LUTOSLAWSKI : Concerto for Orchestra ♦ ELGAR : Enigma Variations (Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin · Rolf Kleinert) (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

EDWARD ELGAR - The Elgar Edition : The Complete Electrical Recordings of Sir Eduard Elgar (2011) 9CD Box-Set / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

   Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

The most authentic recordings are made when the composers themselves lead the baton. And so the classical audience can be lucky that Edward Elgar, one of the greatest masters of English music history, was able to record his own works for the record. For the first time ever, Elgar's electric recordings from the years 1925 to 1934, the year of his death, come together in a box as one of the most interesting sonic legacies in history. Many know the English late Romanticist almost only as the creator of the popular "Pomp and Circumstances" marches that were made for the festivities of the British royal family, or as a composer of the "Enigma Variations". But his concerts are also among the pillars of the repertoire: the violin concerto was recorded by Elgar in 1932 with the 16-year-old Yehudi Menuhin, the cello concerto in 1928 with the dedicatee Beatrice Harrison. The nine CDs show that Elgar enthusiastically took advantage of the revolutionary recording technique of his day: Much of his work is included on the nine CDs - including his two symphonies, a wealth of suites and stage music, his famous adaptation of Bach's Fantasie und Fuge c minor "and the" string serenade ". A highlight are excerpts from 1927 from his oratorio "The Dream of Gerontius" with Margaret Balfour, Steuart.  by web

Credits:

Yehudi Menuhin, Tudor Davies, Margaret Balfour, Horace Stevens, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Elgar (Klavier & Dirigent), Haydn Wood u. v.a.

all tracks

 

ELGAR : The Violin Music (Bundit Ungrangsee) 3xCD (1999) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The published works of Edward Elgar came virtually full circle thanks to the violin, an instrument he picked up at an early age thanks to his father. His first published work, a Romance, emerged when he was still studying the violin and his violin sonata, one of his greatest, final compositions, he was to complete following the death of his wife. In between, an abundance of music was produced. In addition to the sonata and the concerto, a host of etudes, character pieces, and salon music emerged that are all sadly neglected today. This Naxos three-disc set captures all of these works, in addition to the Op. 20 Serenade for Strings. At the heart of this collection is violinist Marat Bisengaliev, whose playing across the more than ten years of recording it took to complete this project is wonderfully even and lustrous. The tone he generates, particularly on the G- and D-strings is alarmingly powerful and projecting, a wonderful complement to the muscularity and darkness of the concerto but also a welcome counterpart to the piano in the miniatures and sonata. His interpretation in the concerto is very fluid, imparting a great deal of rubato and tempo fluctuation that are done with thoughtful purpose and direction. Pianist Benjamin Frith offers an accompaniment that is every bit is refined and rich as Bisengaliev's playing, and the duo play together with an enjoyable sense of symmetry and cohesiveness. Both for its completeness and for the fine playing found within, this set is one worthy of adding to most any collection. by Mike D. Brownell