[ Chandos 241 Hickox Legacy / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Friday 12 August 2016
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
"Re-issued from a 1992 recording, when Richard Hickox was Associate Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, this Elgar's Caractacus has much to offer.
The piece itself, which Elgar composed for the 1898 Leeds Festival, exudes his power of invention and luminous skills at orchestration, foreshadowing his next project, the masterful 'Enigma' Variations.
A Gramophone review affirmed that 'There can be nothing but praise for Richard Hickox's fluent, sensitive direction and the enthusiastic, full-blooded backcloth provided by the LSO. Bouquets, too, for the London Symphony Chorus whose terrific unanimity of attack, sensitivity to dynamics and wonderfully true intonation are something to marvel at. "
"Another classic Hickox recording from the early '90s; an uneven work, but well worth hearing when done as brilliantly as this. Though there are insurmountable problems with the main work here, Richard Hickox oversees a largely convincing performance." (MusicWeb)