Edward Elgar: Best of the Best

Stately, reserved, velvety, and as comfortable as an expensive, broken-in pair of slippers and a smoking jacket, the music of Elgar (1857-1934) was the first important British music since Henry Purcell's. His debts to Wagner and Brahms nothwithstanding, Elgar was the quintessential Edwardian gentleman, full of understated eloquence. Here are his essential recordings.

	Elgar: Cello Concerto, Sea Pictures / Du Pré, Barbirolli [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]
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Amazon.com essential recording This is rightly regarded as the finest recording of Elgar's attractive and elegiac Cello Concerto. It's held in almost irrationally high esteem in the UK, largely because of the universal affection for Jacqueline Du Pré, the wife of Daniel Barenboim, whose early death from multiple sclerosis cut short what would have been a stellar career. This disc is equally noteworthy for Janet Baker's magnificent singing of the Sea Pictures, the composer's only orchestral song cycle. It's not Elgar's...Read more
	Elgar: Enigma Variations, etc / Zinman, Baltimore SO
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Amazon.com essential recording These are performances of such outstanding authority that even the British have praised them as among the very best available. The Baltimore Symphony plays with the utmost conviction and enthusiasm--Cockaigne really rocks, and the finale of Enigma, with a very well balanced optional organ part thrown in, is a sonic showcase. In fact, Telarc's sound is the best this music has ever been offered, with an especially impressive deep bass extension. There are many fine recordings of the Enigma...Read more
	Elgar: The Music Makers, The Dream of Gerontius (British Composers) / Boult, et al.
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Amazon.com essential recording Elgar's Dream of Gerontius is, in effect, a sung tone poem and resides at the core of English choral music; it is the supreme achievement among Elgar's large-scale works. Interestingly, its premiere came in the last months of the 19th century, a time, much like our own, when fluctuating styles and experimentation existed alongside a lingering and powerful devotion to the older, traditional ways. Thus, the release of this classic 1975 recording (intelligently paired with another sumptuous,...Read more
	Elgar: Violin Concerto / Perlman, Barenboim, Chicago SO
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Amazon.com essential recording Perlman's Elgar has always caused consternation among English critics, largely because it's so much better played from a purely technical point of view than any performance by an English violinist. With its relatively swift tempos, the performance is sometimes judged to be lacking in repose and "inwardness," whatever that is. All of this is complete nonsense. Perlman's playing of this extremely long and difficult concerto places it squarely in the grand Romantic tradition, which is precisely...Read more
	Elgar: Symphonies 1 & 2, etc / Davis, BBC Symphony
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Amazon.com essential recording Conductor Andrew Davis suffers from occasional bouts with that dreaded British bug--chronic dullness. He's not by any means a bad conductor, but you can always tell when he feels energized by the music he's playing or recording. Elgar is one of his great loves; that much is clear. These are his second recordings of the two symphonies, and they are excellent in every respect. Davis shapes both with a firm hand and a clear view of his final destination. Teldec's recorded sound is especially fine,...Read more