Customer Reviews

Elgar: Introduction and Allegro / Serenade / Elegy / Sospiri / Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis / Fantasia on Greensleeves ~ Barbirolli

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In my will, I outline briefly the kind of memorial service that I would like to have. Nothing fancy. Cremation. No flowers. But one very, very important part of the service would be a period of meditation in which a recording of Sir John Barbirolli conducting "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" is played. Partly this is because I want to leave my friends with this parting gift, and partly because I think this music is as close to heavenly as I can conceive.

Over the years, I have owned 4 or 5 recordings of the Tallis Fantasia, and have heard 5 or 6 others (regretably, I have never heard it performed live, which is something I dearly hope for at some point in the future). Several of them are quite excellent. Karajan, surprisingly, did one of the very best on an old Mono recording (frequently out of print, but currently available on a Karajan compilation disc with pieces by Britten and Stravinsky) with the London Philharmonic. But the Barbirolli easily surpasses the best of all the rest. This recording has been available on and off over the years, and I would urge anyone who cares for beautiful music, for the Tallis Fantasia, for string music, for English classical music, or for Vaughan Williams, to get his or her own copy while this is available.

I should add that over the years I have read innumerable reviews of the Tallis Fantasia, and the Barbirolli is always the standard by which the measure of the new efforts is taken. Frequently reviewers will write lines like, "Although it does not reach the heights of Barbirolli's version . . ." The disc is frequently acknowledged as one of the great classical recordings of all time. And justly so.

While the Tallis Fantasia is the greatest gem on the recording, the Elgar pieces are quite superb on their own, so that there is more than one reason to own this CD. I enthusiastically recommend this album to anyone who cares about music.

Of the many CDs of English music that I have in my collection, this is without any doubt the best. I think it contains the finest performances ever given of every work on it and it's very probably Barbirolli's best recording, too. The two major pieces on the disc, the Tallis Fantasia and the Introduction and Allegro, demonstrate the huge range of effects that the players were capable of. The Introduction and Allegro is both polished and immensely fiery, with the quartet of soloists perfectly integrated with the rest of the strings. The fugue- which Elgar called "a devil... with all sorts of japes and counterpoint" is played with complete clarity, quite an achievement given the apparent thickness of Elgar's scoring. The piece certainly benefits from Barbirolli's own practical experience; being a professional cellist before he began conducting, he knew exactly what was possible from the instruments and the huge range of dynamics and bowing styles used here show that he exploited that knowledge to the full in the making of this recording. The earlier Serenade, while slighter but in no way lacking in substance, displays many mature Elgarian signs and is dispatched with similar elan to the larger work. It sounds suitably gentle yet with the suggestion of something darker beneath the surface, as do the two short Elgar pieces, the Elegy and Sospiri. As the booklet notes say, these pieces don't last for ten minutes put together, yet Barbirolli instils an unmistakeable sense of heartbreak in both of them. The Tallis Fantasia, however, requires a very different approach, far more reticent than the openly emotional one required for Elgar's music. Again, Barbirolli catches the sense of mystery and ecclesiastical grandeur to perfection and the effect of the quietest possible pianissimos is magical. Vaughan Williams's wife said that this was much the best recording ever made of the piece and it isn't hard to see why; the double quartet and soloists are perfectly balanced against the larger group of players and this adds immeasurably to one's appreciation of Vaughan Williams's scoring with specific antiphonal effects in mind. This performance is the perfect example for explaing Howells's comment that strings were capable of producing "sonority without noise;" here, they make a very beautiful sound indeed and they are certainly helped by the recording quality. It certainly belies its 1962 vintage! In short, this is an indispensable CD. It belongs in any serious collection, for it contains performances that have never even been approached of some of the finest works by two of England's greatest composers- all overseen by a conductor who remains unbeatable in this repertoire.

Musicologists often joke that England produced no good classical music between the death of Handel and the rise of the composers Elgar and Vaughan Williams. This CD certainly confirms the old adage that good things come to those who wait.

A musician myself, I have performed every piece on this CD and, out of all of the available recordings of it, I have always found myself returning to this disc for inspiration.

The setting of Vaughan William's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis is particularly beautiful, with the divinely sorrowful contrast between the divided orchestra coming across in the digital medium almost as well as in the concert hall, which is sadly more than I can claim for many other recordings of the piece.

This is an excellent disc, and one that I have often used to prove to friends that they actually do like classical music. It's a must own!

In an odd side note, the track information displayed for this CD is entirely wrong. I have verified this on multiple computers.

I bought this recording primarily for the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis which I wanted to get to know. Not only was I pleased by the recording of that work but the other works were also very much to my liking. The sound is very clean, not least considering the recordings were made in 1963 and '66. The Elgar pieces are performed straightforwardly without emotional excess, just the way they should be performed, in my opinion. I would not hesitate to recommend this recording wholeheartedly.

This is a most welcome arrival from EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series. Actually, it was difficult to get the hold of this collection in the United States in the past, and the sound of the previous CD incarnation was unspectacular, to put it mildly, especially in the Elgar Elegy. But no sonic reservations are to be held about the new transfer. It is simply as good as one could wish. Now that these recordings are finally available to the American listeners, it can be safely claimed that they constitute perhaps the best collection of British string music in the current catalogue. The Serenade is quite lovely, and the Elegy and Sospiri are not among Sir Edward's frequently heard works, but they are beautiful and fully deserve to be known better. Barbirolli may not be the top choice for the Elgar symphonies (there Solti or Boult are probably the best ones), but in other orchestral works he is unsurpassed. Just think of that other EMI CD with the Cello Concerto (Jaqueline DuPre) and the Sea Pictures (Janet Baker)!

The Vaughan Williams works are also among the best available, may well be the best overall. The competition for the Tallis Fantasia is serious, and there are fine versions by Karajan, Boult, and Ormandy from the earlier days, as well as some new additions from Hickox and Handley. But Barbirolli reigns supreme. No one was able to achieve the same gentle pianissimos. The Greensleeves is also fine. The orchestral playing is first-rate. In short, this disc should rank high on your priority target list. Don't miss it.

Great collection of sounds. The Introduction and Allegro is a complex work that needs to be listened to a few times, but it proves itself a truly wonderful composition. The other Elgar pieces on the disc sound terrific. Barbirolli brings warmth to these performances and an inimitable power & spirit to Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia. A classic!

If I were stuck on a desert island and could only have 1 disc, this would be it. Sublime. Words won't do justice.

This disc simply amazing. Has there ever, or, for that matter, will there ever be a better performance of elgar's "introduction and allegro?" I seriously doubt it...barbirolli was a fantastic cellist and evidently kept it up even when he did most of his work as a conductor. His knowledge of the tonal palette of a great body of strings is remarkable. He bowed all of his string parts, and it really shows up in the performance...he had it all under control. His sense of rubato is also uncanny. Indeed, the performance by which all others are measured. I also think this could be barbirolli's best recording, and in my opinion he made a bunch of great ones. You might as well get this CD for this piece, if nothing else.
The elgar string serenade is a lovely little piece and barbirolli perfectly catches the overall nostalgic mood of the piece. He also dazzles in the vaughn williams music as well as the two shorter elgar selections.
String music composer by a string player (elgar was a violinist), and conducted by another fabulous string player in barbirolli, and the strings of the london sinfonia certainly rise to an incredible occasion.
Simply unsurpassable, as another reviewer said.

In this review you won't find detailed information concerning the composers or the conductor or who/whatever else. That aside, I want to tell you that this CD is incomparable. Absolutely fabulous, in other words. Thus far this disc has only received 5 star ratings from Amazon customers, I think, and this should tell you something.

How I Discovered This Treasure: One day I was leafing through The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs (classical music, of course; there could be others), and therein I noticed that this particular CD received a glowing review and, not sure about this, two Rosettes. Having had excellent experiences with Penguin's special award (and the whole book), I checked Amazon (of course), and after reading more good things I rushed out and purchased this mid-priced CD. Joy!

Allegri String Quartet's playing is virtuoso. This CD really offers sublime versions of these pieces. Without the shadow of a doubt, a treasure.

Don't hesitate.

I first heard Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for Strings in a DG recording by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; when I saw this recording in my college library, I thought to myself, "I wonder if Barbirolli can play it better..."

Barbirolli seems to have Midas' touch with British orchestral music - and this repertoire brings out some of his best qualities (namely the string playing). The London Sinfonia is just as good as any chamber orchestra out there (including their fellow countrymen, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields), and overall this is a wonderful performance. Both Vaughan Williams pieces are especially refreshing - especially the Thomas Tallis Fantasia.