COMPOSERS: Elgar
LABELS: Chandos
WORKS: Cello Concerto; Falstaff
PERFORMER: Ralph Kirshbaum (cello)RSNO/Alexander Gibson
CATALOGUE NO: CHAN 6607 ADD (1978/79)
One of the few disappointing Chandos issues. Kirshbaum is cold and distant in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. He lacks expression and the accompaniment is dour and plodding. Go for either Julian Lloyd Webber or Jacqueline du Pré. Gibson’s Falstaff is full-blooded and there are some delightful sketches: the scarecrow army, the two interludes, and the Coronation Scene score, but there are better characterisations of Falstaff himself (eg Vernon Handley). Ian Lace
Elgar: Cello Concerto; Falstaff
One of the few disappointing Chandos issues. Kirshbaum is cold and distant in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. He lacks expression and the accompaniment is dour and plodding. Go for either Julian Lloyd Webber or Jacqueline du Pré. Gibson’s Falstaff is full-blooded and there are some delightful sketches: the scarecrow army, the two interludes, and the Coronation Scene score, but there are better characterisations of Falstaff himself (eg Vernon Handley). Ian Lace
Our rating
2
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:31 pm