The Essential Delius

"This is a mid-price reissue of recordings from the Chandos back catalog. All the performances are outstanding. The sound is fully up to the high standards set by this label, and the notes are duplicates from the original issues. ARG has reviewed these before to much acclaim and it only remains to urge acquisition if you don’t already have them in your collection." --American Record Guide

"The sultry, sensuous beauty and vibrant colour is wonderfully evoked… a strong contender for my CD of the year… the Chandos recording allows Delius’s palette of colours to shine through" --BBC Music Magazine

A comprehensive and richly varied Delius programme has been put together for this new two-CD collection. Vernon Handley’s splendid and touchingly piquant Ulster performance of the comparatively rarely heard Florida Suite is complemented with, among others, North Country Sketches, a work which reveals a Debussyan influence.

Richard Hickox is a sensitive and flexible Delian and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra plays passionately for him, especially in The Walk to the Paradise Garden. The collection demonstrates the glittering qualities of Delius’s enchanting music which evokes an atmosphere of serene pleasure in nature.

These are conductors and orchestras performing at the top of their form, and the anthology will serve collectors as the perfect introduction to this marvellous composer.