Elgar - Symphony No 3 (The Sketches of Edward Elgar Completed and Orchestrated by Anthony Payne) - Pomp and Circumstance March No. 6

 

 

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I have always objected to the premise that only native British artists can do justice to Elgar and RVW. It is an absurd concept that taken to its logical extreme would mean that only Austrians could do justice to Bruckner, so "thanks for nothing" to Haitink, Wand, Giulini, Maazel et al! I have been attacked on amazon for espousing this view, despite my pointing out that of course I love the recordings by Boult, Barbirolli etc., but I particularly love to hear Elgar treated as a "universal" composer and played and conducted by non-British artists shorn of the "uniquely English" baggage, and we should not forget that Elgar initially found fame and acceptance under Richter in Germany.
One could hardly expect to find more far flung exponents than a set of Japanese artists, but when I stumbled across this recording on amazon I could not resist the sheer unlikelihood of a recording of this work. Then again, the conductor IS Tadakki Otaka who has spent and still spends much of his working life in Britain, and so who has no doubt acquired some the "baggage" I referred to earlier!
I will not enter into an analysis of the recorded works as this has been done at length on other forums-suffice to say that I love the symphony and find it utterly convincing as a work. I have all the current recordings, and have been not entirely convinced by any of them-I've always had a feeling it "could be better" done. The original Andrew Davis is fine but in very dry sound, the Daniels fine Naxos recording has an unconvincing finale, the Colin Davis LSO recording is all but unplayable such is the dreadfully recorded sound, one of the worst to emerge from the Barbican's shockingly poor acoustic before the improvements were made-and the Hickox Chandos is arguably the finest to date, with a brisk invigorating approach to the work and a generous helping of "fillers"., but with some wayward playing from the Welsh orchestra (of which of course Otaka was Music Director).
This Signum recording redefines the boundaries and the work itself, with a radically different interpretation which comes nearer to the soul of this work than any other, and which I find the most moving of any. Otaka takes a more measured but far from sluggish approach, with each movement deeply felt. His is the most "interventionist" approach to the work, with tempo variations and the chamber aspects of the 2 inner movements especially highlighted. He catches the chromatic "Tristan" mood of the third movement perfectly, but it is the finale which is revelatory-his slower tempi and massive sound picture contrasted with the deeply felts quieter passages give this movement a poignant, valedictory air instead of the confident empire-building mood of other interpreters. I found myself with a lump in the throat and a tear in the eye for the first time after this movement.
The recording was supervised by Mike Hatch, previously of EMI fame among others, and is superb in both balance and detail.
That leaves us with the playing. It certainly does not sound like a British orchestra-if had to make a blind guess I would have said more like one of the more Germanic sounding American orchestras like the Pittsburgh.
The strings play without much vibrato, but are very fine especially in the more chamber- like passages, woodwind are superb and the brass are mighty indeed, much in the American vein. They shine in the rumbustious sections of the first movement and throughout the fourth in particular. Percussion are superb, and superbly caught.
The reconstructed Pomp & Circumstance No.6 is excellent filler, with Otaka again investing it with great weight and seriousness.
The cost is a bit daunting, but in my view, if you want the best combination of recording, playing and in particular, interpretation of this work it is well worth it.
An greatly unexpected pleasure, and I award more than 5 stars!!! Stewart Crowe.

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