Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Sir Granville Bantock wrote in the romantic idiom that was still flourishing in the years leading up to the First World War. He was a prolific writer; competent without reaching the heights of, say, Elgar but always melodic and often powerful. Vernon Handley and the RPO do him full justice. As well as being prolific Bantock also wrote epics. Many of his compositions are too long to be appreciated by a modern audience. On this disc we have an “Overture To A Greek Tragedy” that lasts 17 minutes and sounds like a reject from a Cecil B de Mille film. Next is “The Wilderness And The Solitary Place”, an aria from a retelling of the story of Jesus, “Christus”, that was popular between the wars. It is sung by the soprano Elizabeth Connell. The bulk of the disc gives us a series of excerpts from “The Song Of Songs” in which the most passionate book in the Bible is turned into a melodramatic Edwardian opera. The singing, in which Connell is joined by the tenor Kim Begley, is excellent but, for this reviewer, the music does not fit the text.

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