MUSICWEB:
This new release from Divine Arts twins Vaughan Williams' great Second Symphony, the London (revised version), with the Celtic Dances by the Welsh composer, William Mathias. Owain Arwel Hughes conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Wales in extremely well-played and impressive performances.
 
The London Symphony opens with a great sense of atmosphere, and although this may not be the most gripping, exciting and harrowing recording available, it is nonetheless brilliantly performed.  Hughes keeps the piece well-paced – neither rushing ahead, nor allowing the orchestra to linger too much. The result is a very well-judged and safe version, with admirable technical playing from the orchestra. Unnecessary risks are avoided – just as one would hope for and expect from a top youth orchestra.  This performance also boasts an inspiring climax in the slow movement, with radiant sound and a wonderful sense of wonder and awe. The playing throughout is assured and confident – excellent. The only small criticism one might make is that the sound of the recording from St David's Hall is possibly a little boxy, and the strings are, on occasion, a little thin; not quite as rich or sonorous as one might like.
 
Mathias composed his Celtic Dances in 1972, saying that his new piece was “intended to evoke an area of feeling largely associated with the mythological past”. The four Dances that comprise the work are here given accomplished performances. The music – sometimes sounding a little more exotic than Celtic – is lively and engaging, with a strong rhythmic drive and a great sense of fun – particularly in the final movement, Allegro con slanico . This work makes a good, strong ending to an excellent disc.
 
This is an admirable pairing and not just for the sound rendition of the Vaughan Williams' London Symphony, but also for the unusual and pleasing addition of Mathias's winsome Celtic Dances to conclude the disc.  
Em Marshall

CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE:
For a youth orchestra as fine as this one, Vaughan Williams' ‘London' Symphony is a canny choice: written with such sturdiness and strength, it contains artistic immensities that must have made it a life-changing experience for these players. If its performance sometimes doesn't quite have the weight of tone or flawless detail that's expected from a professional orchestra, the differences are only marginal. Under Hughes, memorable things happen; the ‘London' Symphony's finale is here as powerful and moving as you'll hear anywhere.
Michael Hayes

HI FI NEWS:
The four colourfully orchestrated Celtic Dances (1972) make a diverting foil to VW's early masterpiece ‘A London Symphony'. Hughes's young players give as characterful a version as any subsequent to the 1952 Boult and '56 Barbirolli. The orchestra's principal strength is in its wind sections – bassoons in the scherzo, for instance. The 2008 Cardiff production has plenty of stereo information and the chimes of the hansom cabs are beautifully balanced.
‘CB'

KLASSIK.COM (translated from German):
In the creative body of work by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, symphony no.2, “A London Symphony”, forms both an ending and a beginning. Vaughan Williams' intensive work with the English folksong, specifically, his collecting of folksongs, ends in 1913, precisely when he finished his first version of the “London Symphony”. His work with the idiom of the folksong is thus reflected in the symphony. Direct references to the folksong remain fragments in the symphony, and these references are, as Vaughan Williams wrote, merely “accidentals, not essentials”.

In the “London Symphony”, he transfers the formulaic repertoire and archetypal interval pattern of the English folksong into the purely instrumental form. This is the starting point for truly characterizing the symphonies of Vaughan Williams – the simultaneous contrast of two worlds: the catastrophe and the folksiness, the contrast, yes, the dialectic of the dramatic and the epic – a characterization that is profiled in the symphony no. 2 and will have significant influence on his subsequent symphonies. Characteristic of this dialectic are sharp contrast of decidedly chromatic blocks and decidedly diatonic passages. The latter are based on the influences of the English folksong and show that the vocal element is very strong in the music of Vaughan Williams. And it is this element that is cutting-edge again and again. Symphony no. 2 in still more connected to the rhapsodic element of symphonic poems than it is a true symphony. This is not surprising since Vaughan Williams first planned to write a symphonic poem about London and already gave it the title “Notes for Orchestral Impression ‘London'”.

Premiered just before World War I, the London Symphony corresponds to the end of the H.G. Wells' novel “Tono Bungay”. Starting with the insanity of the fate of the protagonist George Ponderovo, whose uncle invents the magic medicine Tono Bungay and thereby gains in reputation the power, Wells describes in this novel the panorama of a corrupt, degenerate imperial society. In the fourteenth chapter of the novel entitled “night and the open sea”, the narrator George Ponderovo reports how he travels down the Thames on a new developed destroyer and thereby seems to review all of England in retrospective. * This “remaining in flow” is basically there also a direct measure for interpreters of this symphony. For all its colorfulness, it is no lightweight, nothing incidental, and by no means easy to play. The world's oldest youth orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, established in 1945 and under the direction of Owain Arwell Hughes, has taken up the challenge and delivered a neatly produced performance of the London Symphony. The NYOW is also fully convincing in its performance of the “Celtic Dances” op. 60 of William Mathias, a composer who saw an early death.

High standards of quality are typical for the repertoire of the NYOW, which in its long existence has performed the works of Beethoven, Mahler, Elgar and even Ligeti and has commissioned works by Karl Jenkins and Gareth Wood. The orchestra approaches Vaughan Williams' symphony no. 2 with youthful brilliance and full, mid-voice strong sound coloring characteristic of a completely unique weighting of this symphony and sets it apart from other performances to date. Owain Arwel Hughes conducts firmly, sometimes too firmly, formulates and transitions somewhat hectically. The contrasts of the epic and the dramatic, which are so marked in this symphony, are thus somewhat reconciled where there really is nothing to reconcile. At the beginning of the second movement, the balance among the horns, which are quite loud at first, suffers somewhat as the entry into the dynamic spectrum of the symphony becomes more and more audible, is compensated by the energetic playing of the young people, yes the dynamics of the necessary passages grows to a self-confident revelation of splendor. Hughes lets everything play out very accurately. In doing so, however, he allows a bit of the academic to reign, but this hardly disturbs the great flow of tension. The march in the fourth movement is approached very quickly and thus is no longer anything like a procession. The visionary epilogue, meanwhile, can be heard so delicately as one can experience it only in a few other recordings of this symphony.

The “Celtic Dances” of William Mathias from 1972 strike the listener as almost banal. The actual dances, which evoke a mythological past by a modern symphony orchestra, are similar to the “Welsh Dances” of Malcolm Arnold in their stylization even if this is expressed in a very simple way. The NYOW shines with playful verve, rhythmic brilliance of the percussionists, and horns with marked contours. Here the academic can be sensed less in the interpretation of Vaughan Williams' symphony no. 2.

This is a fortuitous publication that moreover presents sounds neatly measured in heights and depths and is accompanied by notes in English and Welsh.
reviewer name to follow

GRAMOPHONE:
A Welsh Arts Council commission from 1972, William Mathias's Celtic Dances proves a very likeable find – tuneful compact, glintingly colourful (Harp, celesta, tubular bells and glockenspiel have plenty to do). Rhythmically invigorating, and with much the same potential for widespread appeal as,say, Arnold's irresistible orchestral dances (like Sir Malcolm, Mathias doesn't make use of any actual folk melodies) There are four dances, the last of which satisfyingly recycles material heard in the glistening introductory bars, and all are engagingly delivered here by the national Youth Orchestra of Wales under Owain Arwel Hughes.

Turning to the main offering, Hughes elicits some generally competent and estimably spirited playing from his young charges, but they can't provide the accuracy and lustre required to withstand repeated hearings or closer scrutiny by the microphones (the strings lack muscular fibre and body of tone). In any case Hughes's is emphatically not a reading that resounds in the memory and his unfussy, four-square conception falls some way short in terms of clinching rigour, sheer strength of personality and emotional undertow (the shuddering mystery of the third-movement coda – one of VW's greatest inspirations – fails to register).

Supporters of the NYOW will have no doubt already placed their orders./ However in the rough and tumble of the marketplace, the competition is ferocious and newcomers would be better advised to seek out Barbirolli...(at present only available from the Barbirolli Society...[and adds other suggestions]
Andrew Achenbach

MIDWEST RECORD:
Even classical cats need a chance to be hipsters.  NYOW is the oldest youth orchestra in existence and you have to look at them kind of like you look at college football---the players might always be changing but the right program can be run like a dynasty.  This crew runs the dynasty side of the table.  With a world premiere recording of the Mathias material and a world class reading on the Vaughan Williams “London Symphony”, this is simply a good recording that was made to tickle your ears.  A perfect example of why it's nice not to ignore non ‘marquee' orchestras because the talent might astound you, this is well worth checking out for a well spent hour of prime classical listening.
Chris Spector

INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW:
The National Youth Orchestra of Wales has recorded the Mathias Celtic Dances before. That was in the mid-1970s during the remarkable 23-year term of Arthur Davison as the orchestra's conductor. Indeed, those were among the true glory days of this, the longest-running youth orchestra in the world. Davison had a special rapport with his young players which was every bit as tangible on vinyl (as it was then) as in the flesh. A lot of water has flown down the Taff since then and, by the very nature of the orchestra, none of the current membership ever played in the orchestra under Davison; and many were not even born when he was at the helm. What the NYOW hasn't lost in those intervening decades is its utterly professional sound. There isn't a weak link; barely a hint of dubious wind intonation, hardly a single violin out of sync, not a misjudged brass note to be heard, and while the Divine Art engineers may have done some cosmetic surgery, the last time I heard it live (last summer) it sounded every bit as polished and virtually flawless as it does on this richly recorded CD.

In fact, the NYOW is probably collectively better now than ever it was before; such is life, that standards are continually being pushed up and what we hear from these 2008 players would have shamed even the LSO a few decades back. It certainly has a load of fun in the Mathias. Not, possibly, his most demanding work, but one which really deserves a hearing well beyond the Celtic fringes of Europe. Jolly tunes, catchy rhythms and plenty of colourful orchestral effects, this is just the kind of thing young musicians like to get their teeth into (provided there's something more challenging to keep the brain active) and they play it here with great verve and spirit.

Why, then, do I still prefer Davison's 33-year-old recording? And why do I find the Vaughan Williams London Symphony so dispiriting on this disc? The answer, sadly, lies fairly and squarely at the door of Owain Arwel Hughes, whose readings are pedestrian and uninspired. He seems merely content to keep things together – which he does exceedingly well – and if, during his six years with the NYOW, he has built up a good rapport with the players, it doesn't communicate itself through this recording. Hughes's tempos are ponderous, climaxes leaden and those matchless moments of Vaughan Williams in true pastoral vein (in which the outstanding cor anglais and oboe players reveal amazing potential) pass by barely unnoticed. Perhaps most disappointing is the harp's Westminster chimes at 7'39” in the final movement and the following moment of fluttering woodwind. Where's the magic? Where's the sense of misty mystery? In the austere company this disc shares in the catalogues, this interpretation does not stand up very well at all.

We might be tempted to say that this is a pretty good job considering the age and inexperience of these players, but that would be to patronize what is, to all intents and purposes, one of the UK's better orchestras. Critical judgement on a disc released to the wider public must not be tempered by such issues; and neither is it. Hughes has prepared his players really well. Sadly he has failed to inspire them.
Marc Rochester

FANFARE (USA):
The main incentives for purchase here would be an interest in the otherwise unavailable Mathias work, and a connection to this particular youth orchestra. If that sounds like you, then the asking price is no obstacle. But if you need a “library” version of the Vaughan Williams Second, then Hughes won't do. His interpretation is smooth, dull, and matter-of-fact, sounding like a first run-through, notably in a cautious Scherzo. As such, it stands in stark contrast to the composer's beloved, seething London, and to the best of the rest. Get Boult, Previn, and Handley, or Hickox for the original score. The best I ever heard was Haitink live, matching drama and passion to structural control. His own recording does not match that experience, but Handley's first version on EMI, with the London PO (1977) had an even better slow movement. It was last seen in the “British Composers” series. Previn's intense take on that Lento would probably make him my first choice at the moment, in his LSO cycle for RCA.

All of which is no reflection on these very fine young Welsh players. The Celtic Dances is a whole different bunch of leeks; four varied, colorful movements, pretty well projected by conductor and orchestra. Mathias was an excellent composer, with a meticulous ear for orchestral effects, if that still needs saying. His admirers need the disc for this slight, but memorable and tuneful 1972 score. Influences range from Arnold to Shostakovich, yet the voice is distinctive, and the music should be far better known.

Don't let that uncompromising review dissuade you from buying this, or from encouraging the young people of Wales, as they keep the flame of classical music alive, in their small remarkable country.
Paul Ingram