Customer Reviews

Elgar: Violin Concerto in B Minor; Overture: Cockaigne (In London Town)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a bargain release, this admirable version of the Elgar Cto. from 1992 dates from a time when Naxos fostered a set of sometimes dubious orchestras and conductors - not here. English conductor Adrian Leaper gives a mini-impersonation of Adrian Boult in a reading that is sympathetic but never dawdling or sentimental. The Polish orchestra may even be a kind of plus. Not knowing Elgarian style, they play one bar after another in a clean, direct style. If you are familiar with the Elgar Cto.'s recorded legacy, it's easy to detect plainness where an English orchestra would be plusher and more flexible; still, the orchestral part is considerably better than a run-through.

which wouldn't matter with an indifferent soloist. I've run across Korean violinist Dong-Suk Kang (yes, I know) on other Naxos releases, as I recall. I wonder why he never got a real shot at a wider career, because he holds the stage in this concerto, digging in with felt emotion and flashing out when the writing calls for it. As you go along, Kang can begin to feel a bit impersonal. One has no idea what this music, or Elgar, really means to him. But that's an unanswerable question and perhaps an irrelevant one, to. Now 57, Kang was a child prodigy and graduated from the Curtis Institute, arguably the toughest, most prestigious music school in the world. He plays with force, technique, and accomplished musicianship. It would make a nice quiz to put this recording up against big-name accounts and see which one is preferred if the listening were blindfold. In their original review, the Gramophone found Hang's rendition faultless, complaining only that the soloist was miked too closely; I don't find it a problem.

The filler is Elgar's popular Cockaigne Overture, titled after an old name for London. Leaper's account is enjoyable and in the right buoyant spirit. As a package, it and the concerto remain an outstanding bargain.