Composer: Edward Elgar
Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Size: 917 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)
Symphony No. 1 in A Flat Major, Op. 55
01. 1. Andante. Nobilmente e semplice – Allegro
02. 2. Allegro molto
03. 3. Adagio
04. 4. Lento – Allegro
Barenboim’s reading of the first has plenty to recommend it, especially in the symphony’s inner movements: The scherzo rushes by with a snarling bite and withering intensity, while the Adagio has the sort of sweep and epic grandeur which nearly rises to the level of the Second Symphony’s . . . The point and polish of the Staatskapelle’s woodwinds are a joy throughout, as is the subtlety and enveloping richness of the orchestra’s strings.
Barenboim’s long association with, and love for, Elgar has effectively made it part of his musical DNA. He understands its particulars and, to put it simply, he knows how it goes . . . playing that is as exciting as it is nuanced and which can turn on a sixpence because Barenboim and his players “read” each other so well . . . He has mastered the long and difficult first movement chronicling the turbulence of an era — indeed of life in general — in which tiny oases of peace and tranquillity open up as if recalling happier times . . . there isn’t a tempo, a turn of phrase or a rubato anywhere that I would take issue with. More importantly, the whole feels thoroughly integrated and gloriously spontaneous. This is up there, you’ll have gathered, with the very finest that the gramophone has yet given us of this great — and finally, I hope, universally celebrated — symphony.
. . . luminous . . . playing that is as exciting as it is nuanced . . . [the recording balance] is exemplary, the ear constantly arrested by telling details so often absorbed into the overall richness of Elgar’s soundscape . . . it is Barenboim’s command of transition, of ebb and flow, storm and stress, that carries all before it . . . [Barenboim’s fiercely dynamic approach to the scherzo] feels like a conscious distraction from the fearful and the gradual winding-down into the great slow movement is marvellously achieved . . . [and so the finale is upon us, where] you instinctively know that something wondrous this way comes . . . Barenboim and his orchestra ease us so gently into this revelation that the climax when it comes sings all the more gloriously . . . there isn’t a tempo, a turn of phrase or a rubato anywhere that I would take issue with. More importantly, the whole feels thoroughly integrated and gloriously spontaneous. This is up there, you’ll have gathered, with the very finest . . .