Elgar Archive
ELGAR: The Enigma Variations; Fantasia on Greensleeves; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Wasps – Aristophanic Suite – Kansas City Sym./ Michael Stern – Reference Recordings 45 rpm (2 vinyls)
The latest in 45 rpm vinyl and both a musical and technological winner.
Sir Adrian Boult = ELGAR: Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major; WAGNER: Ov. and Venusberg Music – BBC Chorus/ BBC Sym. Orch./ Sir Adrian Boult – ICA Classic.
Elgar and Wagner realized in grand style by Sir Adrian Boult in live and studio performance, here re-united with the BBC ensemble he had led thirty years prior.
W.H. Squire, cello = Works of ELGAR, SAINT-AENS, HANDEL, WAGNER, MOZART, POPPER, BACH, ETC. – With Sir Hamilton Harty, cond. – Pristine Audio
“Old school” cello performances by a ’20s cellist often compared to Casals.
ELGAR: Cello Concerto in E Minor; TCHAIKOVSKY: Rococo Variations; DVORAK: Rondo in G Minor; Silent Woods – Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello/ BBC Sym. Orch./ Jiri Belohlavek – Harmonia mundi
The passionate young cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and Jiri Belohlavek combine for a second disc, one that extols in loving terms the virtues of Elgar, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky.
HAVERGAL BRIAN: Symphonies Nos. 22, 23, 24; English Suite No. 1 – New Russia State Sym. Orch./ Alexander Walker – Naxos
Three symphonies from the busy English composer who created sprawling works in the style of Mahler, Bruckner and Elgar.
* “This England” = ELGAR: Cockaigne; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No. 5; BRITTEN: Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes – Oregon Sym./ Carlos Kalmar – PentaTone
************ MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH **************
What a barnstorming winner this one is. Welcome back, Oregon Symphony, and keep them coming!
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Wasps – Aristophanic Suite; Fantasia on “Greensleeves;” ELGAR: Enigma Variations – Kansas City Sym./ Michael Stern – Reference Recordings
The Wasps captures the fun and satiric slant of the play by Aristophanes.
British Music for Piano Duo = HOLST: In Memoriam William Morris; The Planets; ELGAR: Serenade in E Minor; BURY: Prelude and Fugue; BAINTON: Miniature Suite – Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow, pianists – Diversions
A reissue of the 1996 recital of Elgar and Holst that provides insight into the harmonic thinking of their popular orchestral works, as well as introduces us to several new pieces.
ELGAR: Concerto in E Minor for Cello and Orch.; Sospiri; Salut d’amour; La capricieuse; DVORAK: Waldesruh'; Rondo in G Minor for Cello and Orch.; RESPIGHI: Adagio con variazioni – Sol Gabetta, cello/ Danish Nat. Sym. Orch./ Mario Venzago – RCA
Sol Gabetta displays a strong, sweet presence in this showcase disc of classics from Elgar, Dvorak, and Respighi.
ELGAR: Cello Concerto; CARTER: Cello Concerto; BRUCH: Kol Nidre – Alisa Weilerstein, c. – Staatskapelle Berlin/ Daniel Barenboim – Decca
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein reveals the joy in Eliot Carter’s complex Cello Concerto and her sublime Elgar Cello Concerto is a performance for the ages.
Sir Malcolm Sargent: An Evening at the Proms – Light music of SULLIVAN, TCHAIKOVSKY, DVORAK, CHABRIER, LITOLFF, ELGAR – Guild
An authentic Last Night at the Proms, mostly 1959, recreated by Guild, revives our sense of what magic “Flash Harry” Sargent could conjure up for the British public.
Bryan Pezzone – Piano Pieces, Blu-ray 3D (2012)
The first full-length 3D album of solo piano performance shot specifically for HD 3D and HD audio, in both stereo and surround.
BACH-RESPIGHI: Three Chorale Preludes; Sonata in E Minor; Prelude and Fugue in D Major; Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor; BACH-ELGAR: Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor – Seattle Sym./ Gerard Schwarz – Naxos
BACH-RESPIGHI: another successful hyphenated composer of the twentieth century.
H2 Quartet – Groove Machine – Works of MARC MELLITS; AMY WILLIAMS; THIERRY ESCAICH; MURRAY GROSS; VICTOR M. BARRIOS; ALEXANDROS MARKEAS – Blue Griffin Saxology Quartet – English Quartets – Works of HOROVITZ; HARVEY; SULZMANN; WILSON; JACOB; ELGAR-HILL; WILSON; BULLARD; CHAPPLE – Meridian
A pair of worthwhile saxophone quartet discs.
GAL: Cello Concerto in E Minor; ELGAR: Cello Concerto – Antonio Meneses, cello/ Northern Sinfonia/ Claudio Cruz – Avie
Cello concertos by Hans Gal and (revisionist) Elgar provide virtuoso Antonio Meneses with vital responses for Gal’s own query, “Why does one write a concerto?”
ELGAR: Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85; Sea Pictures Op. 37; DELIUS: Songs of Farewell; A Song Before Sunrise; Cello Concerto – Jacqueline Du Pré, cello/other performers – EMI Classics Signature Series (2 discs)
A sonic updating of the gorgeous De Pré recording of the Elgar Concerto, as well as the Delius Cello Concerto.
ELGAR: The Kingdom – Solists/ Halle Orchestra & Choir/ Mark Elder – Halle
A well-rounded and much-needed recording of Elgar’s last oratorio.
Composers Conduct = RAVEL, ROUSSEL, ELGAR, SCHMITT – var. orchestras – Urania
Four distinguished composers lead by their respective scores in well-recorded inscriptions, 1928-1932.
English Piano Music = Works by IVOR GURNEY, EDWARD ELGAR, and HERBERT HOWELLS – Alan Gravill, piano (GURNEY) / Jeremy Filsell, piano (ELGAR, HOWELLS) – Dal Segno
Interesting piano music well off the beaten path.
ELGAR: Enigma Variations, Op. 36; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis – Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir Malcolm Sargent – HDTT
A HDTT restoration, available in various formats, from a 1959 HMV LP.
CYRIL SCOTT: Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 59; No. 3; Sonata Melodica – Clare Howick, violin/ Sophia Rahman, piano – Naxos
Not stereotypically “British,” Scott’s life and music is closer to Scriabin.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
