Vaughan Williams Kees Bakels

Bakels draws ravishing sounds from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, notably the strings…A thrilling experience…this is a performance to stimulate the ear.

Kees Bakels’ Vaughan Williams cycle is much better than many British critics like to admit. It’s strange, but you would think that it would be a source of pride for foreign musicians to conduct native composers like Vaughan Williams and Elgar. Unfortunately, what usually happens is that the “outsider” takes the music and promptly outclasses the home-grown talent. Such was the case with Slatkin’s Vaughan Williams cycle, which eclipsed the efforts of the likes of Boult and Handley, and it’s pretty much the case here.