Bach, Johann Christian - Concerto in c minor - Viola and Piano - edited by Henri Casadesus - Editions Salabert $17.06; 100 Solos for Violin - Amsco Publications $17.96; Bach, Johann Christian - Concerto in c minor - Viola and Piano - Book/CD set - edited by Henri Casadesus - Edition Peters $34.65 Winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s career was launched with a fanfare, resulting in a prompt signing to Decca Classics. This is a sincere reading that has poise, … Forming the link between this and the concerto is Simon Parkin’s arrangement of ‘Nimrod’ for 6 cellos. The fourth work was the Cello Concerto, Elgar's lament for a lost world. By entering your details, you are agreeing to Classical Music terms and conditions and privacy policy. The opening phrases can be exquisite, but are too evenly tempered in this altogether relaxed movement. With an uncompromising tone and a sense of authority, Weilerstein is unwavering from the first note to the last. Sinopoli's reading of Symphony 2 is distinctive and a joy to listen to. Much of the music is vitality itself. The four-movement work begins with a short cello passage marked with one of Elgar’s favored performing directives, Nobilmente. Elgar Concerto - 3rd movement Teatro Juarez - Guanjuato MEXICO LIVE from Festival Cervantino Canal22 MEXICO - October 2018 " She is enchanting, and one might easily predict a rich and sustained performing future for her. The Classic Review was launched in 2018 for classical music lovers around the globe. • Podcast: Alisa Weilerstein plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Jacqueline du Pré (cello); London Symphony Orchestra/Sir John BarbirolliWarner Classics 6230752. PLAYLIST. Paul Watkins with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Philharmonic are emotionally intense. Insufficient variety in the timbres results in very dense textures. And Rattle, a superbly responsive accompanist, enhances this sense of a figure battling against malevolent fate like some woebegone Thomas Hardy heroine, by bringing out the thickest, deepest sounds he can find in Elgar’s orchestration. ... (cello), Edward Elgar (conductor) First Pub lication. The carbon-copy approach of recreating Kanneh-Mason’s “Inspiration” album is disappointing. In Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Segev is not as raw as du Pre or as bold as Weilerstein in the opening movement. Simon Rattle — the ever sympathetic accompanist, helps Kanneh-Mason to fulfill his vision, as he does with Truls Mørk in his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra recording. Clearly, he didn’t regard the piece as particularly doom-laden. Read our Best Of guides for classical music. What is the best recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto? Opening the album is a pastiche of Kathleen Ferrier’s legendary take on the traditional tune, “Blow The Wind Southerly”. This time the soloist was a British sensation, just turned 20. Which is exactly what du Pré did, over and over again, when she performed this work. Few concertos begin as ominously as Elgar’s for the cello. The Edwardian world, his world, had been blown apart. He had turned 60 and just undergone a throat operation. Elgar allows Harrison to pull the music around, but in the orchestral passages he surges on with amazing zest. Elgar composed it in the aftermath of the First World War, when his music had already gone out of fashion with the concert-going public. Without lyrics or knowledge of them, the performance lacks meaning. The second movement, whilst expressive, reveals a lightness of tone at the extreme registers of the cello, and Kanneh-Mason struggles to produce sufficient sound in the boldest passages. You have to feel sorry for cellists. But while his live performances have an energy and sense of spontaneity, the delicacies and intricacies of Elgar need finer tuning for a successful studio recording. • Why is ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ played at the Proms? Whilst an admirable performance in this arrangement, it falls short of du Pré’s highly distinguished performance with Gerald Moore. Already have an account with us? A marchlike energy appears and is from time to time broken up by mournful passages. Working with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin, Weilerstein doesn’t imitate du Pré, but is a formidable contender for the top spot. It gave promising insight into a performer encasing the main work with a potpourri of encores and highly personal pieces, a model Decca and Kanneh-Mason have tried to emulate in this latest release, “Elgar”. There is similar orchestral shaping in both performances though Mørk, even slower than Kanneh-Mason, gives Rattle a wider spectrum of expressive material — grandeur at times, more restrained at others, in an overall highly commendable performance. Mørk turns the piece into an epic trudge through ominous terrain. What you find comes as a bit of a shock. Sea Pictures recorded 30 August 1965 at Abbey Road Studio 1, London. Yo-Yo Ma (cello); London Symphony Orchestra/André PrevinSony G010002679548T. SHARE. 1920-21 - London: Novello Dedication Sir Sidney and Lady Frances Colvin – Elgar*, Jacqueline Du Pre* And London Symphony Orchestra* Conducted By Sir John Barbirolli: Concerto In E Minor, Op. But the… One cannot fault Kanneh-Mason’s attention to rhythmic detail or his security of intonation. Programming it before Elgar’s own orchestrations emphasizes the unsympathetic arrangement; furthermore, Kanneh-Mason is not given ample opportunity to shine. Cello Concerto, Op.85 (Elgar, Edward) Movements/Sections Mov'ts/Sec's: 4 movements ... Includes ending from the 4th movement to allow for standalone performance. The remainder of Kanneh-Mason’s album is a miscellany of ‘fillers’ and encores. Jaqueline du Pré’s communicative prowess is the benchmark in which all performances, rightly or wrongly, are measured against. • Review: Yo-Yo Ma plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Truls Mork (cello); City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle Let us know in the comments below. The first climax lacks the emotional punch needed to draw the listener completely in, and the subsequent peaks are surprisingly similar, with tailing off at the ends of phrases. The third movement is overly reserved, swells have insufficient rise and the tenderness many interpreters find is not fully realized. One way to answer that is to dig out the 1928 recording that the composer conducted, with Beatrice Harrison as soloist. But it’s the one recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto that I would not want to live without. 85: 1st Movement: Adagio - Moderato: 2nd Movement: Lento - Allegro Molto: 3rd Movement: Adagio: 4th Movement: Allegro, Ma Non Troppo: Sea Pictures, Op. Camille Saint-Saëns: The Swan. There are far fewer concertos for their instrument than for the piano or violin, and of the ones which exist, only two are generally considered masterpieces. 37: Sea Slumber Song: In Haven: Sabbath Morning At Sea: Where Corals Lie: The Swimmer Which recordings of Elgar’s Cello Concerto made since then would you add to the list? More successful is Parkin’s arrangement of Elgar’s “Romance Op.62”, in which the Heath Quartet provide a beautiful accompaniment. All rights reserved. All this suggests that the composer was feeling pretty low. It still is. One is by Dvořak, and the other – just in case you hadn’t guessed – by Elgar. Alisa Weilerstein’s rendition is one to equal du Pré’s famed performance with Sir John Barbirolli. The Cello concerto, with Fournier, has long been considered among the finest. Fauré’s “Elégie”, again arranged by Parkin, lacks the impact of the composer’s original version for cello and piano. • Exclusive video: Jacqueline du Pré performs The Trout, Beatrice Harrison (cello); New Symphony Orchestra/Sir Edward ElgarNaxos 8111260. The first theme is played throughout the movement and during the last part of the third movement, giving the concerto a cyclic structure. The concerto is uniform in color and temperament, lacking the insight many soloists and orchestras find in it. When Kanneh-Mason toured with Elgar’s Cello Concerto, I was sitting five rows back, directly in front of him in Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. 1 – Moog, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Milton, Review: Britten – Saint Nicolas, A Ceremony of Carols – BBC Concert Orchestra, Crouch End Festival Chorus, Temple, Read of the latest news in classical music, Looking for the best version of a classical music piece? Concerto In E Minor Op. He finds the intensity in the melodic lines and with Davis’ understanding of Elgar, the orchestral accompaniment is as intrinsically Elgarian as one could hope for. On reaching the last movement, Kanneh-Mason’s subtleties of emotion and color are too discrete to make this finale completely convincing. The third movement returns to the slow, brooding style of the first. Cello Concerto Op.85 Edward Elgar. A complete guide to Elgar's Cello Concerto can be found by visiting the following pages. 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