Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Violin Concerto in B minor Op.61 |
| 2. Prelude, The Kingdom Op.51 |
| 3. Prelude & Angel's Farewell, The Dream of Gerontius Op.38 |
Product Description
Review
Hard on the heels of Nikolaj Znaider's outstanding account of the Elgar concerto with Colin Davis and the Dresden Staatskapelle, released by RCA last month, comes another exceptional recording of the work, the latest addition to Mark Elder and the Hallé's Elgar series. The performances are very different: where Znaider's wonderfully secure, measured performance has a steely, virtuosic edge, Thomas Zehetmair's playing is more passionate and openly expressive. It takes more risks interpretatively, which occasionally don't come off, so there is an edge of danger. Zehetmair's approach is arguably closer to the heart of Elgar's deeply personal work than Znaider's, and though it is hard to choose between the two versions, the Hallé disc's two extra tracks might just tip the balance in its favour. Elder opens with a luminous account of the prelude to the oratorio The Kingdom, floating its 'New Faith' with transcendent beauty, and follows the concerto with an authentic rarity the arrangement with chorus that Elgar himself made of the Prelude and Angel's Farewell from The Dream of Gerontius, creating his own Prelude and Liebestod. --Andrew Clements, The Guardian
A towering performance of Elgar's Violin Concerto with Thomas Zehetmair, a soloist of fierce intelligence. Unlocking the work's volcanic emotions ...he certainly found the reflective tenderness. He and Elder's taut yet flexible orchestra were at one in the visionary poetry of the finale, making this a performance of exceptional detail happily one that will appear on the orchestra s own CD label. --The Sunday Telegraph
A towering performance of Elgar's Violin Concerto with Thomas Zehetmair, a soloist of fierce intelligence. Unlocking the work's volcanic emotions ...he certainly found the reflective tenderness. He and Elder's taut yet flexible orchestra were at one in the visionary poetry of the finale, making this a performance of exceptional detail happily one that will appear on the orchestra s own CD label. --The Sunday Telegraph
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
What I mean by my heading is that this recording took more time to reveal it's merits than other recordings of this work have. Having written a fulsome review of the recent Znaider recording I found myself slightly resenting this recording on first hearing. My mistake is that this performance takes more time to reveal it's beauties. There is no easy victory here!
The Violin playing here is not as 'beautiful' as on the Znaider recording and there are one or two moments where the ferocious double stopping does sound a little like 'scrunching celery'. However, the tremendous virtuosity in the other 98% of the playing more than compensates for this.
What I grew to love about this performance is that it doesn't hang around! At the risk of committing a heinous crime I'm going to suggest that the revered Menuhin/Composer recording can sound a little 'heavy going' at time. Others have fallen into this trap - not least Ida Haendel and that great Elgarian Sir Adrian Boult. Elder and his soloist keep the momentum going at all times without giving the impression of skating over the surface of what is a deeply felt composition.
The CD is worth having for the extras too. Hopefully, the Prelude to 'The Kingdom' will encourage others to listen to this under-rated score. Highly recommended.
The Violin playing here is not as 'beautiful' as on the Znaider recording and there are one or two moments where the ferocious double stopping does sound a little like 'scrunching celery'. However, the tremendous virtuosity in the other 98% of the playing more than compensates for this.
What I grew to love about this performance is that it doesn't hang around! At the risk of committing a heinous crime I'm going to suggest that the revered Menuhin/Composer recording can sound a little 'heavy going' at time. Others have fallen into this trap - not least Ida Haendel and that great Elgarian Sir Adrian Boult. Elder and his soloist keep the momentum going at all times without giving the impression of skating over the surface of what is a deeply felt composition.
The CD is worth having for the extras too. Hopefully, the Prelude to 'The Kingdom' will encourage others to listen to this under-rated score. Highly recommended.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I heard Zehetmair play this wonderful work a day or two before this recording was made. The live performance was breathtaking but challenging, with some quite rough intonation and intense commitment. The CD is better, in the sense that it can be heard over and over (which the live performance probably couldn't). Great stuff.
These things are subjective but my order for this concerto (of which I own over 30 versions on CD) is 1. Sammons 1929 (more or less definitive); then of the excellent set of versions in modern sound 2. James Ehnes 3. Zehetmair 4. Gil Shaham.
These things are subjective but my order for this concerto (of which I own over 30 versions on CD) is 1. Sammons 1929 (more or less definitive); then of the excellent set of versions in modern sound 2. James Ehnes 3. Zehetmair 4. Gil Shaham.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
4 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Elgar violin concerto
13 Nov 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The performance of the concerto is very good, but the sound is not great, and considerably less good than for the two other works on this disc, which is curious.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
