Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55
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EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
[ Decca / CD ]
Release Date: Sunday 15 May 2016
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Daniel Barenboim continues his acclaimed Elgar series with the landmark First Symphony. These new issues mark the first time that indefatigable maestro Barenboim has returned to recording Elgar's symphonic works since the 1970s.
This recording is the latest step in maestro Barenboim's Elgarian journey with the Berlin Staatskapelle, following on from well-received performances of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, the Cello Concerto (recorded live with Alisa Weilerstein for Decca), and Elgar's Second Symphony - about which the Guardian wrote: "The surging, unquenchable energy of this account is obvious from the opening bars, which are borne on an irresistible flood of sound from the Berlin Staatskapelle…"
This album was recorded live at Berlin's renowned Philharmonie, with the Berlin Staatskapelle and leading Elgarian record producer Andrew Keener.
Barenboim is a passionate Elgarian, counting The Dream of Gerontius as one of his favourite works. As a young man he worked regularly with Sir John Barbirolli, one of the greatest of all Elgar conductors and who was Jacqueline du Pré's partner in the classic EMI recording of the Cello Concerto.
Barenboim's latest Decca release follows his hugely successful Beethoven project of 2012, 2013's Verdi Requiem, and Elgar's Second Symphony in 2014.
"In its voicings and especially in its gradations of string tone, the performance seems to fix Elgar's orchestral writing even more firmly into the context of post-Wagnerian romanticism than before... while the slow movements sometimes acquire a Brucknerian spaciousness." (Guardian)
"Barenboim's long association with, and love for, Elgar has effectively made it part of his musical DNA...And because he is a master he has somehow communicated all of that, both in practical and spiritual terms, to an orchestra for whom it is relatively unfamiliar. That is the really startling achievement here and it manifests itself in playing that is as exciting as it is nuanced." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Orchestral)
"Barenboim sets subtly different tempos for passages that often run directly on from each other, but he also pushes round corners at which other conductors linger…the Staatskapelle Berlin sustain it convincingly. The detail is always audible, even through the flowing full orchestra…Barenboim has certainly made this symphony his own" (BBC Music Five Stars)
