A bargain to be cherished, it contains two performances of genuine pedigree and strong ... more
personality. The unexpected pleasure here is Zubin Mehta's refreshingly characterful, big-hearted rendering of the Enigma Variations. While the faster numbers go with plenty of athletic vigour and a distinctive, opulent physicality (the finale, for instance, bounds along with a luscious, positively Straussian swagger), Mehta does not miss out on the lofty nobility of "Nimrod" or sly wit of "R.P.A." (Variation No.3). True, one has to contend with a handful of near-misses along the way, but overall Mehta's Enigma is a definite tonic. As for the Cello Concerto, Lynn Harrell is a breathtakingly secure and mightily accomplished soloist, not as unashamedly heart-on-sleeve as Jacqueline du Pré on EMI (then again, who is?), but genuinely moving all the same. Certainly, the Cleveland Orchestra always produce a beautifully blended sonority, and if Lorin Maazel's eagle-eyed conducting is not always entirely free of the occasional self-conscious nudge, the performance as a whole offers a stylish blend of sophistication and intelligence. With vintage 1970s Decca analogue sound throughout, this super, super-budget Belart CD is well worth snapping up. --Andrew Achenbach
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 2 to 3 weeks...
A bargain to be cherished, it contains two performances of genuine pedigree and strong ... more
personality. The unexpected pleasure here is Zubin Mehta's refreshingly characterful, big-hearted rendering of theEnigma Variations. While the faster numbers go with plenty of athletic vigour and a distinctive, opulent physicality (the finale, for instance, bounds along with a luscious, positively Straussian swagger), Mehta does not miss out on the lofty nobility of "Nimrod" or sly wit of "R.P.A." (Variation No.3). True, one has to contend with a handful of near-misses along the way, but overall Mehta'sEnigmais a definite tonic. As for the Cello Concerto, Lynn Harrell is a breathtakingly secure and mightily accomplished soloist, not as unashamedly heart-on-sleeve as Jacqueline du Pré on EMI (then again, who is?), but genuinely moving all the same. Certainly, the Cleveland Orchestra always produce a beautifully blended sonority, and if Lorin Maazel's eagle-eyed conducting is not always entirely free of the occasional self-conscious nudge, the performance as a whole offers a stylish blend of sophistication and intelligence. With vintage 1970s Decca analogue sound throughout, this super, super-budget Belart CD is well worth snapping up.--Andrew Achenbach
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Highly burnished, engaging, musically intelligent and emotionally mature playing; beautiful tone is never saccharine. Disadvantages: Nil.
It would be one of the most daunting works to take on for any musician, given the history of its recording, yet British cellist Natalie Clein decided to do it. It took her some ten years to get to the point where she felt ready to tackle it again for posterity, and this CD gives her good reason to be proud.
ELGAR'S CELLOCONCERTO AND DU PRÉ
So what's so intimidating about Edward Elgar's CelloConcerto? Besides its call in the performer for technical virtuosity and a mature musical understanding of the piece, the concerto has also been inextricably linked with Jacqueline du Pré (1945 - 1987), cellist extraordinaire, who was tragically struck down at the prime of life by multiple sclerosis. Her landmark 1965 recording, made when she was just twenty (with John Barbirolli conducting the London Symphony Orchestra), is still hallowed by ...
Advantages: It is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written Disadvantages: How dare you ask of any disadvantges!?!
THE MAN: SIR EDWARD ELGAR
It's probably futile for me to tell you who is Edward Elgar. To the British readers here he holds about the same position as Sibelius does for me as a Finn, being THE composer whose musical language captures the ideologies of the country, working as a kind of stereotypical signature for the people. Elgar was born in 1857 as the son of a music shop owner and through a course of self-instruction became a masterful orchestrator and soon found himself as a reknowned choral composer with a great deal of choral works and other religiously titled pieces to his credit. However, it was not until 1899 that his reputation was sealed as a truly great composer when he wrote the masterful "Variations on an Original Theme 'Enigma'", which contained musical portraits of friends of Elgar and became an instant success. After ...
Advantages: The Best Recording Ever Disadvantages: None
Elgar’s CelloConcerto in E Minor, Op. 85
Jacqueline du Pre and the LSO, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli
Madam, you have an instrument between your legs capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is sit there and scratch it!
So said the eminently witty conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, in reference to a lady ‘cellist. He certainly wasn’t, however, referring to the unmatchable Jacqueline du Pre, who, in my humble opinion, was the most gifted cellist ever and whose short, tragic life is somehow augured by this melancholic recording. It’s an EMI classic, which means that it’s an old, old recording, but so good that it shouldn’t be lost at the bottom of a pile of old vinyls at a jumble sale, but digitally re-mastered and made available for future generations on CD. The original ...
![Elgar: Enigma Variations; Cello Concerto [Australia] - Maazel](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/118069281.jpg "Elgar: Enigma Variations; Cello Concerto [Australia] - Maazel")
![Elgar: Enigma Variations; Introduction & Allegro [SACD]](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/165/Elgar_Enigma_Variations_Introduction_Allegro_SACD__6673165.jpg)
