Not only Outstanding but important, the first time that Arthur Bliss’s final orchestral work, Metamorphic Variations, has been recorded complete, despite two previous studio recordings conducted respectively by Barry Wordsworth and David Lloyd-Jones. Bliss completed the Variations at the end of 1972, first-performed a few months later at Fairfield Halls, Croydon, by the LSO and Vernon Handley (broadcast live on Radio 3, I remember it well) with a subsequent release on CD that of course preserved the cut that had been made due to limited rehearsal time. The rest of the concert was Tchaikovsky Six conducted by Stokowski, who – according to the late Giles Easterbrook, and as told to me – refused to relinquish any rehearsal despite Handley approaching him directly and explaining about needing more preparation for an ambitious work getting its premiere. Thus two sections of the Variations were not played, excisions carried forward, and only now restored, following ‘Variation IV’. Taken as a (new) whole, Metamorphic Variations is an impressive and diverting opus, close on forty-five minutes here, the (now) sixteen sections travelling widely, sometimes whimsically, always engagingly, the composer’s expansive design and fascinating content not necessarily making it obvious that Bliss is the author, yet with an invitation to return, and that is the beauty of having a recording with which to interact, for study, enlightenment, and for pleasure.

The ballet score Miracle in the Gorbals (completed in 1943 for choreographer Robert Helpmann) opens this eighty-minute disc, vivid music to underpin a “sordid and savage story set in a once infamous slum area of Glasgow. A despairing young Scottish girl commits suicide but is brought back to life by a Christ-like mysterious stranger. In spite of this miracle, the stranger’s very powers strike terror into some of the inhabitants and he is murdered by a gang of thugs.” There are thirteen numbers, previously recorded conducted by Christopher Lyndon-Gee, with Bliss himself and Berglund essaying the Suite. Tragedy and tension inform the opening music (dramatic timpani strokes) going on to musically hustle, bustle and lyricise the narrative, sometimes with an unexpected grace that beguiles amidst the tense atmosphere, and including some local colour that leaves in no doubt that we are north of the border. Paint your own pictures by all means, although the music is thoroughly engaging and satisfying on its own terms, also notably well-performed and, like the Variations, enjoying Brian Pidgeon’s production values and Stephen Rinker’s typically excellent sound. Chandos CHSA 5370 [SACD].

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHSA%205370