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4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully expressive performances, November 19, 2010
This review is from: Elgar: Falstaff; Elegy; The Sanguine Fan (Audio CD)
This CD offers wonderfully expressive performances of Elgar's less known orchestral works. Symphonic Study 'Falstaff' is an amazingly innovative program music based on Shakespearian characters. According to Elgar, it encompasses the whole of human life - failings and sorrows, and Elgar writes, "I have enjoyed writing it more than any other music I have composed..." The music is not so accessible as Elgar's other compositions, but the more you listen to it, the more you discover ingenuity of the composer's creative mind. It is as complex, ambiguous and enigmatic as Elgar the man. No wonder he loved and identified with it so much.
Elegy, supposedly inspired by the death of Elgar's dearest friend, A.J.Jaeger 'The Nimrod', is a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece suffused with wistful contemplation. The ballet music 'Sanguine Fan'is a lovely piece of music full of subtlety and changes of mood, if not as inspired as Elgar's other works. David Lloyd-Jones/English Northern Philharmonia plays each work with poetic imagination and heart-felt intimacy.
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