The Fourth and Eighth Symphonies make a sharply contrasted pairing. The Fourth, one of Vaughan Williams’ greatest symphonic achievements, is by turns angry and fearful, and projected in raw primary orchestral colours. The sound world of the Eighth, much more relaxed, divertimento-like almost, is pervaded by its array of tuned percussion; the second movement features only the wind, the third just the strings. Those contrasts come across very forcefully in this pair of performances taken from concerts in the Royal Festival Hall in 2013 and 2008 respectively. Vladimir Jurowski’s account of the Eighth is well judged and paced, without ever really revealing why he should have chosen to conduct that particular symphony, but it’s Ryan Wigglesworth’s performance of the Fourth that really makes the disc worthwhile. The precision of the London Philharmonic’s playing is the starting point for a reading of tremendous power and authority, which never allows the tension to slacken for a moment; there’s no flinching in the grinding dissonances with which the work opens, and there’s no peace to be found in the restless slow movement either.
