What music has impressed you today?

Folk round here may know that I'm obsessed with Walton 1     . . . .  Previn's 1966 RCA is definitely the "goto" recording - so much better than his later Telarc recording with the RPO which is surprisingly subdued (though the sound is better on the Telarc). For a really good modern version look at Martyn Brabbins on Hyperion - this has almost all of the swagger, bounce and impetus of the early Previn with first class sonics . . .

A really interesting "second opinion" on Walton 1 comes from Bernard Haitink with the Philharmonia on EMI. The first movement is carved from granite before your eyes (ears?), the malice of a scherzo snarls away quite nicely, and the coronation march-like aspects of the finale are well presented. But the highlight, for me, is the melancholic slow movement which is slow to the point of stopping in many places but held together with such mastery that it brings the gloomy mood into sharp relief. A barn-storming performance (with excellent sound) but not one start with . . .