On track: Classy way to test the market

By WILLIAM DART

Orchestras are doing it for themselves. As a reaction to the Cassandra-like predictions of the imminent demise of the classical recording industry, some English orchestras are taking their careers into their own hands.

By which I'm not referring to the Royal Philharmonic that, some time ago, signed up with Tring International for no less than 150 CDs.

The discs range from the solid (James Judd doing Brahms) to the execrable (the music of Abba, Sting et al); in this country, alas, they go straight into the $6.99 bin at The Warehouse.

The London Symphony and the Halle orchestras are testing the market with more independence and class, making some of their memorable live performances available to a wider audience.

The Halle, founded in 1858, is the grand old man of British orchestras. When Mark Elder leads the orchestra in Elgar's Enigma Variations, they are tapping into a long and rich tradition and it shows.

There are no grey Victorian skies here, especially when the woodwind unfold their scintillating colours; no muted pastoral tones either, when Elder puts such purpose into the tread of its famous theme.

At the other end of the spectrum, there's all the thrill of a powerhouse orchestra at full steam (try Variation 7 or the magnificent Finale, an earlier, shorter version of which may catch you unawares at the end of the album).

The finesse of Variation 6 is shattering, the result no doubt of producer Andrew Keener, the man behind the Takacs Quartet's Beethoven recording and Anne Sofie von Otter's Chaminade recital.

For many Elgarians the Nimrod variation will be the ultimate test. Elder takes it slower than some, but the tension is finely graded. The effect is almost visual; imagine a door slowly opening, revealing familiar beauties within.

And this is not all. There's also a stirring account of the Cockaigne Overture, a Chanson de Matin that is sweeter than summer strawberries and a String Serenade that positively seduces you with its voluptuous phrasing.

This, the first of three releases (its companions are Elgar's First Symphony and Nielsen's Fifth), is a wonderful initiative from the Halle and a lead well worth considering by our own orchestras.

* Halle: Elgar Enigma Variations (HLL 7501, available through Ode)