Roy Ellefsen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I have some money free to buy a few CD's and I would appreciate some
>recommendations.  I want the Vaughan Williams JOB.  I think I'll get
>either the Handley or the Bolt.

At least 4 Boult recordings of _Job_ have been released on CD (in date
of recording order, if i remember rightly...  never guaranteed: Dutton
Laboratories; EMI; Everest & Belart): my own preference would be (very
marginally) for the Belart disc (which also includes the complete _Wasps
suite_).  Since the score was rededicated to Boult (it's a long story) &
the conductor worked with the score for much of his career, it's difficult
to go past any of these versions.

There are also at least two Handleys: a live version on the defunct BBC
Classics & a studio for EMI Eminence.  I tend to find Handley a touch _too_
manic in this work (odd criticism, i know; but it's the best i can do):
the studio version of _Satan's Dance of Triumph_ keeps giving me the
impression that the unholy one is being danced by Jim Carrey....

The Naxos alternative (mentioned elsewhere) is definitely worth
considering, though.  I happen to believe that _Job - A Masque for Dancing_
is the greatest orchestral score of the 20th century; so it was a relief
to discover that Naxos's recording of the work - likely to be the first
contact with this piece for the majority of new listeners - was a
goo'un....

All the best,

Robert Clements <[log in to unmask]>
<http://www.ausnet.net.au/~clemensr/welcome.htm>