BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Seal conductor
Chandos CHSA 5370
Well – in a word, this is superb. You only need to listen to the opening of the ballet to hear timpani thwacks which, were you playing the recording on an LP, would have the stylus jumping out of the groove. This recording is extraordinarily vivid, and this certainly brings the to the ‘Miracle’ in particular even greater dramatic intensity than I have encountered previously.
I find it a little odd that Bliss’s ‘Checkmate’ ballet appears to be held in higher regard than the ‘Miracle’ where the strong plotline is an obvious paraphrase of the Gospel story. Everything is here – violence, sleaze, and romance, with quieter moments which have a really affecting lyricism, a lyricism which has definite affinities with Scottish folk song.
The setting is a grotty part of Glasgow near the docks – now rehabilitated, by the way – and all human life is there. The crowd – sometimes violent, a good-time girl, drunks, an ‘official’, and young lovers etc. A girl commits suicide in the Clyde and is revived by a ‘stranger’ who is then himself killed, the murder instigated by the official who feels his authority has been challenged.
I am lucky to have a piano score, and it is rewarding to following this with all its detailed stage directions, which show how closely and effectively Bliss’s music suits the action. (I do not envy the rehearsal pianist.) Happily, the scenario is fully described in the liner notes.
In the interests of providing a balanced opinion I perhaps may add that in the helter-skelter of this busy score that occasionally a little detail is lost. Also, I feel the blast of the ship’s hooter at the very end is far too loud. It sounds more poetic if kept in the distance, especially as this emanation from a ‘salt-caked smokestack’ is the final masterstroke – signifying that, despite mayhem and murder, life goes on.
The Metamorphic Variations are a product of Bliss’s old age and are another fine achievement, though it is understandably rather more cerebral than the ballet. At 43 minutes Bliss was worried that the piece was too long, and hitherto two movements have been regarded as optional. This disc is the first to include all 16 sections. Again, there is ample evidence of the composer’s fertility of invention and imagination, but for me at least, this music will require repeated hearings to reach full appreciation.
Review by Geoffrey Atkinson