Elgar: Cello Concerto; Bach: Cello Suites, #1 & #2

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer, Performer), Edward Elgar (Composer, Conductor), John Barbirolli (Conductor, Composer), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra, Composer), Jacqueline du Pre (Artist), Sir John Barbirolli (Artist), Elgar (Artist), J.S. Bach (Artist), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Edward Elgar, John Barbirolli
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Edward Elgar, John Barbirolli, BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Audio CD (March 14, 2006)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Testament UK
• ASIN: B000CNEZ4W
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,118 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I. Adagio - Moderato

2. II. Lento - Allegro Molto

3. III. Adagio

4. IV. Allegro, Ma Non Troppo

5. I. Prelude

6. II. Allemande

7. III. Courante

8. IV. Sarabande

9. V. Menuetto I & II

10. VI. Gigue

11. I. Prelude

12. II. Allemande

13. III. Courante

14. IV. Sarabande

15. V. Menuetto I & II

16. VI. Gigue

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps Even Better than the EMI Studio Recording, June 25, 2008

By 

Stephen Grabow (Lawrence, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elgar: Cello Concerto; Bach: Cello Suites, #1 & #2 (Audio CD)

Du Pre's earlier studio recording with Barbirolli and the LSO was a first choice for many, especially because it was coupled with Janet Baker's performance of the Sea Pictures. But this live recording a year later, from Prague, also with Barbirolli, but conducting the BBCSO, is perhaps even better. DuPre seems even more intense, more focused and more exciting. The sonics are pretty good, too. Included are DuPre's early attempts at some of the Bach Cello Suites -- a fascinating document.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EVEN TRUMPS THE STUDIO RECORDING, May 26, 2009

By 

Klingsor Tristan (Suffolk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elgar: Cello Concerto; Bach: Cello Suites, #1 & #2 (Audio CD)

The Elgar Cello Concerto from Jackie du Pre and Barbirolli? What on earth do we need another version of that for? The EMI recording with the same soloist and conductor has been an acknowledged classic of the gramophone from the moment it first appeared. And there's already another version with du Pre and her husband, Daniel Barenboim if you really need an alternative.

But no. Testament are absolutely right to have brought this live performance in Prague out of the BBC archives. The EMI performance is already testament to the unique rapport between soloist and conductor, but this performance from a couple of years later takes it all a stage further, particularly in the context of a live concert where even greater `liberties' could be taken. At so many points in the score it is impossible to tell who is leading who - they are as one in the flexibility of tempi and the rubato of both orchestra and solo cello (Barbirolli had himself played the solo part in his youth). The famous du Pre passion is there in spades, but there are also many examples of restraint too - more that in the studio recordings - which make the highpoints seem all the higher. The give and take in the first movement is exceptional, the lightness of touch in the second, broadening magnificently for the big tune, unparalleled in my experience. The slow movement always was the heart of a Barbirolli/du Pre performance and never more so than here. The cello sings with, when required, huge tone or a unique fining down to a mere thread of sound and, more to the point, incredible depth of feeling. Portamenti and glissandi, always favoured by Barbirolli in Elgar's music as by the composer himself, are used with great sensitivity to dig deep into the soul of the music. The finale captures the contrast of rhythmic drive and personal communing perfectly, carrying through to that amazing coda where tragedy and reconciliation seem to co-exist on the highest plane of communication.

Yes, there are the occasional moments of ragged ensemble which would probably have been corrected in a studio recording, but they are far outweighed by rewards of music-making of the highest order.

The fill-ups - substantial ones - are the first two Bach Cello Suites and they are not on quite such an elevated plane as the Elgar. These performances date from much earlier in du Pre's career (she was only sixteen) and have appeared on CD before. They are well worth hearing but, is has to be said, she found much more to them later on. They are more than a little self indulgent in a rather adolescent way, prone to slow tempi, always searching out the depths of the music at the expense of its dance origins. One of those cases where more is less.

Nevertheless, the CD is well worth its price for the Elgar alone, a masterly live performance from Barbirolli and du Pre that succeeds in trumping even their much-loved EMI recording.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another du Pre Elgar performance!, April 7, 2010

By 

Joann M. Bonafede - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elgar: Cello Concerto; Bach: Cello Suites, #1 & #2 (Audio CD)

I purchased this as a gift so didn't hear it, but enjoyed the rave reviews it received in BBC Music Magazine as the best existing (both in performer's technique and remastered edition) recording of du Pre's Elgar performances. Cello suites were recorded when she was very young.