COMPOSERS: Elgar
LABELS: EMI Forte
WORKS: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 2; Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5
PERFORMER: Philharmonia Orchestra/Bernard Haitink
CATALOGUE NO: CZS 5 69761 2 ADD 1983-8
Haitink is one of a select number of non-English conductors to have brought fresh perspectives to Elgar’s work. In the symphonies, this results in a far more spacious conception of the musical argument than is normally encountered in rival recordings. Perhaps there are passages in No. 2 which could benefit from a more urgent sense of forward momentum, but the First is magnificent – a reading of great warmth and Brucknerian grandeur.
Elgar: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 2; Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5
Haitink is one of a select number of non-English conductors to have brought fresh perspectives to Elgar’s work. In the symphonies, this results in a far more spacious conception of the musical argument than is normally encountered in rival recordings. Perhaps there are passages in No. 2 which could benefit from a more urgent sense of forward momentum, but the First is magnificent – a reading of great warmth and Brucknerian grandeur.
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm