Customer Reviews

Elgar: Violin Concerto / Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending ~ Rattle / Kennedy

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This is Kennedy's second recording of this work--the first was with Vernon Handly and the London Phil, also for EMI. That first recording was excellent, though pretty straightforward. This remake is truly bizarre in many ways, yet ultimately the most moving recording of the work yet made. It is one of the slowest recordings of this music, but there is great pulse and variety within each movement--generally, Kennedy lingers when he takes the center stage, and Rattle and the orchestra inject impetuosity when they take center stage. It makes for a tug of war, but ultimately an exciting one. Kennedy obviously loves this work--no one has ever played it better. Some may say he loves it to death, fiddling with tempi, drawing out a phrase here, digging into one there. To me, it all adds up to an intensely personal and emotional performance.

Recorded sound is first rate. Rattle and his orchestra are world class, bold and fierce where appropriate, meltingly beautiful when needed. If I could only have one recording of this music, it would be this one; however, people learning the work for the first time may find Kennedy's first recording more cogent and approachable.

The Lark Ascending is by far the slowest recording ever; it's amazing Kennedy can maintain his intonation at the end. Some may find the performance grotesquely drawn out; again, I hear a deeply felt performance.

OK I confess, I have never rated Kennedy as a soloist. Particularly when I compare him with Menuhin, Oistrakh ,Heifetz or even Vengerov, but this recording has made me reconsider. For me most studio recordings of classical music made during the last 15 - 20 years have a homogeneous quality which leaves precious little room for artistic interpretation. With that in mind I find Kennedy's spontaneity in the Lark Ascending and the first and second movements of the concerto a refreshing break with convention and a little more in the finale would have added greatly to the whole. After growing up listening to the great Menuhin/Elgar recording on LP belonging to my late uncle and being reintroduced to it via the even better Sammons/Wood performance when I was in university, I honestly wasn't expecting much from this CD, but I was oh so happy to be wrong. As great as the old recordings are - and they remain the touchstone recordings - there are times for me, when the 78rpm sourced sound can get in the way of the music and make me long for a great stereo performance. Now I have it and many late (and enjoyable!) nights have been spent in the company of this CD. If you are looking for a modern recording of the Elgar Concerto, this is the one. Period!

Even if he had not written a great deal of other brilliant music, Elgar's concerti for violin and violoncello assure him a place among music's immortals. Nigel Kennedy does a great job here; he and Simon Rattle work so well together here, it is a shame that Kennedy's famous temperament doesn't permit him to work with Rattle more (but maybe Rattle is temperamental too, who knows?)

The one time I heard Kennedy live, my shoulder was tapped to turn pages for his accompanist in the Elgar violin sonata. Before that afternoon, I hadn't realized Elgar ever wrote a violin sonata. The brilliance of that piece, and the brilliance of Nigel's performance that day (he also played his heart out in the Bartók solo sonata) are captured unfailingly in all this disc, for all its being a different occasion and different music.

Had never heard the Vaughan Williams before; marvelous, gossamer, magical.

American concert audiences have never taken to the Elgar Violin Concerto, or to Elgar's Edwardian idiom in general, with its imperial augustness and Brahmsian thickness of tone. This 1997 CD by Rattle and Kennedy should ignite our enthusiasm. The work sounds like a stone masterpiece given such passionate commitment from soloist, conducotr, and orchestra, aided by wonderfully clear and natural sound from EMI.

Conventiona wisdom has it that the Elgar cello concerto is much more accessible than this work, and that's probably so, since the violin concreto is vauntingly ambitious. The orchestral introduction to the first movement is so symphonic that it doesn't seem to leave room for the soloist; far from preparing the way for him, it smothers us in huge, thickly layered harmonies. The solo violin thus plays a complex game with the orchestra, fighting for stature and in Kennedy's hands finding it. The whole work is oon an immense scale--outstretching even the Brahms concerto--and has to be listened to that way. I am only beginning to fathom it, but I find myself fascinated. A great performance like this one certainly helps.

P.S. 2010 - I am letting my original review stand, but on balance I now think that the combination of Nikolaj Znaider and Sir Colin Davis on RCA/BMG presents a better performance, one big reason being that the opening movement isn't taken so slowly.

Sir Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto is a work that takes the listener into a rare world of autumnal reflection and regret. Elgar is famous for his rich melancholy, but it comes to the surface in the violin and cello concertos in a way it never does elsewhere. Its soaring melodies makes it one of the world's greatest ever violin concertos. Perhaps what is most striking about the work is how it is so sad, yet so rejuvenating at the same time, in a way that only the cello concerto can match. It's all too neglected on this side of the pond, and any recording of it should be greeted with adulation.

But Kennedy and Rattle's performance of the work is extra special. Both artists are authorities in the English world (Rattle is obviously England's brightest star on the Classical scene) and are fully prepared for the challenges that accompany performing the work. Unlike some violin concertos, this is not predominately a virtuosic work. Sure, the violin writing is brilliant and a strong technique is imperative, but we're only talking about a small portion of the difficulties. The concerto asks for the listener to look beyond the notes and into the realm of thoughtfulness Elgar has created. The interpretive challenges are very real, asking for real emotion balanced by control. Only the most mature of musicians can fulfill this potential. Of course Kennedy had already proved that he could master the concerto, with his earlier reading of the concerto with Handley and the LPO, also on EMI. That recording was a success, but here Kennedy is more inspired, free to unleash his emotions in a more powerful way. Handley is no Rattle, and the man at the podium here is hard to beat. In particular, Rattle sees the depth and range of emotion, creating tension by contrasting sorrow and hope. I think this is exactly what Elgar wanted, and Kennedy isn't a step behind Rattle. Both musicians know just how to guide our ears to appreciating the emotion in the work, without leaving any of it out or overdoing it. I don't know what you're thinking, but to me, there's simply nothing left to ask of musicians who can make the work into a moving, beautiful journey that leaves one in deep thought.

When I first realized that Kennedy had recorded The Lark Ascending with Rattle, I thought, "You mean that crazy guy with the spiked hair is going to understand Vaughan Williams' pastoral sentiments? Leave me alone!" At that point I thought my classic Brown/Marriner/ASMF account was unbeatable. The other recordings I had heard previously, including Chang/Haitink, Hahn/Davis, and Benedetti/Litton left me firmly decided that there was no beating Brown in the work. Until I heard Kennedy, that is. He had my own my knees, fighting the tears. It's unfair to give him all the credit, however, as Rattle deserves at least half the prize. Marriner is a great conductor, but he's not on the same level as Rattle, who pulls out details in the piece that I didn't know were there. There's more to the piece than mere pastoralism, and Kennedy and Rattle know this. Oh the sheer beauty of their sound! Words don't describe this kind of music making, so I let you discover it for yourself. Just know that you're in for a treat.

In closing, this is a fantastic disc. Prepare to sit back and do some serious thinking on life, as that is what the music will inevitably make you want to do.

get the earlier account by Nigel instead. It had more warmth and soul than this one. He really misses it in the finale. This work should leave you weeping.