Recordings
Please click on the recording title below, in blue, for more information about the recording.
London Philharmonic, ASV
“If you want to hear the difference a real conductor can make, check out John Farrer’s “Romeo and Juliet”... here is all the tension and electricity missing from [other conductor’s] account, suggesting that, for all the ardor of the love music, the threat of violence and disruption is never far away.” (William S. Goodfellow, Deseret News)
“There have been many recordings of these works, but few as impassioned or gripping as those the American conductor John Farrer draws from the London Philharmonic in this triptych of great symphonic fantasies--and none more brilliantly recorded.” (Paul Kresh)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, ASV
“From the high-spirited opening strains of Op. 46, No. 1, to the yearning nostalgia of Op. 72, No. 8, there is an exuberant, expansive response to the music’s many mood swings... In the end I find myself responding more to Farrer’s warmly impulsive, generous vitality...” (Harris Goldsmith, Musical America)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, ASV
“Farrer does well with the overture cycle too, exploding into your living room in the opening measures of Carnival and presenting one of the better versions around of In Nature’s Realm... Best of all is Farrer’s direct and to-the-point Symphonic Variations, which can verge on the turgid in lesser hands.” (Haller, American Record Guide)
“...evocation and delicacy of colouring are John Farrer’s strong points--note the lovely cor anglais solo at the centre; and he can also bring a light rhythmic touch to Dvorak’s lilting melodies that reminds us how delicately flavoured they are with the Czech folk idiom.” (Gramophone)
Berkeley, Britten, Holst, Tippett
English Sinfonia, Carleton Classics
Copland, Gershwin
Bournemouth Symphony, Carleton Classics
“The Bournemouth Symphony play for their lives, and John Farrer... proves himself a worthwhile advocate of the Copland style. Rhythms fizz and bounce, accents are sharply etched, solo woodwind work is exceptional, and the recording has tremendous weight and amplitude, altogether in the demonstration category. This is a rendition worthy of Bernstein himself.” Tony Haywood, Music Web International
English Sinfonia, Carleton Classics
Music of Ireland and Vaughan Williams
English Sinfonia, Carleton Classics
“[If Farrer’s] tendency towards heightened sensitivity be a fault it is certainly one in the right direction as is exemplified by his ravishing treatment of The Holy Boy. How wonderful also to hear the English Sinfonia play with the sort of sparkling precision in the Concertino Pastorale which rather tended to elude them under [other conductor’s] baton... One of the English Sinfonia’s finest ever releases.” (Julian Haylock, Orchestral Reviews)
English Sinfonia, ASV
“The American Rhapsody is full of gorgeous melodies although it is quite loosely structured, however it receives a splendid performance from Farrer and the ES who play the music for all its worth... Janice Graham plays with commitment and panache, and she is sympathetically accompanied by Farrer and his orchestra. The other works are a rousing Wedding waltz from 'The Veil of Pierette' and the pensive Romanza from the Serenade in C arranged by Dmitry Shostakovitch. Both are splendidly played by Farrer and the ES. AS&V provide a beefy, clear cut recording that adds to the enjoyment of the music which is never less than excellent. Recommended to lovers of romantic music from this Hungarian master.” Gerald Fenech, ClassicalNet.
Brahms, Elgar, Mozart, Weber
New Queen’s Hall Orchestra, Organic Classics
“It is this almost indefinable sense of what one might term the re-creation of a virtually lost living tradition in Farrer’s performance that additionally makes this a version to be heard. There is a deep respect for the music, without point-scoring or glamorizing... I have played this performance more than a dozen times, with breaks of several weeks in between, and my appreciation of it has deepened... I commend it to all who take their music seriously.” (Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review)