Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture 'Cockaigne' [Import]

Edward Elgar (Composer), John Barbirolli (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Philharmonia Orchestra of London (Orchestra), Janet Baker (Performer), Jacqueline du Pré (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Janet Baker, Jacqueline du Pré
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London
• Conductor: John Barbirolli
• Composer: Edward Elgar
• Audio CD (January 13, 2008)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Classics France
• ASIN: B0002IPZFK
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,585 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cockaigne Overture ('In London Town'), concert overture for orchestra & organ, Op. 40

2. Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85: 1. Adagio - Moderato -

3. Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85: 2. Lento - Allegro molto

4. Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85: 3. Adagio

5. Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85: 4. Allegro - Moderato - Allegro, ma non troppo

6. Sea Pictures, song cycle for alto & orchestra (or piano), Op. 37: 1. Sea Slumber-Song

7. Sea Pictures, song cycle for alto & orchestra (or piano), Op. 37: 2. In Haven (Capri)

8. Sea Pictures, song cycle for alto & orchestra (or piano), Op. 37: 3. Sabbath Morning at Sea

9. Sea Pictures, song cycle for alto & orchestra (or piano), Op. 37: 4. Where Corals Lie

10. Sea Pictures, song cycle for alto & orchestra (or piano), Op. 37: 5. The Swimmer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dame Janet rules!, April 25, 2010

By 

A. Lehman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture 'Cockaigne' (Audio CD)

Yes, the Du Pre Cello Concerto is the best ever. You'd be hard put to find anyone to argue with that. The Cockaigne Overture is lively and fun, if not top of the line.

But, my dears, Dame Janet's Sea Pictures is clearly in the same class as Du Pre. Baker's bronzed mezzo flow of sound is nothing short of breathtaking. So, this is an EMI Great Recording of the Century not only for Du Pre's performance, but also for Janet Baker's intelligent, lambent singing. Quite a luxurious offering in one disc, n'est-ce pas?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely astounding!, January 27, 2010

By 

Warstub - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture 'Cockaigne' (Audio CD)

I wish I could create a solid or knowledgeable review for the Cello Concerto, but I can't and can only say that the playing creates a magnificent atmosphere that allows every note to sing and cry under Du Pre's fingers. The passion is incomparable and far outshines any other performances that might be 'truer to the score as Elgar wrote it'. This recording shows what music of such a high calibre does to likewise musicians. Barbirolli absolutely loved Elgar's music, and his control of the orchestra and the tremendous colours exibited pay beautiful tribute.

The Sea Pictures are interesting to listen to and although they may not be of the same high quality as the Cello Concerto, they still deserve their place here for being very fine performances - Op. 37: 2. In Haven (Capri) is wonderfully reminiscent of Delibes' The Flower Duet.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 5 Star For The Cello Concerto; 3.5 Stars For Everything Else, March 1, 2009

By 

Joseph Kimsey "Fareastnibelung" (Pac NW) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture 'Cockaigne' (Audio CD)

To my tastes, there are some composers who basically always get everything right (Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner), a few who rarely get it right (Mendelssohn, Puccini), and some who get it right half the time. Sir Edward Elgar definitely falls in the latter category for me.

Elgar is best known, and most disdained, for his supposedly bombastic Pomp and Circumstance marches (which I happen to like a lot), but there is some truth in the statement that a lot of his music tends toward empty bombast and sentimentality. This is certainly not the case with his Cello Concerto.

Jacqueline du Pre is in incredible form on this disc, and she gives Elgar's greatest masterpiece an urgency and artistic sensitivity that electrifies. The moving Adagio is a brooding, desolate piece which seems to indicate that Elgar's usual ebullient personality was going through a dark, soul-searching period. The half-meditative, half-aggravated Second Movement is a study in eccentric lyricism, but it is merely a curious prelude to the majestic third movement. We're swimming in some deep water here - this is music of great tenderness and resigned sadness. The final movement offers an idiosyncratic commentary on all the previous moods displayed in the piece.

Unfortunately, the rest here isn't quite on the same lofty order as the Cello Concerto. The Cockaigne Overture is typical Elgar, with its mixture of genuine lyricism and empty bluster. It's compared with Wagner's Meistersinger Overture in the CD notes, but really the only obvious similarity is that both overtures are about cities (Meistersinger about Nuremberg; Cockaigne about London). Elgar's overture has little of Wagner's sweep and satisfying grandeur.

The Sea Pictures vocal pieces have some beautiful episodes, but can also veer into some banality. Janet Baker is a good interpreter, and she gives faultless performances on Sea Slumber Song, Sabbath Morning at Sea and Where Corals Lie.

Highly recommended for the Cello Concerto - but be prepared to take the not-so-great with the great, and considering the quality of the great, that's not hard at all!