Composer: Edward Elgar
Performer: Doric String Quartet
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Edward Gardner
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Release: 2017
Size: 1.07 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Introduction & Allegro for strings, Op. 47
01. Moderato
02. Allegro
03. Fugue: Allegro
Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55
04. I. Andante nobilmente e semplice – Allegro
05. II. Allegro molto
06. III. Adagio
07. IV. Lento – Allegro
Recorded: 5-6 September 2016
Recording Venue: Watford Colosseum, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK
This new Elgar surround-sound recording brings together some of Chandos’ finest exclusive British artists for the first time.
The Doric String Quartet – highly praised for its series of Haydn and Schubert quartets – joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner in the Introduction and Allegro, one of Elgar’s masterpieces. Gardner here captures the subtle contrast between the solo quartet and the string ensemble, while also reconciling a wide variety of musical ideas and tempo fluctuations, not least the ever-popular ‘Welsh’ solo viola melody. The full Orchestra then appears in a passionate account of the majestic Symphony No. 1, a much-loved work ever since its premiere in 1906. As well as highly praised Walton and Britten recordings, the enduring relationship between Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra has seen successful series of works by non-British composers such as Szymanowski and Lutosławski. Edward Gardner is also involved in recording projects with many other orchestras, including the Bergen Philharmonic, the CBSO, and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, his latest new collaboration.