Elgar: Cello Concerto; Cockaigne; Sea Pictures

Advantages: It is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written
Disadvantages: How dare you ask of any disadvantges!?!

...pairing of the concerto with Dame Janet Baker's classic version of Elgar's song cycle "Sea Pictures", and a new addition of the Cockaigne Overture. Original album EMI Classics (5 56219 2); EMI Great Recordings (5 62886 2) However, if clean recording quality of the "DDD" variety is what you are after, the best new recording would undoubtedly be Yo-Yo Ma's recording with Andre Previn conducting again the London Symphony for Sony. The recorded sound and performances are first rate, with Ma being very passionate about everything, showing his great technical prowess, and makes for a great addition to your collection, even if it doesn't quite overturn DuPré's account. CBS Masterworks (39541) For those interested in history there is of course Elgar's own recording from 1928 with Beatrice Harrison, but recorded sound of course is not all that good... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: The Best Recording Ever
Disadvantages: None

...of both pieces on this CD, (the Elgar Cello Concerto and his “Sea Pictures”), were made in 1965, but you wouldn’t know if I hadn’t told you and didn’t know du Pre died at the tender age of 42 in 1987. There is no discernible scratchiness and they are as fresh as if just whisked out of the oven at the EMI new discs bakery. I bought this CD because the Cello Concerto is one of my favourite pieces, and I was pleasantly surprised by the “Sea Pictures” which I wouldn’t have chosen as I’m not a big fan of operatic voices. The Cello Concerto was Elgar’s swan song. It was his final big musical effort, written during the First World War. Elgar was suffering both mentally and physically at this time, and felt depressed and oppressed by the war, (who didn’t?), and the concerto echoes his... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Committed performance, spacious recording, low price
Disadvantages: None

...have been a complete flop in the hands of someone less in tune with Elgar's idiom; yet Payne knows the composer's voice so well that it is impossible to detect which passages are fully Elgar's, which are elaborations of sketches and which are Payne's own invention. The work feels a completely satisfying whole, a product of Elgar's assured mastery and maturity. From the massive, grinding opening to the magical closing pages there are no weak or tentative passages - indeed the level of inspiration puts the symphony on a par with the first two that Elgar wrote; in many ways it has the weight and character of the Second. The first movement contains one of those supremely beautiful melodies that Elgar wrote so well (rather like the "Windflower" theme in the Violin Concerto) while the delicate Scherzo is sheer delight, reminiscent of the Wand... Read review

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