works altogether, makes no sense at all. A wartime work (1943) based on Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, it contains lots of marvelous music. There’s the bittersweet harmonic language of the first scene, so reminiscent of the First Symphony; a touch of characteristic Neapolitan flavor in the form of the tarantella rhythm in Scene 2 (shades of the Violin Concerto); and there’s the clever central theme and variations depicting the seven deadly sins–hardly an unmemorable moment throughout the entire work. And at 40 minutes in length, that of an average Romantic symphony, the piece would make an excellent half of a concert.
This disc (aside from the inclusion of Siesta) exactly duplicates Chandos’ Walton Edition entry, which gave us The Quest’s world premiere recording along with the suite to the Bach pastiche ballet, The Wise Virgins. There’s no question, though, that David Lloyd-Jones and the English Northern Philharmonia offer the superior Waltonian experience. On Chandos, Bryden Thomson uses Christopher Palmer’s enlarged orchestrations, and although there aren’t any really significant differences in the general sonic concept of most passages, Walton’s original orchestration (at least as realized here) scores over Palmer’s edition in its greater lightness and clarity.
Listen, for example, to the way the muted brass bite and snap at the conclusion of the first scene (slightly cut here, apparently in accordance with the composer’s final wishes), and how much more true to Walton that sounds! On the whole, the reduced string forces skew the balances toward the winds and brass, with rhythmically invigorating results. Lloyd-Jones also finds more character in the “deadly sins” variations than does his Chandos counterpart, and Naxos’ sonics complement the approach perfectly, being ideally clear but not too dry or lacking in warmth. The ballet’s close, with its chiming bells and proclamatory trombones, has especially impressive brilliance and impact.
Lloyd-Jones’ performance of The Wise Virgins similarly brings a cleaner focus and greater rhythmic tension to Walton’s sensitive orchestration of the Bach originals (largely drawn from the cantatas) than his direct rival. Toss a charming, wry Siesta into the pot, and the result pretty soundly eclipses the competition and makes this the best installment yet in Naxos’ generally first rate Walton series. Most importantly, we finally have The Quest, a truly major work, played more or less as Walton himself intended. If you care about Walton, or enjoy Diaghilev-style ballets of moderate length but great orchestral color and harmonic sophistication, you owe it to yourself to hear this terrific recording. [6/22/2002]
